Willgoss Choral Composition Prize

The Willgoss Choral Composition Prize

The Willgoss Choral Composition Prize is aimed at encouraging and promoting the creation of an original work for unaccompanied choir, in support of the thriving choral program at UNSW Australia as represented by the Music Performance Unit.

The Willgoss Choral Composition Prize is generously supported by the late Dr Richard Willgoss and his wife Sue Willgoss. The Prize is the result of Richard’s keen interest in composition and long-held passion for choral music, desire for composers to be celebrated within their community, and hope to create a lasting contribution to choral composition in Australia.

The Prize is open to all Australian citizens and permanent residents of any age and offers an opportunity for the winning composer to witness their composition come to life.

Applicants must submit an 8-10 minute original choral score for unaccompanied mixed choir to be performed by UNSW’s chamber choir, Corde, that must include 4 to 6 voice parts including soprano, alto, tenor and bass (SATB to SSATBB) with no further division of any vocal part.

The Score must be the original work of the entrant and not copied from any other work and must not have been previously performed in public, recorded for public release or performance or rewarded in a previous composition competition or prize.

The winner of the Prize will receive a cash prize of $AUD3500 in addition to the opportunity to have their Score performed by the Corde at its annual recital in 2025.

Corde is the elite arm of the Collegium Musicum Choir that was formed in 1985. It includes only a small number of singers (12-18) from across the UNSW campus community, and sings challenging, unaccompanied pieces of music.

How To apply

Applications for the Willgoss Choral Composition Prize 2025 have now closed.

2024 winner - Shauna Beesley

Shauna Beesley is a composer, singer, pianist, organist and choir director. She has recently returned to Australia after spending many years working in England, Syria and Switzerland. In England she sang with the BBC singers, the Hilliard Ensemble and John Eliot Gardiner. She also worked on many community composition projects in London in collaboration with the Royal Opera House, English National Opera and Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

In Syria, Shauna sang in Dido and Aeneas; the first ever opera to be produced there. She later returned to create an opera company in Damascus under the auspices of the British Council. In Switzerland she produced her first opera Le procès de Michel Servet. She has been Music Director of Emmanuel church since 2000 where she served as organist and choir director. Shauna has written extensively for choir through her work at Emmanuel. Her song cycles Westminster Drolleries, Lest We Forget and The Other Side of Love have all had their premieres in Geneva and Amsterdam.