Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus seeks submissions from composers in the early stages of their careers for the Stella Jockel Young Composers Competition 2024-25, part of Classical Sheffield Festival Weekend 2025.
The competition commemorates Stella Jockel, a former Sheffield teacher and vicar’s wife who sang alto with Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus for many years. Part of Stella’s generous legacy to the Chorus is being used to fund the competition. The aim is to support the creation and performance of new choral repertoire and to encourage and support young people from Sheffield who are studying seriously for, or starting out on, a career in music composition and/or performance. The competition is open to young people aged 18 to 35 inclusive, who currently live or study in Sheffield, or who lived, were born, or were educated there. The requirement is for a short choral work for a mixed symphonic choir of around 120 singers, to be sung unaccompanied in at least four parts – soprano, alto, tenor, bass.
There is a choice of two texts, both commissioned from award-winning poets: Susie Wilson, who won a Disabled Poet’s Prize for her pamphlet Nowhere Near As Safe As A Snake In Bed, and Katharine Towers, who won the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize for The Floating Man and was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize for The Remedies.
The winning work will be performed at a special prize-winning event on the final evening of the Classical Sheffield Weekend Festival on Sunday 23 March 2025, in the wonderful acoustic of St Marie’s cathedral in the centre of Sheffield.
This will be part of the festival finale event and includes the world premiere performance of three new works by established composer Stephen Johnston, along with Faure’s beautiful Requiem, performed by Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus. The performance of the winning work and presentation of prizes will form the first half of this event which will bring the 2025 Classical Weekend festival to a spectacular close.
Darius Battiwalla, conductor, organist and Musical Director of Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, will head the panel of judges, which includes the renowned composer Philip Wilby and conductor and choral director Ellie Slorach. The winning entries will be announced in January 2025.
The closing date is 31 December 2024.
Prizes
- 1st prize: £1,500. Performance of the winning work by Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus at the Classical Sheffield Festival Weekend finale concert in St Marie’s cathedral, on Sunday 23 March 2025, and four free tickets for the concert.
- 2nd prize: £1,000. Four free tickets for the concert at the City Hall
- 3rd prize: £500. Two free tickets for the concert at the City Hall.
Judges
- Darius Battiwalla, conductor, organist and Music Director of Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
- Philip Wilby, composer and organist
- Ellie Slorach, conductor and choral director
Eligibility
The competition is open to young musicians aged between 18 and 35 inclusive, who were born in Sheffield or who study, live or work, or who used to study, live or work in Sheffield.
Composition brief
- An original choral work for a large mixed choir of around 120 singers to sing a capella in at least 4 parts (SATB).
- Duration at least 4 minutes and under 10 minutes.
- Text to be used is either ‘City of Sound’ by ©2024Susie Wilson or ‘for music like the sea’ by ©2024Katharine Towers
- Works must be original, not premiered and not previously awarded before at any other competition.
- Arranged or adapted versions of previous works by the same composer and which have been already released or published won’t be accepted.
The works will be judged on the basis of their response to the poem, practicality / vocal writing, presentation and originality (ie, freshness of conception and approach, not necessarily whether the work is technically or aesthetically ground-breaking). Submission that do not meet the composition brief listed above will not be considered.
The poems
The Chorus is absolutely delighted to offer a choice of texts from award-winning poets Katharine Towers, who sings alto with the Chorus, and Susie Wilson, who did so until a few years ago.
The links below will take you to the texts and to a recording of each poet reciting their poem, so applicants can hear how the rhythm of the texts sound in the heads of the person who wrote them. However, don’t let this hinder your creative interpretation of the text.
Submitted compositions must be based on just one of the two texts, but applicants have a free choice.
Application requirements
- Original choral score, to be sent as a pdf file. Each composition must be submitted with numbered pages. They must be legible, clear, without mistakes or amendments. The score must not be marked with the composer’s name, or in any way that would enable the composer to be identified. A piano reduction may be included and would be useful, but is not a requirement and won’t affect the judging.
- Completed application form (download from link below)
- 250-word maximum biography in DOC or PDF format
- Photograph (jpeg or tif file)
Competition rules
- Submissions must meet the listed Composition Brief and Application Requirements.
- Materials will not be returned.
- The composition will be the property of the composer; however, first performance rights are granted to Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus.
- Applicants waive all rights for publication, broadcasting, and recording of the premiere performance.
- The decisions of the judges are final.
- The judges reserve the right not to award one or more prizes if the standard is not sufficiently high, commensurate with the value of the prizes.
- Applicants may submit up to two applications if they wish.
- For each submission applicants must only use one of the texts ‘City of Sound’ by ©2024Susie Wilson or ‘for music like the sea’ by ©2024Katharine Towers; both poems are copyright and may not be used for any other purpose.
- A condition of entry is that submitted biographies and photographs may be used in the publication of shortlisted applicants.
- The judges, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Classical Sheffield and St Marie’s cathedral cannot be held responsible for any damages, claims, liabilities, and costs, or losses of any kind or nature whatsoever, which may in any way arise from the rehearsals, performance and recording of the competition entries.
- Applicants accept the above rules unconditionally and without reservation.
Notification
Prize-winners will be announced to the public on 23 March 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be publicised in the new year, and prize-winners notified by the end of January 2025. Unsuccessful applicants will be provided with brief feedback.
Download Competition Pack (includes all the information on this page): SJYC Competition pack
City of Sound by Susie Wilson ©2024
for music like the sea © Katharine Towers 2024