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

This Prize is the result of Richard’s keen interest in composition and long-held passion for choral music, hoping 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 have their composition come to life.

Applicants must submit a Choral Score for an 8-10 minute original work 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 $AUD3000 in addition to the opportunity to have their Score performed by the Corde in its annual evening recital in October 2024.

Corde is an elite arm of the Collegium Musicum Choir that was formed in 1985. It includes only a small number of singers (16-18) from across the UNSW campus community, and sings challenging, unaccompanied pieces of music.

There will be only one winner of the Prize awarded.

Please refer to the Conditions of Entry for full details.

How To Apply

Applications for 2024 are closed.

For any enquiries, please email us at cmc@unsw.edu.au. 

How the Winner is Chosen

A jury of three will select the winner of the Prize. The jury will comprise of the Choral Director of the Music Performance Unit (or nominee) as Chair; an academic specialist in composition or choral music; and one leading choral director or composer from an external organisation, by invitation.

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.

Previous winners:

2022-23 | John Rotar – Songs about birds, forests, flowers and mountains

2020-21 | Oliver John Cameron - five lullabies for uncertain times

2019-20 | Philip Eames - This Great Unrain

2018-19 | Ronan Apcar - Preludes

2017-18 | Owen Elsley - the stars

2016-17 | Matthew Orlovich - Sonnet, to the comet of 1825

Hear from donor Richard Willgoss and check out the choral works of Oliver John Cameron and Philip Eames in this video below: