UniBrass Composition Competition
The 2027 Composition Competition is NOW OPEN - get your composing hats on and get brainstorming!
The UniBrass Composition Competition is an exciting opportunity for young composers across the United Kingdom. Open to current students, recent graduates, and anyone aged 18 to 25, this competition challenges and promotes young new composers to create original works for the brass banding world. Whether you have composed before or never worked on brass music, this is your opportunity to try out something new and receive bespoke feedback on your art!
We are grateful for the support of numerous partners in delivering CompComp26!
This was won by Charlie Whelan with his composition "All Magic Comes at a Price"
We are pleased to be partnering with Wright & Round Music Publishers once more for 2027 to offer potential publication for the winning piece.
Established in 1875, Wright & Round is one of the oldest publishing houses in brass banding, and its catalogue carries in excess of 5,000 titles. The company publishes works by many of today’s popular composers, including Philip Harper, the current music editor, and has always been keen to promote new talent.
Wright & Round say - The winning entry will be put forward for potential publication with Wright & Round Music Publishers. Entrants should note that Wright & Round select music for publication based on its commercial potential, a fact which may give composers a slightly different approach to their work. Wright & Round will decide suitability after the result is announced.
We are happy to have the continued support of Lydbrook Band, who are offering a workshopping session alongside Liz Lane, our judge and their Composer in Residence, before the premiere performance and publication.
More developments and opportunities will be announced in the coming months!
For further information or if you have any questions, please contact Sidney on sidney.pycroft@unibrass.co.uk
See below for the competition rules and submission form.
The Judge: Liz Lane
We are delighted to welcome Liz back as our judge for the fourth year of this competition! As with last year, she will be working alongside a pair of shadow judges to determine the winning composition.
Liz Lane’s music is commissioned, performed and recorded worldwide; broadcasts have included BBC Radio 3 and she was recently interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live.
Liz is thrilled to be invited as a UniBrass CompComp judge for a fourth year and has really enjoyed seeing how the competition has evolved, and keeping in touch with the winners.
She is excited to be part of this year’s initiatives and is very much looking forward to discovering the new music.
She was Composer in Association with Grimethorpe Colliery Band (2021-2025), the first female in a role of this kind in UK banding history, and is Composer in Residence with Lydbrook Band in the Forest of Dean.
Liz is a part-time Senior Lecturer at UWE Bristol, also an Associate Lecturer with the Open University and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Current commissions include ‘Precious Stones’, a large-scale brass and percussion piece for performance at Bristol Beacon in April 2027.
Liz started composing when she was 6 years old and is grateful for the opportunities and connections which came about through competition successes, leading to her career as a composer today. She loves writing for the medium of brass band, although this is still a relatively recent venture (2012).
Liz was the judge for the new UniBrass Composition Competition in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
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Liz's Top Tips
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Visit your university brass band and sit in on a rehearsal
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Go to a concert and/or contest
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Try out ideas with some of the players (especially instruments you might not know so well)
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Search YouTube to find music you admire
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Immerse yourself in the soundworld by playing (not a trained brass or percussion player - perhaps some extra percussion?)
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Ask to borrow some scores
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Ask if the band could find some time to play through your music
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Check out the Cory Band 'Scoring for Beginners' video by Philip Harper
Our Shadow Judges
Charlie Whelan
CompComp26 Winner
'All Magic Comes at a Price'
I am a brass band composer from the Midlands and Composer and Arranger-in-Residence at Championship section Langley Band. I started off composing by arranging for brass band. It took a few attempts before I had written something original that someone would perform!
Similarly, it took me three attempts of entering the UniBrass Composition Competition before winning. A large part of that was being able to build on the judging panel's feedback every year and keep improving!
Pretty much everything I write is for entertainment contests, so the theme is often pre-determined. I find the more restriction there is, the more you can get out of one musical idea. I spend a lot of time listening to a wide array of music, from video game music to progressive metal, all of which eventually come out in my music in some shape or form!
Esme Harper
UniBrass 2026 Best Student Composition or Arrangement Winner
‘London Calling’
I am a composer, conductor, and tuba player from Gloucestershire. Working primarily in the brass band world, I have been composing since the age of 12, and since then, my compositions have been performed across the country, including at Symphony Hall Birmingham and at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. During my time as conductor of the Oxford University Brass Band, we have together accrued awards at UniBrass for Most Entertaining and Most Innovative Programme, Best Student Conductor, and Best Student Arrangement. An alumnus of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, I currently play with the Wantage Band and the Oxford University Orchestra.
I am incredibly excited to have been invited to take part in the UniBrass CompComp 2027 as a shadow judge, and I am especially looking forward to discovering the creativity and range of ideas each entrant will bring to the table.
Previous Winners
2026 - Charlie Whelan (All Magic Comes at a Price) - Available soon!
2025 - Lucy Green (Fading Signals) - Available from BrookWright Music Publishers
2024 - Naomi Rebecca Hill (Calling) - Available from Wright & Round Music Publishers
Previous Shortlists
2026
Charlie Whelan (All Magic Comes at a Price)
Roshan Downey (Journey)
Oliver Beck (Contemplation)
Matthew Bennett (HARALD!)
2025
Lucy Green (Fading Signals)
Joe Galuszka (Extinction: 2100)
Oliver Beck (Enter Dreamworld)
2024
Naomi Rebecca Hill (Calling)
George Owen (Afternoon Circus)
Mary Lillington (Island Life)
Charlie Whelan (The Warmth of Other Suns)
Submit your composition
Competition Rules & Regulations
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The composed piece must:
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a) be an original composition,
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b) not infringe any copyright,
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c) be arranged for a standard brass band,
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d) be between 3 and 6 minutes in length.
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Must never have been submitted as coursework, to another competition or award, including the in-contest student composition or arrangement award, or performed publicly.
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Must be playable by a Championship section band after a few rehearsals.
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Entrants must be aged 18-25 as of 1st July 2026 OR a student at any UK university or a recent graduate of 2 academic years.
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The presumptive winner will be contacted by email, they must provide proof of age/student status/graduate status within 7 days of the email being sent. Failure to provide acceptable proof of age/status within this timeframe will result in forfeiture of the competition and the runner-up will be contacted for proof of status. This process will continue as necessary.
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Submissions shall be made via a form at unibrass.co.uk/composition-competition
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Submissions must include an MP3 audio file and PDF score.
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Compositions shall be judged blind, nothing identifiable should be on the score or recording.
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The composer will retain all rights to the work
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a) By entering a submission to the UniBrass Composition Competition you give permission for the UniBrass Foundation, in perpetuity, to use, record, upload, and publicise the work without further compensation.
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b) If the work is selected for publication, a further agreement with the publisher will be made, which is not covered by these Terms of Reference. Any publication shall bear the text “Winner of the UniBrass 2027 Composition Competition”, and does not change the permission given in 9) a.
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c) The entrant shall bear the sole liability for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from the submission, its use, recording, or publicity.
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The deadline for entries is at 23:59 on 6th December 2026.
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UniBrass reserves the right to change and/or withdraw any part, or the whole, of the competition at any time, without prior warning.
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By submitting a composition to this competition you agree to the above rules.
Support Us
Our annual UniBrass entertainments contest offers students a much needed place to perform and come together, and for audiences to enjoy high quality brass banding entertainment. To support our work, please consider making a donation to UniBrass: