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UniBrass Composition Competition

The 2025 Competition will be launching on 18th September.

 

Please see the shortlist and winner of the 2024 UniBrass Composition Competition below.

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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.

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Supported by Wright & Round Music Publishers who are offering the opportunity to publish 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.

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For further information or questions please contact Sidney on sidney.pycroft@unibrass.co.uk

See below for competition rules and submission form.

The Judge: Liz Lane

Liz Lane’s music has been commissioned, performed and recorded worldwide; broadcasts include BBC Radio 3, where she was described by Ian McMillan as ‘the fine composer Liz Lane who’s got such a gift for melody’. Performers have included Cory, Brighouse and Rastrick, Foden’s and Manger Musikklag brass bands, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Carducci String Quartet, Austin Larsen (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra), Steven Mead and David Thornton. She is Composer in Association with Grimethorpe Colliery Band and Composer in Residence with Lydbrook Band.

 

Liz has co-facilitated diverse events such as a sold-out performance of her Innovation 216 by over 280 brass band and voices aged 7-70 under the wings of Concorde, and Surtaal Symphony for brass band, Bhangra and soprano voice. Her work Rhythm of Light was chosen as a set piece for the Brass Band Conductors’ Association Conducting Competition in 2024.
 

Liz was awarded a PhD from Cardiff University in 2010. She 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. Recent commissions include What the Lark Saw for the Three Choirs Festival, a celebratory concert opener Modular 20 for the combined Shepherd Group Brass Bands, and an anthem A Greater Love for the Royal School of Church Music Bath Summer Course 2024.

 

Liz was the judge for the new UniBrass Composition Competition in 2024 and we are excited to have her back for 2025!

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2024 Composition Competition Results

The Shortlist

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The Winner

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Submit your composition

Upload Score File
Upload Recording

Thanks for submitting your UniBrass Composition Competition entry.

This form no longer accepts submissions - please check on our socials for any updates.

Competition Rules & Regulations

  1. The composed piece must:

    • a) be an original composition, 

    • b) not infringe any copyright, 

    • c) be arranged for a standard brass band, 

    • d) be between 3 and 6 minutes in length.

  2. Must never have been submitted as coursework, to another competition or award, including the in-contest student composition or arrangement award, or performed publicly.

  3. Must be playable by a Championship section band after a few rehearsals.

  4. Entrants must be aged 18-25 as of 18th September 2024 OR a student at any UK university or a recent graduate of 2 academic years.

  5. 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.

  6. Submissions shall be made via a form at unibrass.co.uk/composition-competition

  7. Submissions must include an MP3 audio file and PDF score.

  8. Compositions shall be judged blind, nothing identifiable should be on the score or recording.

  9. The composer will retain all rights to the work

    • 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. â€‹â€‹â€‹

    • 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 2025 Composition Competition”, and does not change the permission given in 9) a. 

    • 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.

  10. The deadline for entries is at 23:59 on 11th December 2024. 

  11. UniBrass reserves the right to change and/or withdraw any part, or the whole, of the competition at any time, without prior warning.

  12. 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:

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