Applications are now open for the 2023 Young Composers programme from choral group ORA Singers. Building on the success of its previous iterations, which have seen just under a hundred state-school students benefit from free compositional support, the 2023 scheme will welcome another 50 students as either apprentices or young composers.
Those chosen as young composers will receive up to 10 hours of one-to-one compositional mentoring with a professional composer. The course will culminate in them writing a brand-new choral work; those on the scheme will have their pieces workshopped, performed and recorded by ORA Singers. These will then be adjudicated by a panel of industry experts. Previous panels have included Stephen Fry (2019), Gareth Malone (2021) and John Rutter (2022).
A new partnership with the Three Choirs festival will feature as part of this year’s scheme; the festival will be hosting the final concert of the composer’s programme in Gloucester Cathedral on 23 July.
Next to 10 young composers, 40 apprentices will gain advanced compositional skills through a series of free online, in-depth workshops led by professional composers. The apprentice scheme will introduce key elements of choral composition and its techniques and is designed to fast-track compositional development.
Matthew Beale, chief executive of ORA Singers, says: ‘Growing the Young Composers scheme into an established and recognised pipeline of support has been an achievement which we are particularly proud of at ORA Singers. However, the real pleasure has come from seeing these talented young musicians flourish into confident and mature composers as they progress through the scheme.’
Applications close at midday on 6 February. orasingers.co.uk/young-composers.
