bel a cappella awards : 3 generations of compositional excellance

3 Australian composers received $1,500 each over last weekend as Bel a cappella choral composition prize winners were announced.

Spanning 3 generations of choral composers, the winners were:

Donald Hollier | Crossing the Bar

This handwritten score for double choir is W State Conservatorium of Music. He traveled to Vienna and then continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Music and at the National Opera School in London. He has spent much of his life working with choirs, and as Musical Director of Canberra Opera he was responsible for staging the Australian premieres of a number of significant works of the twentieth century.

Andrew Howse | Moss Stone Cantic

This handwritten score for double choir is W State Conservatorium of Music. He travelled to Vienna and then continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Music and at the National Opera School in London. He has spent much of his life working with choirs, and as Musical Director of Canberra Opera he was responsible for staging the Australian premieres of a number of significant works of the twentieth century.

Kevin Barker | Now Fades the Last Long Streak of Snow

Now Fades the Last Long Streak of Snow Text from ‘In Memoriam’, Tennyson’s long and beautiful paean on the death of his beloved friend. This sequence describes the blossoming of springtime, and is full of nostalgic images of life’s burgeoning loveliness, yet laced with a soft sadness. Kevin is a Sydney-born composer who writes in a wide range of genres from contemporary classical through jazz and popular music. He has a love of art song and finds especial joy exploring the simple intricacies of the English language.

‘We received over 50 entries, a truly astounding number’, says Anthony Pasquill, Bel a cappella’s Artistic and Music Director. The internationally acclaimed judging panel was made up of Pasquill (AUS), Joanna Forbes-L’Estrange (singer, composer, choral leader – UK) and Owain Park (composer, conductor, choir director – UK) all agreed that the quality and diversity of the submitted compositions was ‘superb’.

Bel a cappella has also asked a few additional outstanding entrants to have their compositions workshopped to allow composers the opportunity to hear their works performed live.

All Prize money was raised through the very generous donations of supporters of Bel a cappella, via an Australian Cultural Fund campaign. Each of the 3 winning works was to have its world premiere in one of the cities on the choir’s 2021 tour of Russia and Northern Europe… that was all before a certain pandemic struck.

The choir now eagerly awaits the time they can return to singing together so they can begin preparing the works for their premiere performance. They cannot say when or where that will be as yet, but it will certainly be a joyous celebration of the return of choral music!

David Kary

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