European Award for Choral Composers awards... four Flemish composers!

The jury selects the winners of the European Award for Choral Composers 2020-2021. They chose two Belgian winners and award 2 special mentions to ... also two Belgian composers. Congratulations Jan, Maarten, Hans and Vigdis!

Jury

The European Choral Association - Europa Cantat called upon their member organisations all over Europe to submit recently composed pieces of choral music to be entered in an international competition. A jury comprised of internationally renowned conductors and composers Josep Vila i Casañas (ES), Seán Doherty (IE), Karin Rehnqvist (SE), Tadeja Vulc (SI) and Ēriks Ešenvalds (LV) selected winning pieces and also awarded special mentions in both categories of the competition. 

History of the competition

The European Award for Choral Composers has been organised by the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat since 2011, as the continuation of the former Golden Tuning Fork award that was run by the AGEC choral association for many years. 

Winners

There was a total of 25 pieces by 19 composers entered in the competition, suggested by seven different member organisations of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat. The following compositions were selected by the jury: 

In category A (works a cappella), the prize was awarded to Amor, io fallo by Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost, while Hans Helsen received a special mention for his piece Sanctus Amor. 

In category B (works with accompaniment), Maarten Van Ingelgem from Belgium won the prize for Autumn Soils, while Vigdis Hansa Elst received a special mention for her piece How sweet the Moonlight. 

Jan Van der Roost’s composition was submitted by Koor&Stem, the other three distinguished pieces were submitted by the Flemish Federation of Young Choirs (VFJK). The jury received anonymised scores without any information about the composers or their country of residence; all distinctions going to Belgian composers is therefore purely a sign of the quality of these pieces and their composers. 

    Winning piece Amor, io fallo by Waelrant Camerata conducted by Marleen De Boo during the International Choral Competition Flanders 2019.

    The jury received anonymised scores without any information about the composers or their country of residence; all distinctions going to Belgian composers is therefore purely a sign of the quality of these pieces and their composers.

    Jury European Award for Choral Composers

    Award ceremony

    The award ceremony will take place in the frame of the 2021 EUROPA CANTAT XXII Festival in Ljubljana, in the presence of the composers and representatives of the respective choral organisations, as well as representatives of the jury, with each prize being worth a prize money of 300 EUR. The winning pieces will be performed during the festival. 

    Euprint

    All winning compositions were published by Euprint

    • Jan Van der Roost, Amor, io fallo, for mixed choir, composed in 2018 for the International Choral Competition Flanders 2019 and published by Euprint. Read more about Jan Van der Roost here. 
       
    • Maarten Van Ingelgem, Autumn Soils, from Elementary seasons, for mixed choir and piano, composed in 2019 for the International Singing Week Flanders 2019 and published by Euprint. Read more about his works here.
       
    • Hans Helsen, Sanctus Amor, for SSAA, composed in 2019 and published by Euprint. Read more about Hans.
       
    • Vigdis Hansa Elst, How sweet the Moonlight, SSA and piano, composed  in 2018 and published by Euprint. Read more about  Vigdis.
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