Winners third edition Vic Nees Composition Contest

The Vic Nees Composition Competition is an initiative of Koor&Stem, ComAV, the Flemish Radio Choir, and the European Music Festival for Youth. The competition has been held biennially since 2023. The next call for participation will be in June 2026, with the winners being announced in March 2027.

14 submission in 2 categories

Participants were allowed to submit compositions until December 13 in 2 categories. We received a total of 14 submissions, which were anonymously provided to the jury: 3 in the conservatory category and 11 from the DKO category. The jury selected only one winner in the DKO category and decided not to award a winner in the conservatory category. The winning works will be published on Koorklank and on the English-language section Choral Music from Flanders.

And the winner is...

Marcel Ponseele (b. 1957) won the Vic Nees Composition Competition in the DKO category. Ponseele is a (baroque) oboist with a solid international reputation as a baroque specialist. He is frequently invited by many conductors to perform as a soloist for concerts and CD recordings with various labels. He has performed and recorded nearly everything that Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, and others have ever written for oboe. As a composer, however, he is a newcomer. Now retired, he has been studying harmony and composition at the music academy De Kunstbrug (DKO) in Gentbrugge for several years, under the guidance of teacher Christophe Goedvriend.

Two years ago, he already came second in the Vic Nees Composition Competition with his work De Grens. It is wonderful that he can now receive the first prize.

In the DKO category, Christophe Segers took second place with his work To a Skylark and Mathias Van Aken placed third with Magnificat.

Premiere of the works

The winning work The sick rose will be performed by the Flemish Radio Choir. A suitable performance opportunity is being sought, and an audio recording of the performance will be made. The winner will also receive a free membership to ComAV (Composers’ Archipelago of Flanders) until the end of 2026.

The works that placed first and second will be published on Koorklank.

New competition

In June 2026, we will launch the fourth edition. Composers will be able to submit compositions until December 2026. The new winners will be announced in March 2027.