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Press Releases
King's Singers announce New Music Prize for composers
Grammy-winning, internationally acclaimed British vocal ensemble, The King’s Singers, have teamed-up with Washington National Cathedral and choral publishers, Walton Music, to create the New Music Prize for composers in the U.S.A. and Canada.
“Throughout history, music has provided hope and healing at some of societies’ most challenging times. We’re launching The King’s Singers New Music Prize to recognize, develop, and encourage a spirit of musical creativity in today’s world. Through this Prize, we hope to leave the world a musically richer place than we found it.”
The King’s Singers
Composers are invited to write a new choral piece using one of five beautiful texts chosen by The King’s Singers and Creative Advisor Charles Anthony Silvestri. Works include Emily Dickinson’s I Had No Time To Hate, James Weldon Johnson’s The Gift to Sing, Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Invitation to Love, Malcolm Guite’s The Singing Bowl and a new work written especially for the competition When All Falls Silent by Silvestri.
The King’s Singers New Music Prize is open to residents of the U.S.A. and Canada. Entries open on Tuesday July 21, 2020 and close at 3pm ET / 12pm PT October 16, 2020. All submissions must be new, original works and may be written in any musical genre. They cannot have been published, performing in public or have been recording for commercial or public use.
Composers can submit in one of four categories:
- A composition for 4-part SATB Choir (Composers under 18)
- A composition for 4-part SATB Choir (Composers aged 18 and above)
- A composition for Children’s Choir
- A composition for The King’s Singers
The prize-winner in each category will receive:
- A cash sum of $1,500
- Tickets to attend a celebratory concert in Washington National Cathedral, February 28, 2021 (subject to prevailing conditions).
- A recording of the concert from Washington D.C. (which will also be webcast).
- The opportunity to have their piece published by leading choral publisher, Walton Music.
The jury for the New Music Prize includes Elise Bradley MNZM (Artistic Director, Toronto Children’s Chorus), Gabriela Lena Frank (composer, pianist), Stacey V. Gibbs (composer, arranger), Jonathan Howard (The King’s Singers), David Hurley (educator, former member of The King’s Singers), Michael McCarthy (Director of Music, Washington National Cathedral), Francisco Núñez (conductor, composer, Director of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City), and Dr. Mack Wilberg (conductor, composer, Music Director of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square).
As part of the competition The King’s Singers are hosting a series of free online workshops for composers. Top figures from the worlds of poetry, composition, conducting and publishing will join members of the group live on Saturdays throughout August 2020 to address the creative and practical issues around writing for voices. Each session will also include a Q&A with the attendees and is open to everyone.
For more information on New Music Prize, please visit http://www.kingssingers.com/newmusicprize/.
ONLINE WORKSHOPS:
All workshops will be held on The King’s Singers’ YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/kingssingersvideos.
Charles Anthony Silvestri: poet, lyricist, historian
The Marriage of Words and Music
Saturday August 1st - 10am PT / 1pm ET
with Jonathan Howard and Edward Button of The King’s Singers
Eric Whitacre: Composer, conductor
Writing for voices: Conversation, Question and Answers
Saturday August 8th - 10am PT / 1pm ET
With Christopher Bruerton and Patrick Dunachie of The King’s Singers
Bob Chilcott: composer, conductor, singer
Thoughts on musical line, shape and structure
Saturday August 15th - 10am PT / 1pm ET
With Julian Gregory and Jonathan Howard of The King’s Singers
Valérie Sainte-Agathe: composer, conductor, singer
Writing for Young Voices
Saturday August 22nd - 10am PT / 1pm ET
With Christopher Bruerton and Patrick Dunachie of The King’s Singers
Susan LaBarr, Alec Harris, Walton Music
Demystifying Music Publishing and Copyright – All your Questions Answered!
Saturday August 29th - 10am PT / 1pm ET
With Nick Ashby and Edward Button of The King’s Singers
The King’s Singers New Music Prize is generously supported by Ronald C. Gunnell and The King’s Singers Global Foundation, and forms part of the Foundation’s vision for #FindingHarmony in our divided world.
Publicist Amanda Sweet – amanda@bucklesweet.com
Producers - Claire@musicprods.co.uk , Meg@musicprods.co.uk
For over half a century, The King’s Singers have been entertaining audiences all over the world with their virtuosity and trademark British flair. The group was officially born on May 1st 1968, when six recent choral scholars from King’s College, Cambridge, gave their first professional concert in London. By chance, their vocal line-up was two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, but this formation has stuck to this day. Since then, there have only been twenty-eight different singers including the original six and the present line up. What’s really distinguished the group is its musical versatility – spanning music from the Middle Ages right up to the present day. A weekly fixture on prime-time television in their early years, singing popular music never usually touched by choral ensembles, their unique charm and exceptional musical craftsmanship captured audiences’ hearts across the globe. Today, The King’s Singers are consistently welcomed on the world’s great stages. Alongside two Grammy® Awards, an Emmy® Award, and a place in Gramophone magazine’s inaugural Hall of Fame, The King’s Singers are delighted to be one of WQXR’s 20 for 20 artists this year.
The King’s Singers Global Foundation seeks to champion music as a way to find musical and social harmony in the world today to help us celebrate what unites us rather than focus on those things that divide us. Whether it’s audience members who come together from different walks of life united by a love of music, or choirs who create something more beautiful than the sum of their parts, music has a powerful effect on individuals, communities and the wider world, no matter people’s age, gender, race or circumstance.
As members of The King’s Singers, with the help of The King’s Singers Global Foundation, we are uniquely placed to find harmony around the world given our extensive travel, our expertise in the craft of ensemble singing, our wide repertoire of musical styles and different languages, and our network of relationships built during more than a half century of touring.
The Foundation supports a variety of key projects including: commissioning new music (with an emphasis on representing a wide range of musical cultures), partnering with UK-based musical charities (Finding Harmony Ambassadors) to support their work financially and musically, offer free workshops and concert tickets to choral groups around the world, and facilitating scholarships for students to attend King’s Singers Summer Schools.
You can help make this happen by making a gift to The King’s Singers Global Foundation. Any gift that you are able to make, however big or small, whether one-off or regular, will help make The Foundation’s projects a reality.
Washington National Cathedral is the seat of both the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and the bishop of the Diocese of Washington. Construction began on September 29, 1907, when the foundation stone was laid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt and ended 83 years later when the "final finial" was placed in the presence of President George H. W. Bush in 1990. The cathedral has been conceived as more than simply an Episcopal cathedral. For much of the cathedral's history, this was captured in the phrase "a house of prayer for all people." In more recent times the phrases "national house of prayer" and "spiritual home for the nation" have been used.
The Cathedral is frequently the venue for services of national and ecumenical importance. The presidential inaugural prayer service is customarily held every four years. Other significant events in the life of the Cathedral include the 9/11 prayer services in 2001, the prayer service for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. More recently, the Funeral service of Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the national Memorial service for Nelson Mandela and Senator John McCain, the Installation of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States, and the State Funeral for President George H. W. Bush.
The Cathedral music program has both a boys choir and a girls choir both of which are supported by a team of professional singers. Additionally, the program has a fully professional contemporary music ensemble providing music for alternative liturgies as part of the Cathedral’s daily round of prayer.
Publicist Amanda Sweet – amanda@bucklesweet.com
Producers - Claire@musicprods.co.uk
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