I am delighted to be serving on the judging panel for the inaugural Wells Cathedral Advent Carol Competition 2026, a new initiative celebrating and supporting the creation of new liturgical choral music.
Open to composers of all ages and free to enter, the competition invites submissions of an unaccompanied SATB Advent carol of up to five minutes’ duration, written specifically for use within the liturgy of Wells Cathedral’s Advent Procession. Composers may choose their own Advent-themed text or set one of the suggested traditional texts, including Adam lay ybounden, There is No Rose and A Tender Shoot.
The winning composition will receive a £1,500 prize and its world premiere performance by Wells Cathedral Choir during the Advent Procession on 29 November 2026. The winning composer will also be invited to attend the performance.
I look forward to joining fellow judge Joanna Marsh, alongside Wells Cathedral’s Director of Music Timothy Parsons and Assistant Director of Music Carolyn Craig, in reviewing the entries.
The competition forms part of Wells Cathedral’s ongoing commitment to commissioning and promoting new sacred music through the Cathedral Commissions scheme, which has supported works by many distinguished composers including Jonathan Dove, Gabriel Jackson, Kerensa Briggs, Sir James MacMillan, Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Cecilia McDowall.
The submission deadline is 20 September 2026, and I am excited to discover the new music that this initiative will inspire.