15.1.2026

36th Siegburg Choral Composition Competition 2025

International Composition Competition for Amateur Choirs

The aim of the competition is to raise the profile of the human voice – as the “Instrument of the Year” 2025 – in international public awareness.

Prize Money: a total of up to €7,000 is available.

Special Prizes:

1. Special prize within the above prize money for a composition by children or adolescents under the age of 18 (excluding students at conservatories of music)
2. Special prize awarded by the Humperdinckfreunde Siegburg e. V. association, amounting to €250
3. Edition 49 offers publication for selected award-winning works

Submission Deadline: 15 January 2026

Entry Conditions:
The competition is open to works for amateur and other non-professional choirs in the following categories:

• Children’s choir (1 or 2 voices) or youth choir (3 or 4 voices)
• Mixed choir (3 or 4 voices)
• Women’s choir (2 or 3 voices)
• Men’s choir (3 or 4 voices)

Children, adolescents, and adults of all ages may participate. Composers are free to submit single- or multi-movement works or cycles. Each composer may submit as many works as they wish.

Text selection: secular or sacred
Text language: German, English, or Latin
Instrumentation: a cappella, with piano or organ accompaniment (church organ)
Duration: up to 10 minutes per work

All scores must be submitted in computer typesetting (PDF). An audio file (MP3) must also be submitted with the score. This can be extracted from music notation software; a live recording is not required. The audio quality of the MP3 file has no impact on the assessment of the composition.

Submitted works must not have been publicly performed.

Further information, registration, and submission: Edition 49 music award

Award Concert: Depending on the instrumentation and category of the award-winning works, one or more performances of the selected works will take place in Siegburg in the course of 2026.