ORA Singers are offering a chance for 50 students from non-fee-paying schools across the UK to receive free, first-class coaching in choral composition from professionals.

Ten young composers will have the flagship package of one-to-one mentoring with professional composers, who will develop their skills while helping them write a new choral piece. Young composers will join ORA for a workshop, where they’ll have their sketches sung and receive feedback from ORA and a guest composer. The scheme ends on 2 August 2024 with the final concert, where ORA Singers will perform and record the 10 new works in front of a live audience and a panel of adjudicators at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester.

In addition, 40 apprentices will receive a series of free, online workshops in choral composition, led by Rory Wainwright Johnston. The apprentice strand introduces key elements of choral composition and its techniques, and gives an insight into the world of professional composition, with opportunities to meet leading figures in the industry.

ORA will also commission five graduates who are looking to pursue a career in composition. They will each receive a commission of £1,000 to write a four-minute piece for ORA’s full complement of 18 professional singers. ORA Singers will premiere these works in concert at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama on 28 September 2024, where the audience will include industry guests.

During the composition process, graduate composers will receive consultation sessions with Suzi Digby and the ORA Singers team, and they will receive a video recording of their piece to add to their portfolios.

Application deadlines:
Graduate Composers 22 January 2024;
Young Composers 5 February 2024.

For further details, visit orasingers.com/young-composers.