The second Walter Hussey Composition Competition was launched in January 2020 with a deadline for entries of 30th June 2020. The winner was expected to be chosen by December 2020 and the winning piece was expected to receive its world premiere in March 2021, until the Covid pandemic intervened!
The 2020 competition followed Reading Phoenix Choir’s aim of working with young people and was limited to composers aged between 16 and 24. A line-up of judges from the choral and composition world was assembled again to keep the Walter Hussey Composition Competition as one of the leading choral composition competitions of our time.
The 2020 Walter Hussey Composition Competition theme of ‘New Horizons’ was chosen as it was both encouraging the musicians of the future and also looking forwards.
The Covid pandemic impacted the competition such that not only was the judging done 'on-line', but it became clear that it would not be feasible to hold the performance of the winning pice in March 2021, as planned.
In March 2022, Reading Phoenix Choir were delighted to be able to announce that the winner of the Walter Hussey Competition 2020 was Blake R Mitchell, with his stunning composition ‘Where Sky Meets Sea’. Blake R Mitchell received an award for £500 for ‘Where Sky Meets Sea’.
Reading Phoenix Choir performed the World Premiere of ‘Where Sky Meets Sea’ as a highlight of its New Horizons concert, at the University of Reading Great Hall, on Saturday 5th March.
See the interview by Rebecca de Bruin, with Blake Mitchell on YouTube
You can listen to a recording of Where Sky Meets Sea by the Reading Phoenix Choir on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/3o46vtHd6NjvUwKdfSbWAC
The runner up in the 2020 Competition was Abby Chow for her composition of Bethlehem and received an award of £200.
The other finalists were:
Alex Wallace for Gnìomh Gràidh
Jake Huntley for New life, new love
Mathilde Barclay for Have you seen the wind?
Noah Foutz for Ecce Gratum
2020 Competition Judges
