We are sure that you will be pleased to hear that judging for the 2020 Walter Hussey Composition Competition is going full steam ahead.
As we have received well in excess of 100 entries from all over the world this is quite a lengthy process, and we want to make sure that we give sufficient time to reviewing all those pieces that the composers have taken such great efforts to produce.
The first part of the process involves selecting the top 20 pieces from all entries received. This is being done remotely and we are aiming to achieve this by early September.
For the inaugural Walter Hussey Composition Competition back in 2018 the judges then met all together to further trim the entries down to five finalists. As I am sure you will understand, due to the current COVID-19 situation, we do not know currently whether we will be able to meet in person in the next couple of months to judge the compositions. We will however “get together” in some way or another, probably via a Zoom meeting, in order to select the five final pieces. What we do want to make sure of, is that we make the best possible effort to select the correct winners for this important competition.
We will then have a final judging session with our guest judge, Owain Park in October, in order to pick the winner and the runner-up. The finalists and winners will then be informed of the outcome. Things are obviously subject to change at the moment but the current plan is that there will be a world premiere of the winning piece with a presentation of the prizes at Reading Phoenix Choir’s showcase concert at Reading Town Hall in March 2021. We will keep you all informed as best we can with any changes as they arise.