kantos Christmas carol competition 2025

Winner’s Prize Money: £500

Guest Panellist: Cecilia McDowall

The winning entry will be performed in our Candlelit Carols with Kantos concerts on Friday 12 December at St Thomas of Canterbury Church, Chester and Saturday 13 December 2025 at St Ann’s Church, Manchester.

THE SMALL PRINT

  • Your piece must be related to Christmas time in some way. It may be a sacred or secular text (or both).

  • You may use any text or combination of texts that you have the correct permissions to use.

  • It must be an a capella choral composition, with no accompanying instruments.

  • Your piece may be up to 6 minutes long and must be for voices only with divisi allowed up to and including: SSSAAATTTBBB.

  • Works that have already been performed by a professional ensemble in concert and/or released on a commercial recording are not eligible.

  • There is no age limit.

  • The deadline for entries is Wednesday 26th November at Midday 12.00 GMT. Entries submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

  • The entry fee is £10. (You may enter more than one piece, but each submission requires an entry fee.)

HOW TO ENTER

  • Submit your score as a single PDF file using the submission form below.

  • Make your £10 entry fee payment via PayPal by clicking the button ‘Pay Now’ as soon as you have submitted your score.