Compose Aotearoa! - Choirs Aotearoa NZ

📣 Applications open for Compose Aotearoa!

❗️ Deadline: 1st October 2025

ℹ️ More information: www.choirs.nz/compose-aotearoa/

Prizes up to $2000!

Choirs Aotearoa is excited to announce in NZ Music Month that we are inviting composers to submit pieces to our choral composing competition again this year! We are grateful for the generosity of Trevor Kempton in ensuring the sustainability of this composition opportunity.

There are 3 categories:

1. Open

2. Under age 25 years

3. Waiata

Pieces submitted can be in any language, of any style. National choirs enjoy singing a wide range of music and enjoy touring music by our Aotearoa composers around the country and overseas.

Each of the three categories carries a prize of $2000, and the possibility of being selected as our Composer-in-Residence. Here is what our 2025 Composer-in-Residence Jacob Barrett has to say:

"Entering the Compose Aotearoa Composition Competition has been one of my goals as a composer for as long as I can remember - it has supercharged my enthusiasm and artistry as a musician, and I have been able to explore so much more of this beautiful world that is choral music. There are few other platforms which celebrate New Zealand music in quite the same way, so I would not miss the opportunity to be a part of it!"

We are thrilled that the competition entries are growing year on year and look forward to receiving another great batch of songs this year. Let’s keep celebrating our culture onstage!