NYCGB Young Composers Scheme 2019–21

National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Durham, United Kingdom


The National Youth Choirs of Great Britain (NYCGB) is a collaboration of five choirs with approximately 750 young singers between 9 and 25 years of age. A new initiative, the NYCGB Young Composers Scheme 2019-21, is a reaction to the fact that choirs have become one of the fastest-growing art forms in the UK. The programme, planned over 3 years, has set itself the target of supporting four young composers annually to accompany this growth by composing new works for vocal ensembles. Primary candidates are British composers between the ages of 18 and 25 with differing musical and cultural backgrounds, who are at the beginning of their compositional career. For twelve months, they will be offered a wide spectrum of training programmes led by prominent experts.

Every programme includes workshops with Errollyn Wallen, John Rutter, Anna Meredith and Roxanne Panufnik, as well as masterclasses and ongoing support through the artistic director of the NYCGB and renowned composer Ben Parry, in addition to a composer-in-residence to be chosen annually. In 2019, this will be Benji Merrison. Furthermore, the young scholarship holders have the opportunity to take part in an intensive, one-week work-course in the former house of Benjamin Britten in Aldeburgh. Uniquely, the position offers the chance to work with some of the best young choir voices of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain in order to develop new compositions. Every new work will be performed as part of the NYCGB’s spring and summer concerts, which reach more than 7,500 listeners. Through the incorporation of the pieces into the choirs’ repertoire and the representation of the composers through the NYCGB’s public outreach programme, the composers will be made familiar to agents, producers, publishers, event venues, patrons, the media and choirs, representing an indispensable asset to their future careers. An innovation fund, which can be used by each scholarship holder for the support of their creative processes, completes the scheme’s scope.


January 15, 2019
Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

August 4, 2019
Elgar Concert Hall, Bramall Music Building, Birmingham, UK

August 13, 2019
Snape Maltings, UK

August 22, 2019
Reading Town Hall, UK

August 24, 2019
Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, UK

January 2020
Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall, London, UK


Further information: 
nycgb.org.uk