Welcome Christmas Carol Contest

Christmas Carols

12th Annual VocalEssence & American Composers Forum Christmas Carol Contest

2009 winners announced:
Michael Glasgow (Raleigh, NC) - Welcome the King

Robert Sieving (Minnetonka, MN) - See, Amid the Winter's Snow

Read the press release

The custom of singing Christmas carols brings joy to the holiday season unlike any other tradition. And every December VocalEssence and the American Composers Forum celebrate this tradition in their own unique way: championing today’s composers, exploring new works, and rediscovering lesser-known works of the past.

This year marks the twelfth anniversary of the Welcome Christmas Carol Contest as VocalEssence and the American Composers Forum provide composers of all ages with the opportunity to compose a modern-day carol. This year’s contest required writing a carol for SATB chorus accompanied by viola.

Each year, the contest has produced wonderful new settings of familiar texts and carols based on existing poems and original texts with different instrumentation.

Each winner will receive a prize of $1,000, and the winning carols will be premiered at the VocalEssence Welcome Christmas concerts on December 6, 11, 12 & 13, 2009. The performances will be recorded for national broadcast in 2010 via American Public Media.

 

2009 Contest Guidelines

Past Contest Winners 1998-2009

2007 npr.org/music story on the Welcome Christmas Carol Contest