Royal Holloway Composition Competition
Inspiring the Next Generation of Creative Voices
The Department of Music at Royal Holloway, University of London, is delighted to announce the 2025/26 Royal Holloway Young Composer Competition. Building on the success of previous years, this iteration expands the creative remit to welcome compositions in any style, including classical, contemporary chamber music, film scoring, songwriting, electronic music, EDM, and other cross-genre/genre-defying practices.
This competition offers young musicians the opportunity to showcase their originality, experiment with musical ideas, and engage with university-level creative practices.
Key Dates
Deadline for entries: 11:59pm on Sunday 26h April 2026.
Composition Taster Day: Tuesday 9th June 2026 (registration closes 31st May 2026).
Who Can Enter?
The competition is open to any student aged 15 to 18. Typically, students are studying GCSE, A Level, or BTEC Music or Music Technology, but we welcome any student with a love of writing original music! We strongly encourage entries from across all musical backgrounds.
Why Enter?
This competition provides experience preparing work for real world submission, exposure to university level composition practice, opportunities to build a creative portfolio, and a chance to work with Royal Holloway’s professional composers, musicians, and academics. The winning composer will also have their music professionally recorded!
What We Are Looking For
We welcome original submissions in any style or genre, including classical and chamber music, film and media composition, songwriting and popular music, electronic and EDM production, as well as experimental or cross genre work.
Compositions should be from 2-6 minutes in duration, demonstrate creativity and craft, and present a clear and original musical identity. Submissions should be provided in an appropriate format, as outlined below.
Entry / How to Enter
Because we welcome diverse musical practices, the submission format is flexible. Please submit your composition in one of the following ways:
Classical/Contemporary Notated Music:
· A PDF score.
· (optional audio rendering such as a MIDI mock up or live recording is also welcome in an MP3 format).
Songwriting/Popular Music:
· A chord chart and/or lyric sheet in PDF format.
· An audio recording (preferably in a high-quality WAV or FLAC format but MP3 is acceptable).
Electronic, EDM, or other solely DAW-based Music:
· A high-quality audio recording in WAV or FLAC format.
· (optional PDF liner notes/details may be included if the composer wishes to highlight any features of their work not immediately obvious to the listener (in addition to your required ‘statement’).
Film music:
Please submit according to whichever of the above three guidelines works best for your style of music: Notated, Songwriter, or DAW-based.
· (If you are composing to picture, please also submit a copy of the video with your music synchronised to the picture.)
If you are unsure which format is most appropriate, please contact us (details below). Our aim is to be as inclusive as possible.
Entries will be accepted via the online submission form at the bottom of this page. You will be asked to provide the following materials:
· Your name, school or college, and contact details.
· Your score/charts and/or audio files (please see details in ‘Entry / How to Enter’ above).
· A short statement describing your overall creative intentions (up to a maximum of 750 characters (including spaces)).
Winners will be announced after the judging process has concluded.
Winning entries
All entries will receive feedback on their work!
The winner will receive a professional recording and/or master of their work in Royal Holloway’s new £1.7m Engineers Cottage recording studio. The piece will be performed by an ensemble of up to twelve performers (instrumentation subject to availability) and the recording session will be professionally engineered and produced. DAW-based works that require no further professional recording will be mixed and mastered using our in-house collection of world-renowned analogue hardware. These recordings will be a valuable portfolio asset for university applications and future musical work. The recording session will take place during the University’s Summer Term (TBC).
The winner will also receive a guaranteed place on our Composition Taster Day, which will be held on 9th June 2026. During this event, students will participate in workshops, talks, and creative activities with leading academic staff and creative practitioners from our department.
Additional commendations or shortlisted works may also be recognised at the panel’s discretion.
Judging Panel
Entries will be reviewed by academic staff and professional composers from the Department of Music. Works will be assessed on creativity and originality, technical control appropriate to the style, communication of musical ideas, and overall original artistic impact.
We value diverse creative approaches and assess each work on its own merits.
Questions?
If you have further questions, any issues submitting your work, or if you would like advice on the suitability of materials or submission formats, then please contact Tom at: Thomas.Baynes@rhul.ac.uk.
We look forward to hearing your music!
