Media release

Composition award opens with empathy theme

Australian Catholic University (ACU) is pleased to announce that the fourth annual Isabel Menton Composition Award for unpublished and previously unperformed choral works is open.

The 2018 ACU Isabel Menton Composition Awards are designed to foster new Australian choral music.

Honouring Sister Isabel Menton of the Sisters of St Joseph, an outstanding choral musician and teacher, the theme of this year’s award is Empathy.

The Award recognises Sister Isabel’s contribution to the development of the creative arts in ACU's predecessor college and through this work to Catholic education in Australia.

Submissions will be accepted across two divisions, headlined by the $1,500 Liturgical division (open to Australian citizens and residents), and the $500 Student division (open to ACU students).

Entry requirements:

• The theme for each award is Empathy
• Choral work must be 2-4 minutes in duration
• Scored for SATB choir with or without accompaniment (accompaniment may be organ or piano)
• The text of the work should be free of copyright restriction
• Works submitted must be idiomatic choral compositions that can be sung by a university-level SATB choir of approximately 20 voices.
• Work entered in the Liturgical Division must be able to function as an anthem in a Catholic liturgical context

Entries are now open and must be submitted by Friday 31 August. Winners of the Isabel Menton Composition Awards will be announced on Monday 5 October.

For full competition details and online application visit the Isabel Menton Composition Awards page or email isabelmentonprize@acu.edu.au.