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UniBrass Composition Competition

The 2026 Competition is now open!

Please keep an eye out for updates about judging, prizes, and other opportunities.

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The UniBrass Composition Competition is an exciting opportunity for young composers across the United Kingdom. Open to current students, recent graduates, and anyone aged 18 to 25 this competition challenges and promotes young new composers to create original works for the brass banding world.

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We are grateful for the support of numerous partners, more announcements are to follow.

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We are pleased to be partnering with Wright & Round Music Publishers to offer potential publication for the winning piece.

Established in 1875, Wright & Round is one of the oldest publishing houses in brass banding and its catalogue carries in excess of 5,000 titles. The company publishes works by many of today’s popular composers including Philip Harper, the current music editor, and has always been keen to promote new talent.

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Wright & Round say - The winning entry will be put forward for potential publication with Wright & Round Music Publishers. ​Entrants should note that Wright & Round select music for publication based on its commercial potential, a fact which may give composers a slightly different approach to their work. Wright & Round will decide suitability after the result is announced.

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For further information or if you have any questions, please contact Sidney on sidney.pycroft@unibrass.co.uk

See below for the competition rules and submission form.

The Judge: Liz Lane

We are delighted to welcome Liz back as our judge for the third year of this competition! As with last year, she will be working alongside a pair of shadow judges to determine the winning composition.

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Liz Lane’s music has been commissioned, performed and recorded worldwide; her music is regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 3, most recently Beyond the Light and Rhythm of Light on the series Brass Banding with Hannah Peel. Performers include Bjørsvik Brass, Brighouse and Rastrick, Cory, Foden’s, Manger Musikklag and Wellington brass bands, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Carducci String Quartet, Austin Larsen (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra), Steven Mead and David Thornton.

 

She was Composer in Association with Grimethorpe Colliery Band (2021-2025), the first woman in a role of this kind in UK banding history, and is Composer in Residence with Lydbrook Band in the Forest of Dean.

 

Liz was the judge for the new UniBrass Composition Competition in 2024 and 2025.

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Liz's Top Tips

  • Visit your university brass band and sit in on a rehearsal

  • Go to a concert and/or contest

  • Try out ideas with some of the players (especially instruments you might not know so well)

  • Search YouTube to find music you admire

  • Immerse yourself in the soundworld by playing (not a trained brass or percussion player - perhaps some extra percussion?)

  • Ask to borrow some scores

  • Ask if the band could find some time to play through your music

  • Check out the Cory Band 'Scoring for Beginners' video by Philip Harper

 
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Our Shadow Judges

Lucy Green
CompComp25 Winner - 'Fading Signals'

Winning the UniBrass Composer Competition was an incredibly rewarding experience that opened up new opportunities for me as a composer. It gave me the chance to have my music performed by the wonderful Flowers Band and to receive invaluable feedback from Liz Lane.

 

I came to the competition with a background in electronic/experimental/contemporary classical music. UniBrass gave me the opportunity to push that work into a new and exciting context.

 

Lucy’s Top Tip: Listen to as much brass music as you can - old, new, traditional, experimental and don’t be afraid to write something different.

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Christian Goodwin
UniBrass 2025 Best Student Composition or Arrangement - ‘Hydra’

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I am honoured to have been invited to be a Shadow Judge for this year’s Unibrass Composition Competition. It was a dream come true to hear my piece “Hydra” played by the Oxford University Brass Band at UniBrass this year, and I am now doubly excited to be working on this competition alongside the incredibly talented Liz Lane and Lucy Green!

 

The Competition is truly a fantastic opportunity for student composers to get involved in the lively world of brass band composition and I can’t wait to hear this year’s submissions!

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Christian’s Top Tip: Firstly, try to compose music which excites or interests you, we want to hear your unique musical voice! Secondly, when bringing your vision to life, consider the particular idiosyncrasies and opportunities presented by the brass band format – and see Liz’s top tips for getting to grips with it!

Previous Winners

2025 - Lucy Green (Fading Signals) - Available from BrookWright Music Publishers
2024 - Naomi Rebecca Hill (Calling) - Available from Wright & Round Music Publishers

Previous Shortlists

2025
Lucy Green (Fading Signals), Joe Galuszka (Extinction: 2100), Oliver Beck (Enter Dreamworld)
2024
Naomi Rebecca Hill (Calling), George Owen (Afternoon Circus),
Mary Lillington (Island Life), Charlie Whelan (The Warmth of Other Suns)

Submit your composition

Upload Score File
Upload supported file (Max 15MB)
Upload Recording
Upload supported file (Max 15MB)

Thanks for submitting your UniBrass Composition Competition entry.

Competition Rules & Regulations

  1. The composed piece must:

    • a) be an original composition, 

    • b) not infringe any copyright, 

    • c) be arranged for a standard brass band, 

    • d) be between 3 and 6 minutes in length.

  2. Must never have been submitted as coursework, to another competition or award, including the in-contest student composition or arrangement award, or performed publicly.

  3. Must be playable by a Championship section band after a few rehearsals.

  4. Entrants must be aged 18-25 as of 1st July 2025 OR a student at any UK university or a recent graduate of 2 academic years.

  5. The presumptive winner will be contacted by email, they must provide proof of age/student status/graduate status within 7 days of the email being sent. Failure to provide acceptable proof of age/status within this timeframe will result in forfeiture of the competition and the runner-up will be contacted for proof of status. This process will continue as necessary.

  6. Submissions shall be made via a form at unibrass.co.uk/composition-competition

  7. Submissions must include an MP3 audio file and PDF score.

  8. Compositions shall be judged blind, nothing identifiable should be on the score or recording.

  9. The composer will retain all rights to the work

    • a) By entering a submission to the UniBrass Composition Competition you give permission for the UniBrass Foundation, in perpetuity, to use, record, upload, and publicise the work without further compensation. â€‹â€‹â€‹

    • b) If the work is selected for publication, a further agreement with the publisher will be made, which is not covered by these Terms of Reference. Any publication shall bear the text “Winner of the UniBrass 2026 Composition Competition”, and does not change the permission given in 9) a. 

    • c) The entrant shall bear the sole liability for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from the submission, its use, recording, or publicity.

  10. The deadline for entries is at 23:59 on 6th December 2025. 

  11. UniBrass reserves the right to change and/or withdraw any part, or the whole, of the competition at any time, without prior warning.

  12. By submitting a composition to this competition you agree to the above rules.

Support Us

Our annual UniBrass entertainments contest offers students a much needed place to perform and come together, and for audiences to enjoy high quality brass banding entertainment. To support our work, please consider making a donation to UniBrass:

Support Us

From supporting the UniBrass contest to helping set up new university brass bands, your donation will help advance the UK’s vibrant brass band future and support the next generation of brass musicians.

Join our UniBrass Lottery with cash prizes up to £25,000! Each entry costs just £1 and UniBrass receives a direct donation of at least 50p per entry which will go directly towards our projects. 

A minimum of 50% of the total lottery proceeds are spent on supporting the work carried out by the UniBrass Foundation, 18.4% on prizes and 31.6% on the running cost and administration of the lottery. The likelihood of an entry winning a prize is 1 in 63. A complete set of rules can be found at https://www.unitylottery.co.uk/rules/, and information on how winners are selected can be found at https://www.unitylottery.co.uk/prizes/

© 2025 by UniBrass Foundation

UniBrass Foundation is a Registered Charity in England & Wales, No. 1159359

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