A new national amateur choir competition
Applications Open June 2026
UK Choir of the Year is a national amateur choir competition celebrating excellence in choral singing across the UK. Open to choirs from a wide range of musical traditions, the competition aims to be accessible, fair, and artistically ambitious.
THE COMPETITION
Founded as a not-for-profit initiative by Sound Engineer Lucy Mitchell, UK Choir of the Year is designed to offer choirs a prestigious platform to perform, connect with peers, and share outstanding choral music with wider audiences.
At a glance:
Applications open in summer 2026.
Live finals at Milton Court, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 10th April 2027.
Access bursaries to help avoid barriers to entry.
Competition categories: Classical, Contemporary and Community.
Judges: conductor and gospel specialist Karen Gibson MBE, conductor and vocal specialist Dan Ludford-Thomas and composer Will Todd (see Judges tab for biographies.)
THE LAUNCH CONCERT
The competition is launched with a fundraising concert at Cadogan Hall on 18th May 2026, bringing three outstanding choirs together in celebration of choral music.
Proceeds from the concert support access bursaries and the delivery of the competition’s first year. Please see Fundraising Concert tab for more info.
Our founder Lucy was recently interviewed last year by ChoirFarm about the inspiration behind the competition and her hopes for its future. You can find her interview below. To read more about Lucy’s background, visit our About page.
GET INVOLVED
There are several ways to support UK Choir of the Year, including volunteering, donating, or sponsoring the competition. We also welcome interest from choirs who would like to be featured in our marketing.
A simple way you can help us is to support our social media pages. Follow us, and save/like/comment/share our content. Links below.