Philip Bates Prize for Composers and Songwriters 2020

The 2020 competition was delayed due to Covid and, when it became obvious that a live concert final would be out of the question, we decided to organise an online competition instead. This has proved to be enormously popular and has attracted an unprecedented number of entries, 68 in all.

The extremely high standard of most of the submissions has made it difficult to choose a shortlist, but 12 compositions have now been selected to go through to the final. The two £400 adjudicated prizes will be awarded as usual but not the £200 audience prize. This prize money may be used for another award, at the discretion of the adjudicators.

The Results are In!

Here is the final result of the delayed Philip Bates Prize for Composers and Songwriters 2020.

Dr Larry Goves, who is the outside adjudicator appointed by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, wanted all the finalists to know how difficult it has been to come to a decision and we at Philip Bates Trust agree with that completely. Having been chosen from an initial entry of 68 to go through to the final is an achievement in itself.

In view of the high standard of the competition Philip Bates Trust has made additional prize money of £400 available to fund 2 second prizes: both adjudications have split these second prizes.

The results are:

Dr Larry Goves adjudication on behalf of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Martin and Sue Bates adjudication for Philip Bates Trust

1st Prize (£400) Michal Kawecki ‘Lost’ 1st Prize (£400) Niall Docherty ‘A Godly Dream’

Joint 2nd Prize (£100) Amelia Clarkson ‘Through His Gaze’ Joint 2nd Prize (£100) Leoni Hughes-King ‘Time’

Joint 2nd Prize (£100) Peter Hughes ’42 3′ Joint 2nd Prize (£100) Will Harmer ‘Drummer Hodge’

Highly commended Daniel Hall ‘A Dialogue of Transmogrified Souls’ Highly commended Joshua Dowling ‘The Song of Achilles’