Excelsia University College proudly invites choirs worldwide to join the 2025 International Christian Choral Celebration – celebrating musical excellence, diverse worship traditions, and the underlying unity of the Christian faith. Entry is completely free for all choirs – join us to sing out in praise and solidarity, celebrating the transformative power of the Gospel in music!
Excelsia University College has a 40-year history of teaching creative and performing arts with a unique multi-denominational background of Christian mission and discipleship that celebrates the vast range of musical and liturgical traditions of all three major streams of the Christian church (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant). Following on from the first event in 2024, the International Christian Choral Celebration seeks to welcome the rich diversity of worship styles and practices, to celebrate musical excellence, and to underline our unity in the Christian faith.
Open to choirs of all kinds and sizes from across the world, the 2025 International Christian Choral Celebration will culminate in September, to coincide with the LUMEN 2025 conference, with a day of music curated from the submissions in front of an expert panel of choral directors and worship leaders in Sydney, Australia, which will be streamed online. As part of the day, the panel will discuss the place of music in worship and what can be learned from listening and responding to each other’s traditions and music-making.
Entry to the ICCC is free and open to church, community, school, college, and other amateur or professional choirs. As a spur to encourage quality and quantity of submissions, Excelsia is again offering a William Byrd Prize – of $5,000 (AUD) – to the performance which most touches the hearts of the panel.
Who was William Byrd? More than four centuries ago, William Byrd wrote some of the most beautiful sacred music for voices, both for public worship in churches, chapels, and cathedrals, and for private worship at home with family and friends. William Byrd was also a Christian who stood firm in the face of severe restrictions on his faith from the government and society of his time, and sometimes outright persecution – many around him lost their lives. Today singing Christian texts and songs, in some places, is still a very brave thing to do. Those of us who can freely sing do so in solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. Excelsia is hosting this International Christian Choral Celebration to encourage Christians everywhere to sing out in praise of God and in proclamation of the Gospel, with its power to transform lives.
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