International Christian Choral Celebration 2025 – ENTRY DEADLINE

Excelsia University College is inviting choirs worldwide to join the 2025 International Christian Choral Celebration – we hope to end up with a giant playlist of some the finest and most touching choral performances from across the world, to serve both as inspiration and as a catalyst for further discussion and exploration.

ENTER YOUR CHOIR
Entry is completely free, and open to church, community, school, college and other amateur or professional choirs – of all kinds and sizes from across the world.  Entry is simple: all you need are links to two (existing or brand new) videos, each being a performance of a song or piece of music with a Christian text or theme – in any language, in any genre, from any period.  The only conditions are that one of the two pieces should be a setting of words or a theme from the Psalms; all performances must be unaccompanied – no instruments (though clapping and body percussion are allowed!); and each piece should be no longer than eight minutes.  The entry deadline is 1 July, but there is no need to wait, as earlier entries help us to shape the themes and structure of the final Celebration playlist.  Submissions are open now.

WILLIAM BYRD PRIZE
To encourage entries, Excelsia is offering the William Byrd Prize of $5000 (Australian dollars) for the performance that most moves the listening panel.  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.  Byrd was a Christian believer who stood firm in the face of severe restrictions on his faith from the government and society of his time, and sometimes outright persecution.  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 others around the world who are not so free.  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.

For further information and how to enter with your choir, please visit and share this link:
https://excelsia.edu.au/international-christian-choral-celebration/