A meeting of the Jury of the 16th International "Musica Sacra Nova" Composers Competition 2020 took place in Rome on 8 February 2020. 78 compositions from 16 countries, including Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Canada, Austria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, USA, were sent to the competition.
The Jury composed of: Paweł Łukaszewski (Poland) – chairman, Vaclovas Augustinas (Lithuania), Eriks Esenvalds (Latvia), Vincenzo de Gregorio (Vatican City), Andrea Angelini (Italy), Stephen Layton (Great Britain) oraz Enjott Schneider (Germany) decided to award the following prizes:
Category A - mixed choir a cappella
I prize: Aleksander Jan Szopa (Poland) for Ubi caritas, 2500 €.
II prize: Paolo Orlandi (Italy) for Ave Regina caelorum, 2000 €.
III prize: Steven Heelein (Germany) for Lux et origo, 1500 €.
The premieres and recordings of the works awarded in this category will take place at the "Musica Sacra Nova" International Festival of Sacred Music in Brauweiler. The composition of the winner of the first prize will be also performed in Cambridge, Vilnius and Gdańsk.
Category B - liturgical composition for mixed choir and organ
I prize: Fe Yuen (Hong Kong) for Ave maris Stella, 2000 €.
II prize: Joanna Widera (Poland) for Agnus Dei, 1500 €,.
III prize: Johannes X. Schachtner (Germany) for Missa brevissima, 1000 €.
The compositions awarded in this category will be premiered at the International Festival "Laboratory of Contemporary Music" in Gdańsk.
Special Prize of The Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Cologne for the best Polish composer in the amount of 1.000 € went to Aleksander Jan Szopa.
Congratulations to all the winners!