09/11/2025
USOC had a wonderful afternoon in Armagh yesterday, hearing all the finalists’ entries for the USOC Organ Composition Competition, in association with Royal College of Organists Year.
Congratulations to all the competitors for their pieces, which the audience and judges greatly enjoyed hearing. There was a huge variety of styles, textures, themes, moods, and more.
There were over 60 entries for the competition and 13 shortlisted pieces for yesterday’s William Adair Recital, which took place in St Patrick’s Cathedral (Church of Ireland), Armagh.
The entries remained totally anonymous to the judging panel and the audience, and were only revealed once the judges had made their decision.
The RESULTS were announced, to warm applause, at the concert, and are as follows:
The winner of the ‘Aged 18 and under category’ is Chit Soo, for the piece Theme and Variations on ‘Let all mortal flesh keep silence’. Congratulations to Chit Soo, whose composition showed considerable skill in counterpoint (both canon and fugue), interesting textures, and good overall flow and form.
In the ‘Aged 19 and over category’, there was a “highly commended” piece: this was Rachel Hocking’s Postlude on ‘Lobe den Herren’. The three judges felt that this was a fine piece, well-written for the organ, with catchy rhythmic interplay between the voices, and - again - interesting textures, and that it captured the sense of praise inherent in the text of this hymn. Congratulations to Rachel Hocking.
Finally, in the ‘Aged 19 and over category’, the winner was Paul Ayres Paul Ayres for his Hyfrodol-Carillon. In the concert, this work immediately won the judges over through its excellent writing for the instrument, clever picking out of the melody, its rhythmic interest, its harmonic interest, its good use of contrasting textures to a finely-judged degree (including saving the pedal for a warm and majestic entrance), and - again - a piece which well reflected the joyous sense of the original tune. Many congratulations to Paul Ayres.
The three judges - Robert Gower (Chair, an editor for Oxford University Press, among other roles), Anselm McDonnell, composer, and USOC President, Matthew Owens - thought that the creativity of all the finalists was admirable.
Special thanks to the three players who learned the new works, Neale Agnew, Alf Casement, and Orly Watson, and to the two guest judges, Robert and Anselm.
USOC thanks all the competitors very much for their participation and congratulates them all, and - in particular - Chit Soo, Rachel Hocking, and Paul Ayres.
