The 2025 Lawson-May Award for Composition

This prestigious award of £3000, generously sponsored by Neil Lawson-May (left), is now in its fifth year and has already attracted over a thousand entries from all over the world. The award is open to composers of all ages and nationalities.

The 2025 competition is now receiving entries. The work must be a ballade for solo piano between 6 and 12 minutes in length.

The world premiere will be given at the 2025 Solent Music Festival and must not have been previously performed in public or recorded for public distribution.

Please send scores as a PDF file, ideally with an attached audio file or a link to one, to Sophia (lawsonmayaward@gmail.com). The deadline is 31st January, 2025 and results will be announced on 1st March, 2025

Previous Winners

2021 – ‘Qebui’ for piano trio by Eduardo Soutullo (Spain)
2022 – ‘Atemkristall’ for cello and piano by Gianluca Castelli (Italy)
2023 – ‘Aimai’ for shakuhachi and tenor recorder by Hibiki Mukai (Japan)
2024 – ‘Vanishing Corals’