GCC Composition Competition
GCC holds a bi-annual Composition Competition to support the creation of new choral repertoire
2025-2026 Winner
Minjoo Kim, Before the Battle
Minjoo Kim is a composer currently based in Toronto, whose works explore the interplay between traditional Korean music and contemporary Western idioms. Her music has been featured by the MacMillan Singers, Mannes Orchestra, and York Chamber Ensemble, among others.
In 2025, she completed her DMA composition recital at the University of Toronto and premiered her commissioned choral piece “Swing Hosanna” with the MacMillan Singers at CoSA Canada.
Previous honors include the Martinu Composition Prize from Mannes School of Music and a commission for the Beethoven 250th anniversary at the German Consulate General in NYC.
Minjoo holds degrees from Mannes School of Music and is currently a doctoral candidate and Music Skills III TA at the University of Toronto, where she serves as Composer in Residence for the MacMillan Singers.
On why she selected “Before the Battle” for this new work for double choir, Minjoo said that it “was chosen for its profound reflection on the horrors of war and individual fear, conveying a sense of emptiness, dread, hopelessness, resignation and a faint glimmer of hope.”
Honourable Mention
Janet Correia, The Bells
Janet is an active musician and educator with 25+ years of experience in music education, collaborative accompanying, choral singing and conducting. Janet serves as Music Director at St. Luke’s Anglican Church Palermo and maintains a full private classical piano studio in Oakville.
She is the Collaborative Pianist with Myriad Ensemble, an upper voice choir in Burlington, and previously held the role of Collaborative Pianist and Associate Conductor with the Oakville Choir for Children & Youth for two decades.
2023-2024 Winner
Nicholas Kelly, The Colour of Earth
Nicholas first decided to pursue composition to compose film scores. However, he discovered that because of his interest in melody and poetry, this urge to tell stories through music was better suited to choral music.
Commended by the Vancouver Sun for his “sophisticated work of such immediate, glittery appeal” and called “a rising star in the constellation of Canadian composers” by Oregon Arts Watch, Nicholas Ryan Kelly writes choral, wind ensemble, and chamber music with a sense of cinematic drama.
His choral compositions have recently been performed by many of Canada’s top choirs, including Chor Leoni, Da Capo Chamber Choir, Elektra Women’s Choir, Pro Coro Canada, Vancouver Chamber Choir, and the National Youth Choir of Canada. International performances include the Singapore Youth Choir, the Capital Hearings (Washington, DC), the West Point Band of the US Army, and many others. Since 2016, he has received over 20 national and international composition prizes, including the Howard Cable Prize from the Canadian Band Association and the Edwin Fissinger Choral Composition Prize.
Honourable Mention
Clark Lawlor, The Close of Day
Clark is a software engineer and award-winning choral composer based in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. His recent accolades include First Prize in the 2023 International Contest of Choral Composition University of Alcala (Spain); First Prize in the 2023 Utah ACDA Choral Composing Competition; winner of the 2023 NDSU Fissinger Choral Composition Prize (professional division); and finalist in the 2023 Ensemble Altera Composition Competition.
Clark is somewhat of a newcomer to the choral composing scene. Although he studied music at the University of Utah in the early 2000s, Clark dropped out before earning a degree to pursue a more “responsible” career.
In 2022, after over 15 years away, Clark decided to join a local choir, and shortly thereafter began composing choral music again.
