We are delighted to hear from The Bersted Community Choir as they begin their first rehearsals on A Life Lived With Grace. We can’t wait to hear their final performance!
If you would like to share your videos or audio with us, please do get in touch, we love to hear from everyone!
The Grand final of the Commonwealth International Composition Award will take place at 6pm on Friday 4th March 2022.
Ten wonderful pieces by our shortlisted young composers from all over the world, mentored by advanced students from the Royal Northern College of Music
The Princess Alexandra Hall, Royal Over-Seas League, Over-Seas House, Park Place, London SW1A 1LR
The Grand Final will be livestreamed
Free entry with a collection at the end to help support online composition teaching for young
people via ‘Go Compose Online’
This is the very first recording of ‘A Song for the Commonwealth’ – just to introduce it to everyone.
It can be sung in many different ways, in different keys and by different groups of voices. We shall help choirs to find the right version for themselves!
You can find plenty of alternative arrangements on this page. We will be adding to this so if one doesn’t work for you, please check back or get in touch with us.
Please read the TERMS AND CONDITIONS carefully.
We are be very excited to be working with all the choirs who have already signed up and warmly encourage others to join us.
Music by: Vincent Atueyi Chinemelu
Lyrics by: Lucy Kiely
Performed by: Sacha Dow (treble), Charlotte Potter (Soprano), Elisha Jade (Soprano), Leyla Ruby (Soprano), Clare Sutherland (Alto), Stephen Mike Chidi (Tenor), Toby Hession (Bass), Patrick Owston (Bass), Joaquim Badia (Backing track)
Produced by: Tom Bell
One month ago we were delighted to announce the winners of A Song for the Commonwealth here on our website. There has been a great deal of international interest in the competition and we want to recognise all those who entered, as well as those reached the shortlist and the final. The standard was exceptionally high and many of those taking part created beautiful, memorable works.
Alison Cox OBE, Founder of the Commonwealth Resounds said…
Everyone has done amazingly well to reach this stage in the competition from such a large number of entries around the Commonwealth. All entrants should feel very proud of themselves indeed – knowing that their songs were right up there with the very, very best and could well have been the winning entries.
Music by: Vincent Atueyi Chinemelu
Lyrics by: Lucy Kiely
Performed by: Sacha Dow (treble), Charlotte Potter (Soprano), Elisha Jade (Soprano), Leyla Ruby (Soprano), Clare Sutherland (Alto), Stephen Mike Chidi (Tenor), Toby Hession (Bass), Patrick Owston (Bass), Joaquim Badia (Backing track)
Produced by: Tom Bell
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons competition for Commonwealth writers and lyricists ran from June 2nd – August 2nd 2021. Entrants were asked to write lyrics suitable for a Song for the Commonwealth. Three outstanding writers were chosen from a very large number of excellent entries and their lyrics were offered to composers from all over the world in the second stage of the competition.
Rodrica Rudge from the U.K. and Meenakshi Gautam Chaturvedi from India were two of the three winning lyricists.
The overall winning lyrics were written by Lucy Kiely from Australia.
The second stage of the competition, for Commonwealth composers, ran from September 2nd to November 2nd 2021. We were delighted that so many fascinating, deserving composers from all over the world entered for the Song for the Commonwealth Competition. From these, 12 songs were shortlisted, and just one week later, three finalists were chosen.
Stephen Joseph from the UK and Stephen Olusoji from Nigeria were two of our three finalists.
The winning song was composed by Vincent Atueyi Chinemelu from Nigeria.
Lyricist Finalist
Rodrica Rudge developed an enthusiasm for music, lyric writing and poetry at an early age. She started training as a classical pianist at the age of 8, taking exams at the Royal College of Music. Later on she learned how to play the cello and guitar. She began writing contemporary music across many genres and also became a published poet. She gained valuable media experience working in the advertising industry, planning and organising publicity campaigns for a wide range of clients including music promoters and their artists. With the development of new technology Rodrica set up her own recording studio and began writing, performing, producing and engineering her own projects. Her songs have been played on both terrestrial and internet radio, she has won a number of song writing competitions for her music compositions and lyrics, and she has created specially commissioned works for both individuals and businesses.
Lyricist Finalist
An internationally acclaimed author, national science research fellow, copywriter and model at different points in time, Meenakshi Gautam Chaturvedi has won Literati 2019, and was short-listed for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, 2015. She has eleven books to her credit including FOSTER LOVE, THE RUNAWAY MOON, THE MOON CAKE- A FAIRY TALE and others, spanning genres and publishers across continents. Versatility is her forte, testified by her works in polyphonous voices. She lives in Mumbai, India, with her husband Gautam and the inspiring memories of her parents- Late Sqn. Ldr. O. N. Misra and Late Mrs. Brijesh Misra, that keep her going.
Composer Finalist
Composer Finalist
Dr. Stephen Olusoji, is currently an Associate Professor of Music in the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos, Nigeria. He received his National Certificate of Education from the Polytechnic Ibadan, B.A.Music Hons Specialising in Composition (U.N.N), M.A., African Music, Ph.D. Musicology, and many other professional certificates. He won the maiden award for the best final year performance major student of his U.N.N set.
Stephen, is a Composer- Musicologist, whose works have been commissioned and performed in Nigeria and abroad. He is a member of Association of Nigerian Musicologists, Pan African Society of Musical Arts Educators, African Art Music Composers Forum and other associations. He participated and presented in the Harvard Radcliffe Institute Exploratory Virtual Seminar for Composers, Performers and Scholars (2021). He is happily married with children.
There were 12 shortlisted Commonwealth composers altogether, three of whom reached the final. However, the other nine composers all submitted beautiful, memorable songs, which were based upon one of the three sets of winning lyrics. A distinguished panel of adjudicators were deeply impressed by the quality and sincerity of all these songs and decisions were not easy. We are proud and delighted to be able to name the nine shortlisted composers here.
Commonwealth Secretary-General
Baritone
Master of the Queen’s Music
Founder and Chair of Trustees, The Commonwealth Resounds / Head of Composition, The Purcell School for Young Musicians.
Pageantmaster, The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons
Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation
Baritone, former Chairman of the Association of English Singers and Speakers.
We are delighted to announce our winners of A Song for the Commonwealth after a rigorous competition including lyricists and composers from across the entire Commonwealth.
We were delighted to receive so many excellent, meaningful entries. Every single piece of work has been carefully read or listened to by our panel of esteemed and distinguished adjudicators before the winners were chosen.
Music by: Vincent Atueyi Chinemelu
Lyrics by: Lucy Kiely
Performed by: Sacha Dow (treble), Charlotte Potter (Soprano), Elisha Jade (Soprano), Leyla Ruby (Soprano), Clare Sutherland (Alto), Stephen Mike Chidi (Tenor), Toby Hession (Bass), Patrick Owston (Bass), Joaquim Badia (Backing track)
Produced by: Tom Bell
To be selected as the winning lyricist on the unique occasion of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is a once-in-a-lifetime honour and I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the winning composer. I am thrilled that my lyrics ‘A Life Lived With Grace’ will be performed by choirs and community singers as the Beacons are lit throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth on 2nd June 2022, in celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s extraordinary 70-year reign.
Lucy Kiely is a 30-year-old singer songwriter from Sydney, Australia with a passion for jazz. After graduating from the University of Sydney, Lucy wrote, recorded and independently released two EPs and one LP of all original material inspired by her travels and life experiences. Lucy’s releases have enjoyed worldwide exposure across a variety of platforms. These days Lucy performs regularly as a vocalist, is writing her second full-length album and is currently a semi-finalist across nine different categories in the 2021 UK Songwriting Contest.
My joy rests on the fact that my humble effort has led to a gigantically bountiful harvest. I am so glad that my little song has attained a universal relevance and will cement the love and bond shared by all the peoples of the world as the song is sung as the Beacons are lit throughout the UK and the Commonwealth in celebration of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on 2nd June 2022. I am happy that through our song, with the lyrics written by my friend Lucy Kiely, the love, peace and harmony promoted by the Commonwealth of Nations through their involvement in The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons will become indelible in our minds and more real in our lives.
Vincent is a 38-year-old academic musician from Anambra State, Nigeria. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays the piano, flute, cello, trumpet, alto-sax and guitar and in 2021 he received the Department Award of Excellence from the University of Uyo, Nigeria after studying there for 5 years. Ordained as a Roman Catholic Priest in 2011 after his Theological studies, Vincent is credited with over a hundred religious, art and secular vocal music compositions, 30 piano works, arranged and composed orchestral pieces and musical solos. Presently, he has returned to the St. Dominic Savio Seminary in Akpu, Nigeria as Music Director again whilst preparing to further his studies in music to Master and Doctorate levels.
Commonwealth Secretary-General
Baritone
Master of the Queen’s Music
Founder and Chair of Trustees, The Commonwealth Resounds / Head of Composition, The Purcell School for Young Musicians.
Pageantmaster, The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons
Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation
Baritone, former Chairman of the Association of English Singers and Speakers.