John Ireland Song Competition

Please note - this competition is for University of St Andrews students only.

A competition for Singer and Pianist duos

This competition offers singers and pianists a unique opportunity to collaborate and present together a short program of John Ireland songs.

Competition information

1st Round - deadline is 30th January 2026 at 3pm (end of week 1 Semester 2)
2 songs by John Ireland sung from memory and presented by video submission.

Video submission process: Upload videos to Onedrive making sure they are shareable with office staff member Angele Baum - ab681@st-andrews.ac.uk. Please also send her an email confirming you have uploaded the video.

Live Final - from 2.15pm onwards, Thursday 12 February 2026
3 songs by John Ireland sung from memory
Adjudicators: Tenor and Honorary Professor of Singing - James Gilchrist and accompanist Anna Tilbrook.

Prizes: 1st £250, 2nd £150 and 3rd £100 for each singer and pianist awarded on merit.

Pianists may accompany more than one singer.

Performers are allowed to make transpositions and may scan songs. Pianists may perform using scans on digital devices.

Both songs in the video submission may be repeated in the final plus one new song.

Each vocal teacher will have a full set of published Ireland songs available to them (from the office) for perusal - as will Anca Nite-Doyle the Keyboard Co-ordinator.

Anca Nite-Doyle and1@st-andrews.ac.uk is the first port of call for singers looking for pianists.

Because of the short time between video submissions and the final, duos are advised to choose their three songs at the beginning of the process.