Music Performance UNSW has announced that Nicholas Vines has been selected as the 2025 Willgoss Choral Composition Prize winner for his composition A Bhandari Pilgrimage.

Supported by the late Dr Richard Willgoss and Sue Willgoss, the Prize awards Vines $3500 and the premiere performance of his work.

The Willgoss Choral Composition Prize aims to celebrate rising composers and provide invaluable support to the Australian choral community.

Nicholas Vines. Photo supplied

“I am so excited to be the recipient of the 2025 Willgoss Choral Composition Prize. Regardless of age or stage, it is always an honour for a composer to have their music recognised,” said Vines.

Vines is an accomplished composer  whose work has been performed across Australia, America, Europe and Asia. He has been commissioned by organisations including ChamberMade Opera, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Apex, the Acacia Quartet and more. He was a 2010 Fellow in Composition at the Tanglewood Music Centre, and his work has been submitted to the ISCM World Music Days by the Australian Music Centre.

Vines has worked as a lecturer in music at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of...