The Ariel Bybee
Endowment 2026
This Year’s Prize: Choral Music
Neylan McBaine announces the 2026 Prize and shares her mother Ariel Bybee’s early connection to choral music in the 5th grade.
One artist’s legacy.
Nine rotating disciplines.
The Ariel Bybee Endowment at the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts was established in 2021 to honor the legacy of distinguished mezzo-soprano Ariel Bybee (American, 1943-2018). Each year, the Endowment grants a prize/commission for the creation of new art or original scholarship by Latter-day Saints as a result of a call for submissions. The disciplines represented by the Endowment correspond to her career highlights and passions in one of these nine, rotating categories: opera, dance, scholarship, art songs, youth education, hymns, visual arts, collaborative arts, and choral music.
2026 Prize: Choral Music
In our fifth year, The Ariel Bybee Endowment is focusing on choral music. We are inviting composers to submit proposals for a new work for chorus, a capella or with piano accompaniment, 5-7 minutes in duration, appropriate to be programmed as an uptempo work to begin a concert program.
In Partnership With
We are pleased to announce that the winning composition will be premiered by Salt Lake Vocal Artists with Dr. Brady Allred, conductor, in 2027, with the work professionally recorded and filmed to share with additional conductors. Salt Lake Vocal Artists (SLVA) is one of the premier choral ensembles in the United States. Artistic Director of the Salt Lake Choral Artists organization since 2004 and conductor of the 45-voice ensemble, SLVA, Dr. Brady Allred has led award-winning choral ensembles at major festivals and competitions around the world.
The duration of the piece should be approximately 5-7 minutes in length. Text for the work is up to you. All intellectual property arrangements are the responsibility of the composer with financial arrangements, if any, to be borne by the composer.
The winning entry will receive a $5,000 prize. $1,000 of that amount will be awarded upon the announcement of the prize. The winning composer will collaborate with Dr. Brady Allred throughout the composition process. The remainder of the prize will be received upon the delivery of the score, approved by Dr. Brady Allred, no later than December 1, 2026.
Applications are open starting November 5th, 2025 and will close January 15th, 2026. Please click below to read all application instructions carefully.
Choral Music &
Like many vocal soloists, Ariel began singing at church and in congregational and school choirs. At her 5th grade choral program, she recalls that being the first time she realized the potential for her vocal talent.