VAYA AUTUMN 2025 Online LARGE ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL

The VAYA Online LARGE ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL is open to Concert Bands, Orchestras, World Music, Jazz and Percussion Ensembles from around the world.

Registration is ongoing until December 21, 2025
Adjudications will be returned approximately three weeks from submission.
Awards for groups and soloists will be announced January 31, 2026

Affiliated with

How to participate

Get the VAYA AUTUMN 2025 Online LARGE ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL SYLLABUS (pdf) and select the classes you wish to enter.
Register online on our VAYA Online LARGE ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL Registrations page.
Film a video of your performance in one continuous take – one video file for each selection.
Upload your recordings to your own YouTube channel as an UNLISTED video – so anyone with the link can view it.
Email (gm@vayafestivals.ca) a link to your video. Attach a PDF of your sheet music/scores and your completed entry form
Please note: We are unable to accept Google Drive or Dropbox links. We are unable to accept any formats other than PDF.

ADJUDICATORS

Colin Clarke, Toronto, Canada (Bands and Orchestras)

Colin Clarke is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra program, and maintains an active career as a sought-after conductor, clinician, and adjudicator.

A recipient of the Clifford Evens Award for Conducting at the University of Western Ontario, Colin participated in conducting workshops at the University of North Texas and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. While at the International Conducting Workshop in Sofia, Bulgaria, he conducted the symphonies of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky with the highly celebrated New Symphony Orchestra of Sofia and studied with noted pedagogues Gustav Meier and Rossen Milanov. Colin made his Carnegie Hall debut in May 2006 with the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra and returned to Carnegie Hall in 2011 and 2016.

With a passion for music education and outreach, Colin maintains a commitment to working with young people and the community. He has guest conducted several orchestras and choirs across the country and has led the National Youth Band of Canada. In November 2020, he was awarded the Ontario Band Association’s Lifetime Membership Award for his contribution to music education in Ontario.

In addition to the Wind Orchestra, Colin also serves as Conductor of the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra and Artistic Director of the newly created Oscar Peterson Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music .

Scott Leithead - Edmonton, Canada (Choirs)

Scott Leithead is the founder and Artistic Director of Edmonton's Kokopelli Choir Association and TIME Association. He has been invited to conduct provincial and state honour choirs on twenty-five occasions and has presented workshops in North America and beyond. Scott has a passion for music from southern Africa, and he has been invited to work with choirs in South Africa and Namibia on numerous occasions.

Under his direction, Kokopelli was the winner of both the 2015 CBC National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs and both the 2015 and 2016 Canadian National Music Competition. In the summer of 2019, Kokopelli was invited to perform at the IFCM World Choral Expo in Portugal, where they represented Canada on the world stage. Also in 2019, Kokopelli was featured on an episode of CTV's The Amazing Race Canada.

Scott is a long-time member of the advisory committee for the Canadian Rocky Mountain Music Festival. He is also past president of the Braille Tone Music Society as well as the National Youth Music and Art Development Foundation of South Africa.

Scott was awarded Choir Alberta’s top honour, the Richard S. Eaton Award in 2015, the Salute to Excellence award in 2016 and the Syncrude Award for Innovative Direction.