THE HELGAARD STEYN AWARDS 2026
Nominations are open for the annual Helgaard Steyn Awards, which will be awarded in the music composition category this year.
The prizes are awarded in a quadrennial cycle, rotating among the disciplines of musical composition, painting, literature and sculpture. The value of the prize has increased considerably over the past decades, making the Helgaard Steyn Award one of the most substantial art prizes in the country (exceeding R500 000).
The previous recipients of the Helgaard Steyn Award for Music Composition are Roelof Temmingh, Peter Klatzow, Stefans Grové, Hans Huyssen, Adrian More and Christo Jankowitz
The deadline for nominations is 14 August 2026 - must be submitted to E-mail: info@helgaardsteynawards.co.za
Prof Alexander Johnson of the University of the Free State, Prof Chris van Rhyn of North-West University and Dr Evans Netshivhambe of the University of South Africa are the adjudication panel for the 2026 award.
Entries must include a description of the work, motivation for the entry, details of public performances of the work, biography of the composer, the score of the composition and/or any recordings of the work.
All entries or inquiries can be sent to info@helgaardsteynpryse.co.za.
The deadline for nominations is 14 August 2026.
Requirements and conditions for the nomination of candidates:
- Any composer born in South Africa is eligible for the Helgaard Steyn Award. The prize will be awarded to the nominated contemporary art music composition considered the most meritorious by the adjudication panel. The work must have been produced and performed in the four-year period from 2022 to 2025. A recording must be available and/or the work must have been performed professionally to the public.
- Any individual, organisation or institution in the music discipline may nominate a composition to the adjudication panel by submitting a written motivation, a curriculum vitae of the composer and details of the work, including a score (if applicable) and a recording (or a link to an online recording).
Submission criteria:
- Compositions should be at least 10 minutes long.
- They may be composed for any setting, including solo instrument or voice (accompanied or unaccompanied), ensembles, orchestras, electronic music and electro-acoustic music. Works for staged performances such as operas, ballets and contemporary dance pieces may also be submitted.
- Acoustic works must include a score.
- Electronic music and electro-acoustic works should include detailed performance instructions and, if relevant, a score.
- Electronic music scores should include an outline of the composition’s design, including a list of the recorded and electronically generated sounds used.
- All submissions should include an MP3 sound or/and an MP4 video recording.
Evaluation criteria:
- Scores, where relevant, must be of a professional standard. The notation and other performance directions should be clear and editorially faultless, as should the layout.
- Performance instructions and outlines should be clear and editorially faultless.
- Although their style is not prescribed, the works should reflect a mature and novel compositional voice.
- Works should display an advanced technique, including advanced knowledge of the instruments/voices and/or electronic resources used and a sound structural design. This does not imply that compositional resources may not be deliberately used in unidiomatic ways.
- The adjudicators interpret the spirit of the Helgaard Steyn Trust’s provisions to imply that the merits of the winning composition should include an exemplification of a high level of artistic achievement and innovative leadership by the composer over an extended period.
- No correspondence on the merits of any specific award will be undertaken on behalf of the Helgaard Steyn Trust after the adjudicators’ recommendation has been submitted to the trustees and the name of the recipient of the award has been announced.
Helgaard Steyn Awards are awarded annually, alter- nated in a four-year cycle, to:
The painter who, during the afore-going four years, produced the best painting and offered it for sale at a public exhibition, or who produced such painting, commissioned by a private person or a public body, on the understanding that it be placed in public in a way that allows reasonable public access.
The author of the best work of any nature in Afrikaans that, during the afore-going four years, was offered for sale on the open market in at least three hundred (300) print-copies.
The sculptor who, during the afore-going four years, produced the best sculpture and offered it for sale at a public exhibition, or who produced such sculpture, commissioned by a private person or a public body, on the understanding that it be placed in public in a way that allows reasonable public access.
The composer who, during the afore-going four years, composed the best piece of music and offered at least ten complete copies available for sale on the open market.
The History of the Helgaard Steyn Trust
The Helgaard Steyn Trust originates from the estate of the late Dr. Johan Heinrich (Jan) Steyn. He was born on 20 April, 1902 and was the eldest of six children of Barendina Wilhelmina (Dina) Richter and Hillegard Mulder (Helgaard) Steyn.
Dr. Steyn was an ex-student of the former Grey University College (the present-day University of the Free State). He obtained a doctorate in Economy and Political Science (cum laude) from the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
In 1961, Potchef- stroom University College (the present-day North-West University) awarded him with an honorary doctorate in Economic Science.
Until his retirement, in 1966, he served as an MP for Potchefstroom. Dr. Steyn was never married. He died in Bloemfontein on 15 December, 1983 at the age of 81 years.
