St Hilda's College
St Hilda’s College and the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building are delighted to announce that the inaugural Oxford–Japan Prize for Composition 2025 has been awarded to Jacques Allen for his solo piano work A Plum’s Haiku.
Following an anonymous review process, the work was unanimously selected by a distinguished jury comprising Joanna MacGregor CBE (Chair of Piano, Royal Academy of Music), Professor Martyn Harry (Artistic Director, Jacqueline du Pré Music Building), and Yuko Sano (Steinway Artist). A Plum’s Haiku was recognised for its poetic imagination, structural clarity, and sensitive engagement with intercultural dialogue.
The piece draws inspiration from Tsuda Umeko (1864–1929) – whose name translates as plum – a former visiting student at St Hilda’s College and founder of one of Japan’s oldest and most prestigious higher education institutions for women. It also draws inspiration from the plum tree planted in her memory at the College.
As part of the prize, A Plum’s Haiku will receive its world premiere at Suntory Hall, Tokyo, on 2 April 2026, performed by Yuko Sano, Steinway Artist and Co-Artistic Director of the award, as part of her solo recital in one of the world’s most iconic concert venues.
The UK premiere will take place in Oxford at St Hilda’s Jacqueline du Pré Music Building on Saturday 31 October 2026, as part of the International Piano Series, also performed by Yuko Sano. This concert will additionally feature the world premiere of the runner-up piece, The Work Expands to Fit the Time Available for its Completion by Richard Meehan, a doctoral student at St Hilda’s. (Please note this concert date corrects the previously announced February 2027 date in the award’s original guidelines.)
“A Plum’s Haiku is an exceptional example of what the Oxford–Japan Prize for Composition was created to encourage: a work that is technically assured, imaginatively conceived, and deeply attentive to cultural and historical connections. It is especially meaningful that Jacques found such a compelling way to connect his music to St Hilda’s and its alumna Tsuda Umeko, making its premieres at Suntory Hall and later at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building all the more fitting.” – Emmanuel Sowicz, Co-Artistic Director of the Oxford–Japan Prize for Composition
The Oxford–Japan Prize for Composition was established to support the creation of outstanding new music by Oxford students and recent graduates, while fostering understanding between the UK and Japan. The prize is hosted by the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building and St Hilda’s College, with additional support from the Barbara and Harry Gould Jnr Artist Fund.
We warmly congratulate Jacques Allen on this achievement and look forward to presenting A Plum’s Haiku to audiences in Tokyo and Oxford.