2026 Psalm Chant winner

The PRISM Board takes great pleasure in announcing that Samuel Kuffuor-Afriyie is the winner of this year's International Psalm Chant Competition. Samuel's chant is for Psalm 116, "I love the Lord because he has heard the voice of my supplication".

The runner up is Dan Ahigren with his setting for Psalm 121, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills".

Both chants are available for free download from the PRISM website Resources page for use by choirs in services.

Meet Samuel Kuffuor-Afriyie – Winner

Samuel Kuffuor-Afriyie is a New York City–based organist, conductor, and composer whose work sits at the intersection of music, education, and community engagement. He holds degrees from the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University, the Whitman School of Management (MBA), and the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Dr. Anne Laver and Dr. Andrew Henderson. He is a recipient of Syracuse University’s SOURCE Grant, supporting research on integrating traditional Ghanaian folk idioms into new organ compositions.

He is an active church musician and educator, having served in roles at Grace Episcopal Church (Syracuse), Mother AME Zion Church (NYC), Union Theological Seminary (NYC), and most notably the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. Samuel is the founder of the Accra Organ and Choral Institute, now the Yaa Asantewaa Foundation, an international arts initiative expanding access to music education and performance across borders. He also contributes to the leadership of GHUMECC-NA, supporting choral collaboration and conference programming among Ghanaian Methodist choirs in North America. Following Easter, he will begin his new role as Director of Music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn (Flatbush), New York.

"This work was inspired in part by the recent passing of Richard Smallwood and his setting of Psalm 116 in I Love the Lord. While reflecting on his music at the organ, I was drawn to the psalm’s themes of deliverance, gratitude, and personal testimony. Smallwood’s harmonic language and expressive lyricism deeply shaped my approach, particularly in moments of tension and release.

"This is especially evident in the third quarter of my work, where the music aligns with the text 'the cords of death entangled me'. Here, a dense, chromatic sonority creates a sense of compression and unrest, before giving way to a brighter, more expansive theme of redemption, inspired by the words, 'I was brought low, and He helped me.'"

Meet Dan Ahlgren – Runner-up 2026

Dan Ahlgren is a singer and composer who resides in Indianapolis, Indiana (USA). After graduating from DePauw University with a degree in vocal performance in 2004, he went on to sing in various groups including the Christ Church Cathedral Chancel Choir, Indianapolis Opera, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, and Intimate Opera of Indianapolis. In 2024, while looking through some old music, he rediscovered a piece that he wrote his senior year for an independent student-led choir that he sang with at DePauw. After bringing this piece to his church choir, his passion for composition was reignited, and he has been writing new music ever since.

"Psalm 121 has always been one of my favorite psalm texts. It has been set by many composers, and several settings of the text are among some of my favorite choral anthems, with the text providing plentiful opportunities for vivid text panting. In January 2026, I finished my own setting of Psalm 121 for SATB choir and soprano solo. When I learned about the PRISM International Psalm Chant Competition, I decided to take a few of the chords I used in that piece and use it as the inspiration for a chant setting."

PRISM Board thanks the adjudicator panel for this year's psalm competition for their work in considering all the entries to arrive at the winners. Our thanks to: Ms Emma Gibbins, Chelmsford Cathedral, UK; Ms Claudia Grinnell, St Edmundsbury Cathedral, UK; Mr Ian Roberts, Newcastle Cathedral, UK; Mr Richard Tanner, St Thomas' Church, 5th Avenue, New York, USA; Mr Anthony Tattersall, St John's Cathedral, Napier, New Zealand; Ms Maxine Thévenot, St John's Cathedral, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Details of the adjudicators are on our Psalm Competition page.

Our grateful thanks to Mr Peter Meyer, New Zealand, for his gift of the prize money.