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Congratulations to Borimir and Advaith (12LMO) both of whom have achieved outstanding success in competitions for young composers. Both have been selected as finalists in the international composing competition ‘Classical Music Stars’.  Being an impressively prolific Year 12 composer, for a second piece of music, Borimir has also been awarded first prize in the Surrey Hills Young Composers’ Competition. The prize include a performance of Borimir’s work in concert by a professional ensemble.

Surrey Hills Young Composers’ Competition

Borimir writes of his experience: ‘This competition asked for a work that would fit the theme of “celebration”, which partly influenced my decision to tailor this work to the landscapes that the Surrey Hills are celebrated for. By writing a piece for 2 pianists, I had more space to try and emulate certain sounds in nature. I chose to try and imitate the chirping of a bird because it featured a small and short collection of notes, which I could later develop as the music became more festive. Studying works by Messiaen, who was interested in this style of composition, helped me warm up to what was a new way of writing for me’.

Classical Music Stars Competition 

Advaith writes of his experience: ‘I wrote a short suite of three movements for this competition, which were inspired by three famous paintings, each of them corresponding to their respective movement. Saturn Devouring his Son by Francisco Goya was the inspiration for the first movement, which explores the contrast between the innocence of the son and the brutality of the monster. I submitted this movement for BBC young composers and for this competition. Starry Night Over the Rhône by Vincent van Gogh inspired the second movement, which features a peaceful opening and includes metallic percussion instruments to give it a shimmering quality. I wrote this movement specifically for this competition and to contrast the other two movements. The Face of War by Salvador Dalí inspired the final movement. The movement is short, energetic and aims to portray the fearful, macabre expression of the face in the painting. This movement was originally written for my GCSE but complemented the other two movements well’.

Borimir writes of his experience: ‘For this competition, I decided to use my A Level composition as it fitted the “free” brief. It was a short piano trio of 3 movements, also inspired by three paintings with their own respective movement. My reason for doing this was because composing in this way was something new to me, and the small restrictions it placed allowed me to focus on things I usually wouldn’t place as much emphasis on, such as the various effects and imitations I could write to fit the nature of the paintings’.