BGGS Composing Competition 2022
The BGGS Composing Competition gives student composers and songwriters the opportunity to receive feedback on their compositions, with winning entries being publicly shared with the School community at performances such as the International Women’s Day Concert. The competition comprises four sections—SSA Choir, String Orchestras, Open and Popular Song—with this year’s competition winners announced below:
SSA Choir—Wildflowers by Freya Smith (11E)
A beautiful choral arrangement for treble choir with a folk-inspired melody based on text from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare.
String Orchestra—Il Dolce by Lisa Walsham (10R)
A skilfully crafted composition that explores the capabilities of string ensemble writing through variation of a central melodic theme.
Open—The Spirit of Purnululu by Lisa Walsham (10R)
An evocative composition for flute, clarinet, marimba, and piano, inspired by Purnululu National Park in Western Australia.
Popular Song—The Kids by Charlotte Parsonage (12G)
A hauntingly beautiful and reflective popular song exploring the theme of growing up and remaining young at heart.
Freya, Lisa and Charlotte are congratulated on their respective achievements, and we look forward to hearing their pieces being performed in 2023!
Freya Smith (11E) performing her song, 'Wildflowers'
Lisa Walsham (10R) playing the piano section of her composition
Charlotte Parsonage (12G) performing 'The Kids' as students watched on
Vermilion High Volume 3
QUT Creative Industries runs the competitive Vermilion High program annually, and this year four girls—Eve McGrath (8E), Freya Smith (11E), Mia Ludlow (11W) and Schuyler Mills 12E—received offers from QUT to participate in the program.
Vermilion High is a project initiated by QUT’s student-run record label Vermilion Records. The label teams up with secondary school students to give them a platform to record and release an original song. As part of the program, the girls had their music professionally workshopped, recorded and produced. The label handles licencing for a year, while the students keep the copyright to their song, and get to retain any profits their music may make. Vermilion High is dedicated to supporting and collaborating with students who may not otherwise be encouraged to follow their dreams.
We are thrilled to share our students’ work, which has been published on Spotify. You can listen to the album via this link.
Mr Michael McGrath
Head of Curriculum Music
