Bedales student shortlisted for NCEM Young Composers Award

An original composition by a Bedales student has been shortlisted in the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM)’s Young Composers Award 2021.

Block 3 (Year 9) student and Music Scholar Shoshana Yugin-Power is one of just five entrants shortlisted in the Under 18 category with her piece Dancing Through Time.

The competition invited aspiring young composers to create a new work for the vibrant young recorder quartet Palisander based on dance-forms, choosing one of their choice across all eras and cultures.

Shoshana – who is a keen recorder player herself and is currently working towards her ARSM Diploma on recorder and plays with the Hampshire Recorder Sinfonia as well as the National Youth Recorder Orchestra – wrote Dancing Through Time to show the progression of dance music from the early 1800s to the 1920s, travelling through several genres of dance music in chronological order, with sections between each dance that represent travelling through time and the merging of styles as one dance overtakes another in popularity.

A winning piece will be chosen from each age category – 19-25 years and 18 and under – following a workshop for finalists led by composer Christopher Fox, as well as a concert where Palisander will perform each shortlisted composition to a panel of judges, on 13 May.

Shoshana said: “As a recorder player who has frequently played in quartets, it was fun writing for one of my favourite recorder groups, Palisander. I had lots of inspiration to write for the recorder from the groups I have played in and I wanted to include a range of extended techniques. When I heard that I had been shortlisted for this prestigious award, I was thrilled and I can’t wait for the final and to take part in the workshop led by Christopher Fox.”

Bedales Director of Music Doug McIlwraith added: “We are very proud to hear that Shoshana has been shortlisted in the NCEM Young Composers Award 2021. Shoshana put a great deal of effort in to her composition during the recent lockdown and came up with some brilliant and original ideas. We wish her the best of luck in the final round.”