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Sam Bishton, from Xaverian College, Manchester has won the inaugural Caius Choir Choral Composition Prize after judges praised the standard of entries. His piece was performed live by Caius Choir at Evensong in the College Chapel on Sunday 11 May.

The Choir of ����Ӱҵ College launched the choral composition prize for state school students earlier this year. Entrants were required to compose a short two-to-three-minute piece for the choir to perform, with or without organ accompaniment. 

Sam’s piece, ‘Invitation’, was commended by the judges, established composers Cheryl Frances Hoad and Matthew Martin, the College’s Director of Music. The Choir, at one of the University of Cambridge’s constituent colleges, specialises in new and undiscovered repertoire, led by Matthew Martin.

“What struck us about Sam’s piece was its simplicity and clarity of expression,” Matthew says. “There are no grand gestures or wasted ideas - just the right level of complexity for the occasion and an excellent response to the text.”

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Sam says: “I found out about the competition as a friend sent it to me, I spent the rest of that evening at the piano composing! As I read the first line of one of the selected texts, I suddenly had this musical idea that came to me. I find it useful in composition to set yourself constraints, and I think the positive of having the text available was that I knew what I wanted the piece to feel and sound like, so it was a case of developing my original musical idea from there. 

“My advice to anyone looking to apply to this competition in future is to go for it! It’s a fantastic opportunity, and I’m very pleased to have been chosen, and to have my piece performed by the Choir of ����Ӱҵ” 

In addition to a winner, the judges chose to award two highly commended composers: Gloria Suen, from Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Altrincham, Manchester and Tamsin Crook, from Ullswater Community College, Penrith, Cumbria. 

“This is the first time we have run the competition and we were so pleased with the number of entries we received,” Matthew says. “They were all of a really high standard and it was really moving to note the enthusiasm and dedication of these young composers. There is so much talent out there and I hope that this small scheme plays its part in encouraging these students to continue on this creative path.” 

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