Secondary Student SOUNZ Awards

The SOUNZ Award for the Original Composition section of the New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Competition was presented to Corwin Newall from Kaikorai Valley College in Dunedin. Michael Williams, lecturer in composition at the University of Waikato, adjudicated the entries and judged Corwin's piece The Budgie, to be the most outstanding work in the competition. "There is a wonderful humour to this piece, and it is portrayed with real musical skill", he commented. The Budgie for flute, clarinet and piano was performed alongside the finalists in the Performance section of the Chamber Music New Zealand hosted competition. This year the final was held in Christchurch as one of the Christchurch Arts Festival events. 

Megan Nelson from Chilton St. James School, Lower Hutt won the SOUNZ-NZCF Choral Composition Competition with her work Wish. She was inspired to write her composition by a poem called Fond Wish
by Peter Saint-Andre. The whole concept of the music, melody and accompaniment,  came to her very quickly, although she had to work hard on refining the middle section which features a more polyphonic texture and more complex harmonies in the SSAA setting. The use of whispering to create a sense of dreaminess and mystery, and the vibraphone and celeste work very well with the SSAA choir.

Her teacher, HOD Music at Chilton, Ella Buchanan Hanify says that Megan combines a high level of natural musicality with a passion for learning and developing her skills in a wide range of musical activities. Megan is a member of the Chilton Senior Orchestra on cello and/or flute and is also a competent pianist. She is a leading member of the Seraphim Choir and I See Red Choir at Chilton St James. As a member of the Seraphim choir she travelled to Czech Republic and Belgium over the July 2007 holidays, competing in the Bohuslav Martinu International Choral Competition, and singing at the WW1 commemorations in Belgium. She is also a member of the Wellington Cathedral Youth Choir.