BSN Students Take Part in COBIS Music Competition

12-14 May 2023 saw the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) Music Festival take place at Doha College, Qatar – the first in-person event in four years. More than 120 students from nine schools in seven countries participated in the in-person event, including three students from The British School in The Netherlands (BSN).

Congratulations to Senior School Voorschoten (SSV) student Moritz, who won First Prize in the Upper School Instrumental category with his piano piece!

Moritz on his win:

Winning made me very happy! I had practiced the piece for a really long time at that point, and felt very comfortable with it. Thus I felt quite confident that I could place well with a good performance. But as the second place was named and it wasn’t me I was still quite nervous. That weight being lifted off my shoulders felt great when they said my name for first place.

In addition to the in-person event, COBIS also hosted an online composition competition, which eight of our students participated in. Congratulations to the following students:

• Valentin – Senior School Voorschoten - First Prize in the Film Composition category (you can listen to Valentin’s composition below, set to a clip from Wallace and Gromit!)
   
   
   
• Deniz – Senior School Leidschenveen - Special mention in the Lower School Song Writing category
• Leopold – Senior School Voorschoten - Runner-up in the Upper School Free Composition category and also runner-up (special mention) in the Young Composer of the Year category

Leopold on taking part in the composition competition:

"I am very pleased to be the runner-up for Young Composer of the Year. I submitted a pedal harp duet called Hunting Hares. The idea behind it was for the listener to 'hunt' for the musical references scattered throughout the piece – the most obvious one being AC/DC Thunderstruck, and the introduction was taken from Khachaturian's Toccata."

I really enjoyed composing this piece filled with eccentric musical quotes which are unusual to be played on my instrument. I really enjoy trying new sounds and ideas on my harp.

SSV student Johanna said of the competition:

“The COBIS Music Festival was a great experience that enabled me to produce my own music, record it and submit it to the competition. I enjoyed it very much, especially making music together with my friend, and the festival was also a great way of hearing musical performances from all around the world.”

Well done to all of the BSN students who participated in this year’s COBIS Music Festival. We are incredibly proud of every single one of you!

We’re already looking forward to next year’s Music Festival, taking place in February 2024 in Bahrain.

Photo credit second photo: cobis.org.uk