CNS student wins Royal Opera House competition

A musical student from City of Norwich School, An Ormiston Academy has won a composition competition at the Royal Opera House.

16 year old Ben Pease-Barton plays percussion, piano and accordion and studies composition at the Norfolk Centre for Young Musicians with David Stowell.

Ben had to create a composition based on a 30 second fanfare. Along with the other winning entrants, Ben will be invited to the Royal Opera House to workshop his compositions with mentors and musicians from the Orchestra. His music will be played by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

I come from very much a folk background so from a young age I just played along with the folk music that was going on around me. I used to go along to Irish folk sessions with a djembe as my Dad also played the djembe, and I developed a quite a strong sense of rhythm. I think I was in Year 4 when I decided that I wanted to learn to play notes, not just rhythms, so I started having piano lessons around then.” Ben Pease-Barton, Y12 student at CNS

Ben shows such great enthusiasm for all sorts of music and is an exceptional composer. He works hard to engage with a variety of musical styles in analysis and wider listening to inform his compositional style which is a fantastic way to work. This all culminates in Ben being an absolute joy to teach and nurture his embedded love of music. We wish him all the best for this project.” Mr.Sunderland, Subject Leader for Music at CNS

City of Norwich School is part of a three way partnership with the Norfolk Music Hub and the Guildhall School for Music and Drama in London. NCYM meets every Saturday during term time from 9am to 2pm at CNS.