High Barnet Chamber Music Festival (HBCMF) is delighted to announce the Young Composers Competition! Secondary school students are invited to write a piece of music in response to one of three briefs below, writing for either a piano trio or string quartet. Deadline for entry is 5pm on Sunday 20th February 2022. The winning composition will be premiered in July 2022 at HBCMF.

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Briefs

1. Compose a piece that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the BBC.

The BBC is the pre-eminent cultural institution in the UK. It was established in 1922 and ever since has had a major impact on the arts and life in this country, with music at its core. You might like to reflect on the history of the BBC and its goal ‘to inform, educate, and entertain’.

2. Compose a piece that draws on the climate crisis as inspiration.

The climate crisis is the biggest issue facing humanity and is already shaping life for billions of people around the world. In approaching it artistically you might like to think about the local effects it will have on communities or consider the large-scale heating of the planet. You might even imagine an optimistic future in which global society rallies in the face of the threat.

3. Compose a piece that only uses three notes.

Artists have often found that they create best in response to limitations. Writing music with such limited pitch material will encourage you to think about the other aspects of music (timbre, rhythm, dynamic, etc.) and the impact they can have when used carefully.