Two senior music students Matilda Faamausili and Bella Allan-Moetaua have won first places in the New Zealand Choral Federation Choral Composition Competition. Matilda and Bella are tutored by David Hamilton who has worked as ‘Composer in Residence’ for Westlake music students for many years.

Matilda’s piece ‘Dover Beach’ won the competition and is written for mixed choir. She says of her piece “Finding out I gained first place in the competition was such an amazing feeling, especially as I was a runner up last year. I knew at that moment that all my hard work and determination had paid off. My passion for music and composition has grown massively this year and I plan to study music at the University of Auckland next year and major in Composition. I’m grateful for the support and help from my composition tutor David Hamilton, my peers, family, and all the wonderful music teachers especially Mrs Wilson. A huge thank you to them all.

Bella won the Te Reo Composition Competition with her piece “Ko tangi o rū poūa” which translates to “Song of the Swan”. She found the text in the school library with the help of Mrs Mackie and chose to use it as it fitted the school emblem. She says “As I look back on the process of creating my piece, I spent many hours crafting it, but I would’ve never thought that it would end up winning. I received some encouraging comments from the adjudicator, so I am thinking about possibly continuing with composition going forward into my University study. Without my peers, HOD of music and family supporting me to do my best, I wouldn’t be where I am today, so I give a big ‘Thank you’ to them”.