Bedford School Boys Making a Fanfare

Published by Bedford Upper School on Thursday 15th of March 2018

Audiences at the Royal Opera House could soon be heading back to their seats after the interval to the tune of music composed by a Bedford School boy. Three of our pupils have been recognised in the Royal Opera House’s Fanfare competition, which is a national competition requiring school pupils to write a short fanfare lasting up to 30 seconds, based on musical motifs from Royal Opera House productions. Marcus Tsang in the Remove Form and Silas Sanders in the Lower Sixth Form composed pieces which were ‘highly commended’, placing them in the top 25 in the country. Jonathan Blake, also in the Lower Sixth Form, has been named as one of ten winners and will have the opportunity to work alongside the orchestra of the Royal Opera House and its Artistic Director Sir Antonio Pappano. They will work together on his composition, making minor alterations and improvements, and the finished fanfare will subsequently be recorded by the Royal Opera House Orchestra to be used throughout the coming season as the music which is played over the Opera House PA system to announce the start of performances. Jonathan’s name and Bedford School will be credited in every Royal Opera House programme which uses his music.