Fanfare Competition 2011
Create your sound for the Royal Opera House
Can you create a piece of music which is catchy, powerful, attention grabbing, and only 30 seconds long?
We are looking for brand new musical fanfares to be broadcast before performances at the Royal Opera House to let the audience know it is time to take their seats.
If you are aged eleven to sixteen we want you, on your own or in groups, to create your own fanfare of no more than 30 seconds to win the chance to have your music arranged, recorded and played at the Royal Opera House.
The prize
The composers of the winning fanfares will attend a workshop with a professional composer to develop and arrange their fanfare for the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Winners will also attend the recording session, and will be invited to a performance at the Royal Opera House to hear a premier broadcast of the final fanfares.
Judging
The winning entries will be chosen by a judging panel of Royal Opera House professionals including Antonio Pappano. Up to ten fanfares will be selected.
Need some help?
A Fanfare is a short piece of music designed to grab your attention. We have made some films to help you with your entry. Explore further and learn about composition techniques on our YouTube channel.
For teachers
If you are a teacher for KS3 or GCSE why not use this competition as a composition project?
The Royal Opera House has commissioned a downloadable Curriculum Unit overview for KS3 and 4 relating to fanfares. There is also a Royal Opera House page in Teaching Music which offers links to further video and audio resources to help your students engage with composition.
“A fantastic resource, in particular the link into the competition which gives pupils a real life brief and properly contextualises their learning”
How to enter
The competition is in two categories. Category one is for entrants aged 11 – 14 (KS3: years 7, 8, 9) and category two is for entrants aged 14 – 16 (KS4: year 10) Entry for the competition is through NUMU, the music network site for young people. The audio files attached must be mp3. Please check out Terms and Conditions for further details.
Competition Dates
Teacher INSET (places by application): November 2010
Competition closing date: 18 February 2011
Announcement of the winning compositions: W/c 14 March 2011
KS3 Winner’s workshops: 21 March 2011
KS3 Winner’s workshop: 22 MArch 2011
Recording Session with the Royal Opera House Orchestra: 30 April 2011
Public premier of the winning fanfares at the Royal Opera House: May 2011