A year of musical effort and activity was recognised by the Dawsons Young Composers in Halton event held at Widnes CLC@Sts Peter and Paul on July 18th.

Proud pupils, parents and teachers braved the hottest evening of the year to celebrate the staggering range of musical output from the borough’s schools. Entries had been invited in three categories: World and Urban, Rock and Pop, and Classical and were showcased on the Sound Advice website. Although the project was designed as a celebration and as an opportunity for pupils to get their work reviewed by industry insiders, Dawsons were keen to reward schools and individuals for their work.

Tony Williams, Head of Education at Dawsons , presented each school with vouchers worth £50, and a similar amount to one pupil from each category.

Finally, the Dawsons Award of Excellence was presented to the school judged to have best represented the spirit of the project: Chesnut Lodge received a computer system in recognition of their “ Wigg Island ” electronic symphony, constructed from natural sounds recorded on location using PDAs and Marantz units and processed in Garageband.

Our congratulations to everyone that entered or supported the project. We will soon be inviting entries for the next event and hope that as many of you as possible will be able to participate in what has been a rewarding and enriching project. All of this year’s entries can be heard by visiting www.runcornclc.org.uk and clicking on the link.