Young composer wins state Score It competition

(posted 28.07.09)

Hear Tom's "Stormrise" entry

Tom Quirk may be just 12 years old, but he’s already been dubbed one of the state’s best junior composers.

The Queensland Music Festival’s Score It! 2009 final was held on Saturday night (July 25) and from nearly 150 entries across six categories, the Year 8 Matthew Flinders Anglican College student was named one of three state winners of the 12-14 age group. 

A film-scoring competition for Queensland’s young composers, Score IT! throws down the gauntlet to young composers between the ages of 12 – 18 to create a unique and original composition to accompany a scoreless short film.

The score can involve classical orchestration, electronic samples, sound effects, or any other manifestation or combination of music/sound you desire.

Tom used Sibelius, a computer music software program used at his school, to create a score for “Stormrise”, a 3:33 minute film from an upcoming game developed by Creative Assembly. It is a post-apocalyptic real-time strategy game from the makers of Total  War.

In the clip, two warring factions arise from the rubble: the Echelon, a technologically advanced race that endured the planet's fallout by way of self-induced hibernation, and the Sai, a tribal society that adapted to the new environment and evolved.

New career opportunities in musical composition are expanding due to new technologies and the growth of creative industries.

Tom, who plays the saxophone and is in the College Band, won the opportunity to spend two days (July 27 and 28) doing work experience at Cutting Edge, one of Australia’s largest full service post-production companies.

Teamed with world-class editors, animators, visual effects artists and sound designers, Cutting Edge uses visual effects, broadcast design, 2D and 3D animation right through to sound design. The company was involved in the production of the Baz Luhrmann epic, Australia.

Another finalist in the Score It! Competition was Flinders’ Year 12 Music Scholar Andrew Wrangell, who regularly composes and performs his own pieces. Andrew this month was awarded the Outstanding Musicianship Scholarship 2009 from the University of Central Queensland. This scholarship is worth $2000 and was awarded to Andrew for being the most outstanding musician of the Winter Music School. Andrew conducted the Winter School Concert Band at the Gala Concert on July 10 where they performed one of Andrew’s own compositions.

Fellow Year 12 student Jake Barden has also recently gained recognition for his musical talents. Last month (June 21) he was presented with the Buderim War Memorial Community Association’s Quiet Achiever’s Award in recognition of his musical talent and contributions to the local community.

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