Taupo teen takes out prize for choral composition

A 16-year-old Taupo student has won a national competition for an original piece of music composed for choir.

Fergus Byett, 16, a Year 12 student at Tauhara College, won the New Zealand Choral Federation and SOUNZ Choral Composition Competition, writing an original piece of around two and a half minutes for a choir singing in four parts (soprano, alto, tenor and bass).

Part of Fergus' reward will be to see it performed on stage to a full house at Auckland's Aotea Centre in August by one of New Zealand's leading secondary school choirs.

Fergus plays piano, saxophone and organ, sings with the school choir, studied music throughout secondary school and has done theory exams but when the school's choir director and music specialist, Rachel Hand, asked him if he was keen, he was initially reluctant to tackle such a big project.

"Initially I was like 'I'm not sure if I'm qualified to do it,' but then I started to get into it and it went on from there."

The brief specified a New Zealand piece and Fergus, who is interested in Maori language and culture, scoured the library for suitable Maori poems.

His task was to come up with a piece of choral music to accompany the poem, which tells the story of a young woman, Parearohi, who comes from a distant land and meets a man by night.

But he wants to see her in the light, and tricks her into staying until the sun has risen. When she finds out she's been deceived she leaves, singing as she goes.

Titled He Waiata Na Parearohi, Fergus said as it was written from a woman's perspective the melody was mostly in the soprano and alto voices, but the melody moved around between the parts.

"It's more about the whole picture, all the voices coming together, than about a particular voice.

"It's sad because she's saying goodbye, but she's also thinking about where she's come from and her homeland, and there's a bit of hope there."

Fergus completed most of the time-consuming composition during the summer school holidays.

"Sometimes you have an idea and you spend the whole day developing it and pursuing it and then either you don't like it or it crumbles down or it works with something else you want to do. It's finding a balance between everything, really."

With the support of Mrs Hand and the music department head, Rowan Bolley, Fergus' composition, in the form of a written score, was entered into the New Zealand Choral Federation/SOUNZ Composition Competition 2017. Mrs Hand was confident that it would make the finals.

"It was definitely a winner, it was so well-written."