Jennifer in Lower VI tells us about her original composition celebrating International Women’s Day. 

I decided to compose a piece of music to celebrate International Women’s Day, especially as there aren’t very many well known female composers. The first idea I had about the piece was originally for piano, so I composed the main tune, then orchestrated it using different instruments, so it sounded how I wanted it to. I then tried out various percussion instruments, so I knew which ones would fit the mood of my piece the best, and discovered that the marimba, timpani and a crash cymbal would work best. I was then able to finish orchestrating my piece, by adding parts for harp, violin, clarinet, and flute, as well as refining the piano part. We had a few rehearsals before half term; however the first time we had all the instruments together was when we recorded it. I was nervous to hear how it would sound, but it was incredible and it sounded much better than it did on the computer software. Overall, the piece feels reflective, and represents a new beginning, which links to the theme of International Women’s Day 2022, which is Breaking the Bias showing how we are capable of anything! It was played at the beginning of assembly last Monday accompanied by a slideshow of images put together by members of the Diversity and Inclusion group representing how they felt the piece connected to International Women’s Day.