Its finally here! Score relief 2022 has come to a close and we are pleased to present you with the competition winners. We had the immense pleasure of recording live orchestra performances for both the 1st and 2nd prize winners this year, as well as working directly with the composers and orchestrating their pieces. Read on below for a full summary of the grand finale.
It was another great year for Score Relief, with the competition expanding on what we were able to achieve last year in the form of more categories of entry, and the number of prizes.
We also partnered with a different charity than last year in the form of In Place of War, an organisation which provides support and recovery in places of conflict through music, and other creative arts initiatives. We are really proud of this partnership, especially considering the recent world events. Overall this years campaign raised over £5,000. Whilst this is less than last year and below our intended target, this money should still make a tangible and meaningful difference in peoples lives, which is something that we can all feel positive about! Well done to The Cue Tube for hosting this competition again and for galvanising the community. Its amazing to see what we as composers can achieve when we are all working together.
In Place Of War, the chosen charity partner for Score Relief 2022.
Sprite Fright from Blender Animation was the film for this years orchestral category.
Overall the musical standard of the entries was high, and it was a tough challenge for us when we were deciding which entries had made it through to final shortlisting.
Generally speaking, we think the this years clips was perhaps more difficult than Spring from last years competition, mainly due to the addition of dialogue and also more tonal variation between each scene. Well done to everyone who entered and we hope that this has been an informative process for you in the development of your compositional skills. You can look at the two winners as a reference for where you need to improve, and hopefully you can see (and hear) what made them the winning entries.
THE WINNERS
1st Prize - Phillip von Horen
Our first prize winner, and recipient of a 53-piece orchestra recording session was Phillip von Horen. Phillip's score was a brilliant accompaniment to the film, and he really showed off his scoring skills through his creative use of the orchestra and impeccable marking of hit points in the film. We loved the melodic ideas in the daytime sections of the film, and the use of string glissandos towards the end of the fight sequence.
Grand prize winner Phillip von Horen on stage with Northern Film Orchestra and conductor Melvin Tay.
Phillip had this to say about his experience:
"Having your music played live is an experience unlike anything else. When you write music and hear it over and over again, you start getting distanced from the piece and sort of see it through washy glasses. Hearing the music performed by more than 50 people who don't know you is sort of terrifying and beautiful at the same time because they play your creation with so much more emotion than virtual instruments can. With each line, it is like they are reading your mind and keep putting a meaning behind every note and remove the glasses with which you saw your creation before."
2nd Prize - Pawel Litwinczyk
The second prize winning entry was composed by Polish composer Pawel Litwinczyk. Pawel's score features some very creative passages of music, and he really nailed the emotional tone of the film.
We thought that Pawel did an amazing job with his fight sequence and we especially enjoyed the comedic horror motif that concludes his composition.
The grand finale was broadcast as part of a live stream from The Cue Tube which can be viewed in full via the link below:
That wraps things up for Score Relief this year and for this blog post. Thanks again for everyone who took part and for checking out this post. Stay tuned for more content like this and details of future orchestra recording sessions.
Contact - jack@northernfilmorchestra.com
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