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SMA Composing Competition

The idea came to me while on holiday in Suffolk a few years ago. I wanted to write a pirate story for my year 6 leavers. It started off with an image in my mind of a boat on the ocean and some very stylish-looking pirates…

When I get an idea I find it hard to let go. It takes a hold of me and I can’t really rest until I get it finished. That holiday wasn’t exactly the rest my husband had planned for me, but it did give me the space and restoration to be really creative. And my ideas flowed.

When I got back home I had the storyline all mapped out and the next few weeks found me feverishly composing the songs and recording backing tracks and vocals. I enjoyed myself and had some fun with the score. By the middle of the term it was finished.

But what to do with it? The schools I worked in hadn’t got time in their schedules to show it and I don’t run any dramatics clubs. A couple of the songs were used for pirate-themed topics within the year, but the whole work began to look a bit forlorn and forgotten on the shelf. I can’t bear that.

In the autumn of 2016 I happened to glance at the ISM magazine that had come earlier that week. It was open on the page that described the competition they were running in conjunction with the Schools Music Association (SMA) to find a musical story for 8–11 year olds. The only rules were that it had to be about 40 minutes in length, have 5 or more songs and be written by someone who was not a full-time composer.

I knew instantly that I could enter and set about getting my script and scores ready. I had to spend quite a few hours on it as the scores needed to be in a certain format and the recordings had to be done again, but I was determined that it should have an opportunity to be heard again, and, maybe…please, please, please… performed at last.

I got it sent off well before the deadline and then almost forgot about it. Every now and then I would think about it and be overcome with doubt. Would it be good enough? Was it the right style? What would the judges think of the story?

However, much sooner than I was expecting, I had a phone call from Lindsay Music to say that I had won! I could hardly believe it! What a wonderful surprise on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

And so all the effort was worth it. The musical, The Backwater Pirate And His Hairy Chest, will see the lights of the stage and the songs will be sung and enjoyed by many children in the future. What started as a tiny idea in a holiday cottage in Suffolk has now got the opportunity to shine.

And as an added bonus, the SMA will be giving £500 to Services For Education Music Services which will be match-funded to provide resources for the vocal department as they provide music teaching in the primary schools of Birmingham.

I almost missed the opportunity, but am so glad I didn’t!