News Release
7th May 2013
A Royal Fanfare for Oakham School Students
Two Oakham School students have won a
prestigious Fanfare Competition, run by The Royal
Opera House. Imogen Brown, aged 14, and Yuri
Bryars, aged 13, composed powerful and catchy
fanfares that will be recorded by the Royal Opera
House orchestra and then played to thousands of
visitors.
This is an exceptional achievement both for the
individual pupils and also for the Music
Department at Oakham, as pupils have been among the winners of the competition every
year since it began in 2010. Imogen and Yuri join previous winners Francis Wignall (2012),
Charlie Abbott (2011) and Lucy-Rose Graham (2010).
Form 3 pupils (Year 9) at Oakham tried their hand at writing a fanfare, as part of their
creative composition project. Their compositions were submitted to the competition, which
is open to anyone aged 11-16 from across the UK.
As part of their prize, Imogen and Yuri visited the Royal Opera House to meet composer
Duncan Chapman and members of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House to develop their
fanfare. They were also invited to a Winners Workshop at the end of March. They both
recently took part in a Recording Session with the full Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
and the charismatic Antonio Pappano (conductor and director of ROH).
Their Fanfares will be first played before a performance on Saturday 8 June.
‘To be the only school to have won every year since the competition began just indicates the
quality of the music education at Oakham,’ said Director of Music, Peter Davis. ‘We are
extremely proud of both Imogen and Yuri and
are looking forward to sharing the once in a
lifetime experience of hearing their
compositions played at The Royal Opera House.’
For more information, please contact Louise
Hitchen, Press Officer, Oakham School,
press@oakham.rutland.sch.uk , 07736176973
Notes to editors:
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Two high res images are available. Please
From Louise Hitchen
Press Officer
Oakham School Chapel Close Oakham Rutland LE15 6DT
mob: 07736 176973 press@oakham.rutland.sch.uk www.oakham.rutland.sch.uk
Oakham School Registered Charity No 1131425 Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales No 6924216
Registered Office Chapel Close Market Place Oakham Rutland LE15 6DT
give photo credit to Brian Slater.
Photograph 1: Antonio Pappano (Music Director of Opera) with competition winner, Yuri
Photograph 2: Composer Duncan Chapman with competition winner, Imogen
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The winning 10 fanfares will be played before performances, to let the audience know it is
time to take their seats.
Oakham School is a leading independent boarding and day school, for pupils aged 10-18,
dedicated to blending academic excellence with a richness of opportunity beyond the
classroom. To find out more about Oakham, please visit www.oakham.rutland.sch.uk
Oakham School
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