On Monday, 2 November, a young FIS composer got to hear his award-winning composition being performed by peers in Beijing via Skype. Having earned the distinction of “Highly Commended Work” in the Association for Music in International Schools’ (AMIS) Young Composers’ competition, Grade 11 Richard Blaquière’s “Prelude and Fugue for Strings” was prepared by the High School Orchestra at the International School of Beijing for a performance.

After watching and listening to a play-through, Richard was able to provide some comments and suggestions. In turn, players from ISB got to ask questions about Blaquière and his piece, including: “How old are you really?”, “Can YOU play this part?”, “How long did it take you?”, and “Star Trek or Star Wars?”

That a student in Germany got to hear an orchestra in China premiering his creation and had a chance to interact with the performers is indeed the essence of global music education.

To watch a video of the ISB Orchestra playing a section of Richard’s “Prelude and Fugue for Strings,” visit: http://www.fis.edu/cf_media/index.cfm?obj=2822