Harrogate student sings her way to success

Nicole Brocksom, 17, wrote ‘In the Silence’ - a complex choral piece to a poem by the famous Christina Rossetti for the HLC Remembrance service last year.

But when the talented teenager entered the piece into the Music Education Expo (MEE) Composition Competition she said she never thought she would win.

Nicole said: “I thought it would just be nice to say that I had entered a composition.

“When the lady emailed me I had to read it ten times before I believed it, and even then I kept waiting for an email saying they’d chose the wrong person!”

Initially written for her school choir, Nicole has performed her piece with friends and peers at the service and in a Barcelona cathedral during a trip with HLC.

But now she will hear her piece performed by an affiliate youth choir of the Birmingham Conservatoire at the MEE event at Olympia later this month.

As the winning entrant she will then be presented with her prize by Julian Lloyd- Webber.

Miss Brocksom said: “I’m so excited! It’s one of those things that you never think would happen to you, so when it does you can hardly believe it.”

But the creative college student said that while she has been passionate about music for a long time, she only discovered her flare recently.

She said: “I’ve always loved music but it wasn’t until recently that I actually realised I could do it, but I always loved writing songs.”

Although Nicole plays both the piano and the violin, she claims singing and writing songs is her real love.

She said: “I would love to go into composition, especially something like writing musicals or film soundtracks, but any kind of composition would be amazing.”

Director of Music at Harrogate Ladies’ College, Kate Morgan said: “This is a fantastic achievement by Nicole and we’re all incredibly proud of her. Her composition is a very accomplished piece.”

Nicole said, “I can’t thank Mrs Morgan enough for the opportunities and encouragement I’ve been given to develop my musical skills.”