TOWSON, MD—Baltimore County Public Schools students from elementary to high school created an array of imaginative, accomplished, and stirring pieces of music and entered them into the 6th Annual BCPS Composition Project.

The BCPS Office of Performing Arts recently announced that entries submitted by 32 students in the competition earned Distinguished Honors and Exceptional Honors, while another 27 students earned Honorable Mentions for their compositions. Another five students from Ridge Ruxton School (a school for children who have significant disabilities) also were honored for their musical compositions.

The theme of the 2023 Composition Project was “Ignite a Spark.”

“We congratulate all those students who harnessed their inspiration, creativity, talent, and imagination to create wonderful original work this year,” said Dr. Shane Jensen, BCPS music specialist. ”Working with their music teachers, each student who submitted work should be proud of their efforts, and we hope they will keep composing and sharing their musical talents. Thank you to all students who submitted their work, and to all our dedicated music teachers for their guidance and hard work.”

The following students received honors in the 6th Annual BCPS Composition Project:

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Distinguished

Nolan Garrett, Pinewood Elementary, “Can’t Give Up”
Theodore Tackett, Pinewood Elementary, “The Hopeful Flame”
Joshua Zhang, Pinewood Elementary, “Joshua’s #3 Symphony”

Exceptional

Reese Bossle, Pinewood Elementary, “Build Your Future”
Jackson Cerato, Pinewood Elementary, “Ignite The Spark Inside You”
Chelsea Cheng, Pinewood Elementary, “Reach for the Impossible”
Hailey Dubovsky, Cromwell Valley, “Always”
Adley Dyes, Pinewood Elementary, “Find that Spark”
Novalee Kleeman, Pinewood Elementary, “Climbing High”
Olivia Oh, Pinewood Elementary, “Rise To The Top”
Arleen Sandhu, Pinewood Elementary, “Get that Spark up”

Honorable Mentions

Paxton Bafford, Pinewood Elementary, “Never Give Up When Times Are Tough”
Aliza Neulander, Pinewood Elementary, “Burn That Spark”
Cormac Kenney, Cromwell Valley Elementary, “Wolverine”
Aimee Jiang, Pinewood Elementary, “Always Keep Trying”
Olivia Tripon, Nathan Walck, Liam Cassie, and Haya Ghandoura, Cromwell Valley Elementary, “In the Summer”
Delealah Dinkins, Colgate Elementary, “Rainbows”

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Distinguished

Marcus DiSalvo, Pikesville Middle, “Il Vuoto del Fuoco”
Aiden Poteete, Windsor Mill Middle, “Il Vento Doro Reimagined”
Nathan Story, Catonsville Middle, “Ready for Battle”

Exceptional

Nehemiah Mitchell, Windsor Mill Middle, “Forest Fright Fight”
Audrey O’Donoghue, Dumbarton Middle, “Dream”
Luke Stine, Dumbarton Middle, “Futuristic Hero”
Tripp Witkowski, Hereford Middle, “Sidewalks”

Honorable Mentions

Tanvir Arora, Arbutus Middle, “Ratatatata”
Madelyn Boccelli, Arbutus Middle, “Summer Life”
Logan Chaney, Arbutus Middle, “Up On the Run”
Akeem Geathers and Ismail Abdi, Dumbarton Middle, “Chill Ride”
Gianni Lombardini, Hereford Middle, “Rainy Day”
Sam Racicot, Dumbarton Middle, “Get Away Car”
Jake Rosenzweig, Dumbarton Middle, “HeartBeat”
Hannah Snider, Dumbarton Middle, “Vibes”
Anthony Williams, Perry Hall Middle, “Chill Track”

HIGH SCHOOL

Distinguished

Sol Fitzgerald, Towson High, “Rainy Day By Your Side”
O’Neal Johnson, George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, “Acrimonious”
Shawn Marshall, Woodlawn High, “Legend of the Scarlet Legion”
Maze Pelham, Carver Center, “The Defusal”
Ryan Moran, Perry Hall High, “A Pivotal Moment”
Shawn Marshall, Woodlawn High, “Scarlet Strings”

Exceptional

Justin Zapanta, Dulaney High, “Sparking the Fire Within”
Amir Brown, Towson High, “Going Away”
Alexandra Kostakis, Carver Center, “Still Mine”
Khang Le, Towson High, “If”
Sea Ragaza, Towson High, “Soda”
Vicky Yan, Dulaney High, “Unattainable”
Owen Hodes, Towson High, “Who’s Calling”
Reuben Danyali, Carver Center, “To Build a Fire”

Honorable Mention

Noah Mills, Carver Center, “Unwanted Memories (I Don’t Care)”
Jackson Weber, Towson High, “Cold Reality”
Keats McLaney, Towson High, “kindling”
Darbey Gover, Towson High, “Beat of Flutes”
Noel Morris-Melnick, Towson High, “Love Life”
Aiden Conway, Towson High, “Rising Phoenix”
Riley Sigler, Carver Center, “Rye”
Eliott Lanham, Towson High, “Lanham’s Symphony No. 1”
Ryan Jones, Hereford High, “ignite (feat. Kaai Yuki)”
Eleanor Lechtzin, Towson High, “Nightmare”
Lucy Lunday, Carver Center, “Appalachian Winds”
Dylan St. Pierre, Carver Center, “Her Favorite Songs”

RIDGE RUXTON SCHOOL

Britney Okechukwu, “DJ K”
Kani Taylor, “Cars”
Michael Briscoe, “Birthday Party”
Kayden Stowell, “Michael Jackson”
Calista Mewshaw, “Red”

Links to each piece can be found online here.

Photo via Pixabay