By Stephen Gard
Class Act the 2MBS Fine Music Sydney showcase for secondary school music-makers has been on air since 2022. The program was now in need of its own theme music. To that end, we organised a competition with cash prizes, to compose a short piece we could use as a ‘signature’ welcome and sign-off to each broadcast.
In late November 2025 we sent notice of our Theme Music Competition to every secondary school in the Greater Sydney Area. We received a most positive response. Twenty-two student composers sent us a total of 29 pieces of music. Judges Julie Simonds and Stephen Gard gained much pleasure and insight from assessing all these scores; such an energetic and gifted bunch of artists-in-the-making are out there in our schools!
Julie and Stephen are musicians and educators, and they firmly believe in encouraging the development of new artists with a considered response. Each entrant received constructive feedback about their piece, and a handsome certificate designed by Maureen Chaffey.
The ‘Class Act’ team made its first live broadcast on Saturday 11 April at 4.00 pm.
Chloë Cho, from Willoughby Girls High, and Alex Hahn, from St Patrick’s Marist, Dundas, presented music by Lalor, Smetana, Kabalevsky, Galante, Rutter, Gold, Tchaikovsky, Paganini and Camille Saint-Saëns. Quite a rich mix! The script was researched and written by Chloë Cho.
Also included was the first broadcast of Estelle Gilmovich’s ‘Waltz des Petites Etoiles’, the winning piece in our 2025 Composer Contest, and an interview with Estelle herself.
The ‘Class Act’ team plans to make our next broadcast a live event too, so tune in to ‘Class Act’ on Saturday 11 July at 4.00 pm on 2MBS, Fine Music, Sydney.
The Judges’ Decision Was Final
It is customary for judges to say they had a hard time picking a winner, but in this case, there was no struggle. Among several excellent items, one piece stood out which exactly complemented the tone and mood of Class Act. The Winner of our Competition was Estelle Gilmovich of Santa Sabina College, with her melodic, lilting and evocative Valse des petites étoiles.
(R) Estelle’s brother Hugo Gilmovich
On Sunday January 25 2026, Valse des petites étoiles was recorded in our Founders’ Studio. Estelle Gilmovich herself played viola, her young brother Hugo played double bass, and that fine pianist Young Kwon Choi, often heard on Fine Music Showcase, volunteered his services to complete the trio.
Class Act Presenter Chloë Cho interviewed Estelle Gilmovich, and the session was engineered by Layla Phillips. The recording and interview will be broadcast during our next Class Act program at 4pm, Saturday 11 April 2026.
Our Composition Competition made additional awards
An Encouragement Award of $100.00 to Thomas Georgiou of Moss Vale High School.
An Encouragement Award of $100.00 to Evelyn Cahill of PLC Croydon.
Our premiere composition competition was an encouraging exercise – and it will be repeated.
Stay tuned!