Newmarket composer has music brought to life by Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra

A young Newmarket composer saw his music brought to life at the weekend when his score was performed by the Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra.

George Wilson, 24, wrote the piece, F-leit of the Motif, as part of his dissertation three years ago while studying a University of Suffolk music production course at West Suffolk College.

It was performed at The Apex on Saturday night as part of the orchestra’s special Armed Forces Day concert.

“It was magnificent. It’s one of the highlights of my life so far,” said George, who is from Newmarket and works at Hal Leonard Europe, formerly Music Sales Ltd, in Bury.

“I’m trying to make it as a composer and this has certainly been a huge confidence boost.”

The score was originally written for film, but was recently adapted by George for orchestra. It is inspired by Wagner’s leitmotif which is a short, recurring piece of music that reflects a certain character’s identity.

Leslie Olive, conductor of the Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra, said: “The piece is written very well for orchestra. I’m very excited about it as it has been a very happy collaboration for us.

“For us to have this relationship with the college now is fantastic and I hope it’ll open up other opportunities in the future.”

George, who was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome as a teenager and developed depression as a result, first started looking at music courses at West Suffolk College to help combat his illness.

"It gave me a goal to aim for and pushed me to get my GCSEs," he said.

"Once I gained the necessary qualifications I was accepted onto the course and enjoyed my two years there thoroughly under the mentoring of Joe Stocking. It was there that I first gained an interest in film music and decided to follow it further by applying for the Music Production Course."

And it was while on that course at the University of Suffolk that George was lectured and mentored by Andrea Healy, who approached Leslie with the idea of having the orchestra play George's piece.

"I knew the piece was something special and we've worked to get it played by someone for years now," said Andrea.

"George doesn't sell himself enough. He is not the person to blow his own trumpet but in my eyes if anyone is going to go forward in a scoring career, George has all the attributes you need."