Charlotte was just six years of age when she composed her first suite for a string trio and selection of woodwind instruments. Now in Year 10, the gifted musician is honing her craft through the support of the music program at St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School.

It was by pure chance that Charlotte discovered her affinity for music composition.

“I stumbled across a composing platform my sister was using for her homework and just started experimenting with it. Since then, I’ve written several music scores,” she said.

By the age of ten, one of Charlotte’s compositions was performed at a recital by her viola teacher.

Charlotte’s talent was recognised at a state level when she was in Year 8, with one of her music compositions winning the Australian Society for Music Education (AMSE) Queensland Young Composers’ Competition.

She was also accepted into the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) composer program, which will give her the chance to work with mentors and other budding composers to write compositions to be performed by the QSO Connect Ensemble and a selection of QSO musicians.

In addition to her work as an emerging composer, Charlotte also plays viola, an instrument she started learning as part of St Margaret’s primary music program, which gives every girl the gift of learning a musical instrument.

“I was really drawn to the warm, mellow and deep sound of the viola, and I’ve continued to play in the private music tuition program at St Margaret’s. My progress is really due to the wonderful support of my viola teacher.

“This year I’ve also taken up singing lessons and I’ve enjoyed being a member of St Margaret’s choirs throughout my time at school,” she said

Outside of school, Charlotte is a member of the world-class Queensland Youth Orchestra program, spending every Saturday rehearsing in preparation for regular performances throughout the year.

She is also a member of the Young Conservatorium, a pre tertiary program that nurtures talented young musicians with individual tuition, recitals and performance opportunities, masterclasses and workshops under the expert guidance of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University’s experienced teaching faculty.

Music, like any art, requires dedication and commitment and Charlotte demonstrates both in spades. She is busy each afternoon after school with practice or ensemble rehearsals but says St Margaret’s signature Flyers Program assists her to balance her music commitments with her academics.

“I often don’t get enough time to study after school, so it really helps to have timetabled time during the school day when I can study in a quiet place and get all of my schoolwork done,” she said.

Charlotte is aspiring towards a future that combines her love of music with her other great interest – science – in particular physics, astro physics and computer science. “I’d like to study a dual degree in music composition and science,” she said.

In fact, her dual passions are colliding at present as she writes a score called ‘Symphony of the Stars’, inspired by her fascination with space and Gustav Holt’s orchestral suite, ‘The Planets’.

Charlotte is composing her future at St Margaret’s, nurturing her extraordinary talent for music and music composition while also fostering her futurist mindset through the school’s STEM program.

Originally published on the St Margaret's Anglican Girls School website.