Doha College students awarded at YMOG 2022
Doha College was represented by no fewer than ten students in the recent “Young Musician of the Gulf 2022” competition, organised online this year by its long-time host St Christopher’s School in Bahrain.
Performing against top-class competition of over 150 students from across the region, two Doha College students have been awarded special prizes, namely Anne McChesney for Bowed String and Amir Alfarhan for Traditional Instrument. The competition’s overall winner was another Qatar-based student, namely violinist Tricia Ng. Below, you can watch Anne's and Amir's performances from the third round of the competition.
Anne McChesney - Bowed String Award
Anne is in Year 6 and turned 11 during the event. This makes her one of the youngest participants in the competition, normally aimed at ages 12 to 18.
Amir Alfarhan - Traditional Instrument Award
Amir is in Year 11 and plays the oud. He managed to hone and record his entries at a time when he was also focusing on his mock GCSE examinations.
Four of our competitors made it through to the semi-final - a fantastic achievement given the exceptionally high standards of the competition. They were, of course, Anne and Amir, and also Claudia Martinez on violin and Hashim Kraishan on qanun. Tap on the links below to listen to their performances from the second round of the competition.
Claudia Martinez, Year 7
Hashim Kraishan, Year 11
Amir Alfarhan, Year 11
Anne McChesney, Year 6
Ms Steph Gomaa, Head of Music at Doha College, was thrilled with the student’s performances, and said: “I’m really proud that nine of our students made it through to the second round, that four qualified for the semi-final, and that we were awarded two special prizes at the final level. This is the first time we’ve entered the competition in the five years that I’ve been here, because of the blockade restrictions and of course the pandemic, so this is a brilliant start for Doha College. Well done to all the musicians involved and all the staff that helped to pull it together. Finally, huge congratulations to Tricia Ng from Parkhouse English School, formerly a Doha College student; we are absolutely delighted for her achievement too.”
I’d like to say a huge well done to all who took part in YMOG 2022. The work they put in was absolutely outstanding, and even more so given that we were on remote learning for a month before submitting our entries. The level of the video recordings, as commented by St Christopher’s School, was very high, and the hosts were most grateful to Doha College for entering so many students.Ms Steph Gomaa, Head of Music at Doha College
I am exceptionally happy for Anne and Amir to have done so outstandingly in their categories. A huge congratulations to our music department for preparing the students so well. It is great to see that the musicians of Doha College have the opportunity to experience such a competition. It is some feat with the calibre of entrants. For the country of Qatar, this representation by British international schools is an incredible accolade.Dr Steffen Sommer, Principal of Doha College
Doha College has a great tradition in music education, listing many accomplished musicians amongst its alumni. It offers music for GCSEs and A levels, and provides its own instrumental music programme with one-to-one tuition, theory, ensemble and orchestra opportunities.
Tap the image below to listen to all the entries that Doha College students submitted to the Young Musician of the Gulf 2022.
