AN Aberdeen musician has won the prestigious BBC Young Composer of the Year Award, receiving praise for her song exploring the changing landscape of the Highlands.

Jenna Stewart, 17, was given the award for her song Lost Times – one of the many tunes she composed during the pandemic – in the seniors category of the annual contest.

The recent school leaver was one of six winners out of the overall 529 entrants and now has the chance to work with a mentor composer for a project with the BBC Concert Orchestra. The experience will culminate in a live performance or broadcast opportunity.

Stewart said she has been playing the violin and guitar since the age of seven, and wrote her first piece of music aged eight alongside her dad. She is now “ecstatic” about her achievement 10 years on.

An example of one of Stewart's compositions

“When I found out I was one of this year’s winners, I was truly stunned. When I entered the competition I did not expect to win, I entered it more for the experience of ‘putting music out there’,” she explained. “After I processed it, I was so ecstatic, it felt amazing to know that such an esteemed panel of judges could really appreciate my composition.”

The young musician also thanked her former Aberdeen school, St Margaret’s School for Girls, for their support.

“I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to work on my music with full support from St Margaret’s. I’m not sure I could have won this award if it were not for St Margaret’s constant encouragement from the very start of my musical journey.”

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Anna Tomlinson, the school’s head teacher, said the staff are “so proud” of Stewart’s win. “Jenna is a wonderful example of how hard work, dedication and enjoying what you can reap rich rewards.”

Stewart has now graduated from St Margaret’s and is on a gap year. She has been accepted to study music at Edinburgh Napier next academic year.