Elegy for Aylan was the winner of the 2018 Senior Category of the BBC Proms Inspire Competition. The piece was originally commissioned by Classic FM and the Royal Philharmonic Society for Classic FM 25th Birthday. Performed by members of the RLPO, Ensemble 10/10, at St George’s Hall in Liverpool in October 2017. "Elegy For Aylan" is a loose song without words setting of a poem of mine inspired by the story of Aylan, a three-year old Syrian child. In 2015, he was found washed up on a Turkish beach, sparking international outrage, and causing him to become symbolic of the immense struggles undergone by refugees. I wanted to write a piece that demonstrates what an exceptionally powerful tool classical music can be; allowing us to express freely emotions which may otherwise remain under discussed, or even, at times, entirely stifled. I strongly feel that music has the potential to explore a wide range of issues, including contemporary social and environmental ones. Indeed many composers in history have done this – for example think of Beethoven, Berlioz and Kurt Weill. Below is the poem I wrote on which the piece is based: Thrown upon an alien shore, an outstretched, shot-down Star plucked too early from its ruined Sky, the dust of many broken Waves filling the spaces between naked Arms; a last cry, borne in its own last Echoes on the encradling tide.