More than 80 students and staff from across the region attended a GCSE and A-level composition master class at the Royal Hospital School in Holbrook.

The event was led by Dr Toby Young, composer and research fellow at the University of Oxford, and supported by the eight fellows of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.

Pupils were treated to a lecture recital in the school’s chapel, where the fellows demonstrated a history of choral music through the ages. They treated pupils to works by Thomas Tallis, Antonio Lotti, Sir John Tavener, Sir Hubert Parry, and even the theme from Spider-man.

Dr Young also gave a lecture on the techniques of composition.

Pupils then worked in groups with the fellows to write a short piece of a cappella music to a set text.

A school spokesman said: “They worked hard all afternoon, trying out ideas and then writing them down.”

The day concluded with premiers of the day’s work, with the fellows performing all of the pieces in the Burns Recital Hall.