Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Zach's original work 'Stallion Ride’ won third prize in the Release the Notes category of Guildhall Young Artists (GYA) composition competition, RELEASE 2026.
Zach, from Centre for Young Musicians, says: ""Stallion Ride" started with me playing around on the piano, trying to find a chord that was different and unusual. I then developed the rest of the introduction's chord sequence, which forms the harmonic basis for quite a bit of the piece, even though some sections use more standard harmonies. The title, Stallion Ride, was inspired by the relentless triplet figures in the piano, an accompaniment inspired by Schubert's Der Erlkonig. Throughout the saxophone part, I alternate between lyrical, vocal-inspired lines and more idiomatic agile saxophone writing, because one of my ideas was to fuse together a Romantic lied-style song with a modern, agile instrument that is under-represented in the classical canon."
The category judge for Release the Notes was Tom Bruton, saxophonist and owner of Saxtet Publications.
Find out more about GYA here: gsmd.ac.uk/study-with-guildhall/children-and-young-people/guildhall-young-artists
Zach's original work 'Stallion Ride’ won third prize in the Release the Notes category of Guildhall Young Artists (GYA) composition competition, RELEASE 2026.
Zach, from Centre for Young Musicians, says: ""Stallion Ride" started with me playing around on the piano, trying to find a chord that was different and unusual. I then developed the rest of the introduction's chord sequence, which forms the harmonic basis for quite a bit of the piece, even though some sections use more standard harmonies. The title, Stallion Ride, was inspired by the relentless triplet figures in the piano, an accompaniment inspired by Schubert's Der Erlkonig. Throughout the saxophone part, I alternate between lyrical, vocal-inspired lines and more idiomatic agile saxophone writing, because one of my ideas was to fuse together a Romantic lied-style song with a modern, agile instrument that is under-represented in the classical canon."
The category judge for Release the Notes was Tom Bruton, saxophonist and owner of Saxtet Publications.
Find out more about GYA here: gsmd.ac.uk/study-with-guildhall/children-and-young-people/guildhall-young-artists
