We are thrilled to announce that Olle Liljelund, a junior at the Hudson High School of Learning Technologies, has been named the winner of ETM’s first-ever High School Student Composition Contest!

Under the guidance of ETM Teacher Lee Dynes, Olle composed a piece that, according to music executive and judge of the contest Chris Atlas, “is very powerful and resonates highly based on current events, with drum patterns and bass that perfectly hit the mark.” Olle’s composition features audio clips that call attention to the issues of gun violence and racism in America.

ETM’s Composition Contest was based upon the ETM-created curriculum unit, “Trap Beats for Change.” In this unit, students learn about the trap subgenre of hip hop and are tasked with creating an original music composition in Soundtrap, a web-based digital audio workstation. The students created their own trap drum beats and selected audio samples related to the promotion of change with a social justice topic of their choosing.

We received so many powerful and creative pieces, and are thrilled that our curriculum and teachers are equipping students to create such musically sophisticated and thought provoking compositions.

Congratulations, Olle! And thank you to all of the participating students who submitted their compositions – you are all equally deserving of this award!

Listen to Olle’s winning composition below: