Participants practise for Crescendo, the inter-school western classical music competition organised by Calcutta School of Music in July

Prayash Biswakarma, a student of Dr Graham’s Home, in Kalimpong, waited shyly in the wings for his turn to play the violin.

But once on stage, the Class VII student exuded confidence as he played Antonio Vivaldi’s Spring concerto, bagging the first prize in the junior round in the violin section. “Though this is not my favourite piece, it’s interesting to play, as it incorporates both slow and fast rhythms,” he said.

Western classical music is flourishing in the city, if the performances by the youngsters at the inter-school music competition Crescendo, organised in July by Calcutta School of Music (CSM) at GD Birla Sabhagar, was anything to go by.

“We plan to make it an annual feature,” promised Chaitali Ganguly, academic head of the western music and performing arts department at CSM.

The competition had about 26 schools participating in the piano, violin, guitar, choir and band rounds. Five students were chosen in each category in the junior and senior segments through a preliminary screening.

The panel of judges included Anjum Katyal, Matthias Emmerling, Amit Chaudhuri, Dr. Anita Mehta and Wejsis Margolzata.

The seniors had to play a composition by the Romantic composer Frederic Chopin in the piano round. “It is an honour to play Chopin’s The Waltz,” said Ronodeep Mukherjee of Patha Bhavan.

Pritika Malhotra, a Class XI student of Modern High School who came first in the senior round in the piano section, confessed to feeling nervous before her performance. “My mother introduced me to the piano. I hope I can live up to her expectations,” she said.

Addaito Chatterjee of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy and Sohini De of Meghamala Roy Education Centre came first in the junior and senior guitar rounds, respectively.

In the choir section, Loreto House wowed the audience with their Latin rendition of Ave Maria. “It wasn’t easy to learn and sing in Latin, but we enjoyed picking it up,” said Yolanda Lin.

Modern High had the audience singing along to All I Want Is A Room Somewhere from My Fair Lady. Dolna Day School took home the first prize with the students crooning I Will Follow Him.

In the school band round, the girls of Modern High won the first prize, performing Burning Love, made famous by Elvis Presley. “We’re good friends who enjoy jamming,” said Class X student Bhagyasri Chaudhury. St Xavier’s also packed in a powerful performance with U2’s Vertigo.

Sebanti Chatterjee, who is researching the sustainability of western classical music in Calcutta, loved the programme. “Such programmes ensure the dissemination of this genre,” she said.