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QE pupils explored the impact of languages and language-learning on music and cultures in a special event at North London Collegiate School.

The Modern Foreign Languages symposium hosted by QE’s partner girls’ school celebrated the power of languages, music and culture to connect people across national boundaries.

Topics ranged from the life and works of polyglot composer Franz Liszt to links between languages and statelessness in Africa.

German and French teacher Fiona McAndrew, who led the QE group, said: “The overall theme was Borders and Bridges, and I know that many of our boys found it fascinating to explore the way in which languages create connections while at the same time fostering creativity.

“Nurturing our students to become deep thinkers and compelling communicators is one of the priorities enumerated in Boundless, the QE School Plan: this symposium helped on both those fronts.”

Keynote speaker Dr Ben Schoeman – an international concert pianist, who gave a recital as part of the symposium – looked at the relationship between music and language in the life and work of composer Franz Liszt. Liszt grew up speaking many languages, with his music bringing together influences from across Europe.

Drawing on his own international career and Liszt’s life and output in the keynote session, Dr Schoeman demonstrated how music can transcend borders and bring cultures together.

Year 13’s Daniel Kollo, who is studying German, History, Maths and Economics, said: ‘‘I knew there was a connection between music and language, but never heard it discussed this way before.”

Dr Schoeman’s session was followed by breakout lectures focusing on French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Italian and Russian.

For Year 12’s Nikhil Francine, who is currently studying towards AS-levels in Philosophy, French, History and Mathematics, the highlight was the lecture on Francophone Borders and Bridges: Statelessness and Displacement. This was led by NLCS alumna Laura Parker, who has experience working for humanitarian aid charities in Francophone Africa. “This lecture stood out for me, as it explored the theme of statelessness and the use of language in determining statelessness, and how languages break down borders,” Nikhil said.

QE linguists also enjoyed a session led by Dr Aine McMurtry, of King’s College London. During the session, entitled German Translingual Entanglements: Writing in the Contact Zone, Dr McMurtry explored contemporary literature and discussed the challenges of writing in a second language and living abroad.

Reflecting on the symposium as a whole, Nikhil added: “Learning about different cultures was fascinating because it was more of a sociological symposium on languages.

“It was very enlightening to see how languages remain very relevant across a wide range of scenarios, offering valuable ways to examine society, culture and history.”

Year 11’s Eshaan Anil performance on the cello put him among the prize-winners at the prestigious New Talent Festival 2026 – while the whole QE Music department won its own award, too.

Eshaan’s playing impressed the festival’s panel of judges – senior figures drawn from some of the country’s leading conservatoires.

Congratulating him, Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “Eshaan’s success is a wonderful reflection of his dedication, hard work and musical development, as well as QE’s commitment to musical excellence. We look forward to seeing where his talent and enthusiasm take him next.

“I am, of course, very pleased that the festival judges have also recognised the work that my colleagues and I do to nurture musical talent at QE.”

Now in its ninth year, the New Talent Festival brings together hundreds of young musicians from across the UK and around the world. The festival is currently in residence at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London. Its partners include not only the RAM, but also other leading music centres, such as the Royal Northern College of Music and Guildhall School.

It was held over four days and included masterclasses, interactive workshops, chamber music coaching and performances, as well as the competition. Over the past eight years, more than 1,600 young musicians from 37 countries have taken part.

Eshaan played the first movement of John Ireland’s Cello Sonata in G Minor and the first movement of Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in G minor, RV 417. He was accompanied by Tadashi Imai, visiting piano teacher at QE.

He took third place in the strings category for his age group.

Eshaan said: “I learnt a lot from the constructive feedback from the head of strings at the RAM, John Hutchins.”

“It was a great experience – competing against such distinguished musicians was thrilling,” he added.

The Music department’s Certificate of Virtuoso Music Teaching Centre Award was given in recognition of its excellence in teaching Music. The certificate was signed by nine senior musicians from academia, including: Professor Jo Cole, the RAM’s Professor of Cello; Professor Steven Wilkie, the Royal Northern College of Music’s Professor of Violin; and Mr Hutchins, who is the RAM’s Head of Junior Academy.

Eleven Year 12 pupils headed for Imperial College London for the Environmental Design Challenge – a competition that encourages young people to work collaboratively to design eco-friendly human settlements.

Joining the international challenge for the first time, the QE sixth-formers worked with some 70 pupils from other schools to produce ideas for “a sustainable transformation of Milton Keynes” on a trip organised by QE’s Physics and Geography departments.

One member of the group, Tanush Madadi, won an individual award for Best Leadership in a non-leadership position.

The Environmental Design Challenge (EDC) is organised by the Space Science and Engineering Foundation, organisers of a series of competitions connected with outer space, including the UK Space Design Competition (SDC), in which QE has a long and successful record.

Head of Physics Jonathan Brooke said: “The EDC takes the structure of the UK SDC and broadens its appeal to include Year 12 students with a breadth of interests linked to sustainability and public policy. It coincides with several of the priorities of our Boundless School Plan – especially nurturing pupils so that they become ‘sustainability literate’.”

“Working to a tight deadline, the boys had to cope with the stress of working under pressure,” said Mr Brooke, “It was a great opportunity for them to develop project work skills they will need at university and in employment, to get them out of their comfort zone, and to collaborate with people they were meeting for the first time.”

All three ‘companies’ formed on the day comprised pupils from several schools, with the QE contingent split between two of them. These two companies called themselves Milton Greens and Keen for Keynes.

The three companies worked on a presentation to find solutions to three tasks related to MK’s “sustainable transformation”:

• Reimagining Milton Keynes’ transportation
• Developing a strategy for sustainable growth
• Designing a climate-resilient development.

Keen for Keynes (pictured here on stage celebrating their win) won the competition on the day.

Geography teacher Elin Hopley said the boys drew on their knowledge from the GCSE and A-level courses, as well as from research done on the day: “I was hugely impressed by the significant amount of work all the participants had put into their presentations. The room was buzzing with excitement as groups prepared to present and answer the judging panel’s questions.”

Tanush, who won his award for his contribution to Milton Greens, said: “Pitching our socio-economic strategy to industry judges at Imperial College London was a fantastic, rewarding learning experience.”

Other QE participants equally reflected on a rewarding trip. Aarnav Mahajan enjoyed applying his interest in mathematics and science to some real-world challenges. Adithya Ananthakrishnan found it inspiring to work with “so many other like-minded young people”, while acknowledging that presenting to a large audience forced him out of his “comfort zone, which was extremely valuable”. And Danyal Rahim, who aspires to work in sustainability-related fields, said: “One of the highlights was collaborating with other schools in large teams, with never-ending pizzas sustaining us throughout the day!”

QE mathematician Rachit Banker is the first and – to date – only winner of the Outstanding Achievement distinction given by The Archimedes Awards Academic Council.

Rachit, who is in Year 10, won the accolade for his efforts as the first QE pupil to undertake and successfully complete the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards Bronze Mathematics Skills Pathway.

Congratulating him on his “particularly special accomplishment”, a spokesperson for the Archimedes Awards – an international competition for young mathematicians – said: “Beyond completing the programme, Rachit demonstrated remarkable creativity by developing two original mathematical challenges, The Coin Flip Conundrum and The Penultimate Proof Paradox. Both were selected for publication by The Archimedes Awards, together with their worked solutions and marking schemes.”

Earlier this year, QE became one of just ten schools nationally to be recognised as an Accredited Archimedes Mathematical Thinking School.

The 13-week pathway is a new national opportunity for students to pursue Maths as a dedicated D of E skills activity.

Rachit joined the pathway independently after taking part in the Archimedes Awards competition and being invited to participate in the programme as part of its 2025–2026 inaugural cohort.

QE Head of Mathematics Jessica Steer said: “Rachit did very well indeed, amply demonstrating at least two of the priorities in our Boundless School Plan, namely helping pupils become deep thinkers and compelling communicators, as well as self-aware people who make things happen.”

Over the 13 weeks, he tackled a series of challenging mathematical problems covering topics including geometry, combinatorics, number theory, game theory and combinatorics (the branch of Mathematics that studies counting, arranging, and selecting objects in finite or discrete systems). Geometry proved to be a particular favourite for Rachit.

Rachit said: “My experience of the programme went exceptionally well as not only could I develop my problem-solving and perseverance skills by tackling difficult, yet fun, Maths problems, but also my creative skills: I am most proud of all the problems that I created as part of the programme.”

Inspiration for The Archimedes Awards comes from Archimedes of Syracuse – the most famous mathematician and inventor in ancient Greece.

Year 13’s Noah Morley has become the third QE pupil this century to be offered an organ scholarship from Oxford or Cambridge.

His scholarship counts as a major success for QE’s three-year-old musical partnership with Barnet’s St John the Baptist Church, in which Noah played a pioneering role.

He follows in the footsteps of Cambridge organ scholars Peter Yarde Martin (OE 2002–2007) and Drew Sellis (OE 2013–2020).

Noah’s scholarship offer from Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, comes after he played a leading part in two recent landmark musical events for QE – the Chamber Choir singing evensong at Christ Church, Oxford, and a Royal College of Organists (RCO) concert at St Lawrence Jewry Church in the City of London.

Assistant Director of Music Jas Hutchinson-Bazely, who helped Noah obtain the Cambridge scholarship, said: “This is a wonderful achievement and is richly deserved following his enthusiastic involvement in our organ scholarship at the parish church for the past three years.

“He has fulfilled his duties both there and in School with distinction, and is a brilliant role model to our increasing number of young organists. Hopefully, he will inspire many more to follow his lead, and we wish him every success.”

Noah began learning the organ at QE in Year 9. Under the partnership with St John’s, Noah, who was then in Year 10, was named as an inaugural QE organ scholar, together with sixth-former Joel Swedensky (now singing as a choral scholar with the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge).

Noah is currently the Senior Organ Scholar in the scheme, with Year 9’s Arthur Wang as Junior Scholar.

If he secures the A-level results he needs to secure his place at Cambridge, Noah will have the privilege of playing the organ three times a week in the college chapel. He said: “Being awarded the scholarship is very important to me. My organ teacher is very proud.”

Noah is taught at QE by organ and voice teacher Adam Hope, who rehearses the School’s Chamber Choir. In the Summer Term, Noah played voluntaries at Christ Church’s Rieger organ before and after evensong at Christ Church, as well as accompanying the choir during the service [pictured top].

This term, he was among the star performers in the concert in the City church beside the Guildhall – the second time that QE, which became an RCO-Accredited Institution in 2025, has been invited to take part in the RCO Young Performers concert series. Also performing were 11 other pupil organists and singers from Years 8–13.

The historic venue, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, is the official church of the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of London. The church is home to a Klais organ, built in 2001 as a Millennium Project

QE’s concert was introduced by Madeline Smith, Director of Relationships at the RCO. The organists performed works by composers including Elgar, Bach and Vivaldi, while the singers presented pieces by Purcell, Torelli and Ireland.

The performers were supported by Year 9 pupil Hoting Tan [pictured in the blue shirt], who acted as the organists’ console assistant for the day. Having recently started learning the organ himself, Hoting was able to observe and learn from more experienced musicians.

Year 8 organist Hercules Li said: “I enjoyed playing on a new organ and I liked the large variety of sounds. I also enjoyed being able to walk through the organ and see all the pipes inside it.”

Robin Peng, of Year 9, added: “I really liked the immersive sound and atmosphere the organ produced, and how I could feel the mechanisms working behind the keys and creating the sound almost magically.”

Thirty-four GCSE and A-level musicians enjoyed a memorable evening in the Victorian splendour of the Royal Albert Hall at the 80th Anniversary Celebration Concert of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

For many, it was their first experience of hearing a professional orchestra play live.

The RPO served up an 80th birthday treat for their ears, opening the concert with the world premiere of a piece by Errollyn Wallen, Master of the King’s Music, before delivering consummate performances of works by Beethoven and Richard Strauss.

Assistant Director of Music Caroline Grint, who led the trip, said: “Such first-hand experiences are deeply enriching for those studying at GCSE and A-level, helping to deepen their understanding of the context of the music they study, while also providing a valuable cultural experience.

“We’re very fortunate that QE is within easy reach of world-famous venues like the Royal Albert Hall – and, as our Boundless School Plan sets out, we seek to take full advantage of that proximity.”

The performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto was “technically dazzling”, Miss Grint said, while the concert’s concluding piece, Richard Strauss’s epic tone poem Ein Heldenleben, featured “an impressive nine French horns”.

Errollyn Wallen’s piece, entitled FLARE, had been specially commissioned by the RPO for the concert. The Belize-born British composer was appointed by King Charles in 2024.  She was awarded an MBE in 2007 and CBE in 2020, both for services to music.

Founded in 1946 by conductor and impresario Sir Thomas Beecham, the RPO has grown from its first concert in Croydon to become an internationally acclaimed orchestra, performing across London, the UK and around the world, as well as reaching audiences through digital and media platforms.

“Our students were particularly struck by the extraordinary technical skill of the internationally acclaimed soloists, pianist Julia Fischer, cellist Pablo Ferrández, and pianist Jan Lisiecki in the Beethoven concerto,” Miss Grint added.