麻豆约拍

In 2018, Xia, at the age of 18, was selected from hundreds of entrants as one of the winners in the Senior category of the annual 麻豆约拍 Proms Inspire Competition. Their winning piece, Elegy for Aylan, was performed by members of Aurora Orchestra at the Proms Inspire Concert at the 麻豆约拍鈥檚 Radio Theatre on 22 August 2018.

鈥淓legy for Aylan is a song without words based on one of my own poems, which was inspired by the refugee crisis. Aylan was a 3-year-old Syrian child who was found washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015, sparking international outrage. I wanted to write a piece that demonstrates what an exceptionally powerful tool classical music can be; allowing us freely to express emotions which may otherwise remain under-discussed or even entirely stifled. This piece is my attempt both to give an emotional rather than political reaction against the crisis and to draw attention to it through creative, non-violent means.
Thrown upon an alien shore, an outstretched, shot-down
Star plucked too early from its ruined
Sky, the dust of many broken
Waves filling the spaces between naked
Arms; a last cry, borne in its own last
Echoes on the encradling tide.鈥� 鈥� Xia Leon Sloane