Fenton High School Senior Bora Agabigum's musical composition Devotion has been played internationally and will be performed again in the U.S. on Tuesday, May 11 at 7:00pm at the Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert at Fenton High School.

The FYSO cellist was approached last year by fellow FYSO members to write a piece of music to celebrate Davin Pierson Torre's 20th anniversary as conductor of the Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra. "Originally, I intended to incorporate different pieces of music as small themes within the work, and these themes would be taken from Mrs. Torre's favorite music. Then, I decided that in order to make it more meaningful to her, I would write a completely original work dedicated to her devotion to conducting."

Bora says he "...played around on the piano to get the perfect idea down, and after I was finished with the framework, I orchestrated the piece." He explains that Devotion is about how each individual has a passion and devotion to that passion. "It reflects how devotion to whatever it is we care about perseveres, even when life gets difficult or even when we encounter conflict. The theme is one continuous melody that changes over the course of the work and this illustrates how our devotion is continuous." Bora says Devotion was inspired by the works of composers Aaron Copland and Jean Sibelius.

Devotion premiered at the FYSO Bon Voyage Concert in March. When the FYSO toured Ireland this past April, they played Devotion 3 times, once at the Lord Mayor's Mansion in Dublin, which Bora says was "A tremendous honor!"

Bora began composing music at age 7. His composition Night at the Black Sea won first place nationally at the Junior Composers Competition Contest in 2001. Other compositions, such as Dreamsequence Variations quartet, have received several awards including the Michigan Honors Competition Contest. In 2007, during the Flint Youth Symphony's 60th anniversary, the third movement of his Semblance Symphony was premiered.

Although Bora loves playing and composing music, he plans to study Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan in the fall.

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