Student success in Royal Opera House Design Challenge 2023!

East Sussex College Lewes students celebrated their success at the Royal Opera House Design Challenge in April - with this year’s theme based on The Magic Flute by Mozart.

Creative students studying at ESC have long been successful at the prestigious Royal Opera House Design challenge, and the 2023 competition proved to be no different!

Sam Howard, an Art & Design Extended Diploma student, was joint-winner of the Costume Design award. He designed an amazing costume for the character 'Sarastro'. This is the first time that the College has scooped the top prize in this category.

Phoebe Ociepka-Tearle, also an Art & Design Extended Diploma student, was highly commended in the Marketing Strategy & Design category for her highly imaginative poster and animation. Ryan Skeel was commended in the Marketing Strategy & Design pathway for his stunning poster and animation, while Sophie Fish, a Beauty and Make-Up student, was commended in the Hair, Wigs & Make-Up pathway for her wonderful work for the character ‘Papageno’.

Sam Howard, joint-winner of the Costume Design award, said, “It’s been a really great opportunity to try something new, I’ve never sewn before, and to actually go ahead and win this gives me confidence that I can go on and pursue different pathways in the future like costume, theatre and film. I’ve always had an interest in character design and concept art - designing these characters' costumes has been really great! I chose to design Sarastro’s costume, he’s quite a flamboyant character and I tried to take the design into a more science fiction direction because that’s where my interests are.

“I get to have a tour from the professionals of the Royal Opera House and my work will be displayed there for two weeks. I think this will certainly help me in the future, it’s something I can add to my portfolio and show future employers. It’s also great that the College offers this opportunity because I wouldn’t be sitting here as a winner today!”

James DiBiase, Visual Arts Lecturer at East Sussex College, said, “Our students have produced some exceptional responses to this year’s opera ‘The Magic Flute’ by Mozart - with a special mention going to Sam Howard who won the Costume Design Award, a first prize in this category for the College!”

All of the winners and highly commended students, including Sam and Phoebe, will be invited up to the Royal Opera House to attend an industry-insight experience and collect their well-deserved awards. The pair will also have their award-winning work on display in the Linbury Foyer of the House for a duration of two weeks in June.