Kaikorai Valley College pupil Corwin Newall (17) won first prize in the SGCNZ/Morrison Trust Shakespeare music composition category and was the supreme winner for best overall composition with his work Out, Damned Spot!.
Corwin said the short piano piece was inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth. He studied the play last year as part of level 2 English, he said.
"I thought it was great just winning my section. But to win the supreme award is just awesome."
While he was delighted with the awards, he was particularly excited to perform his piece at the national festival's award ceremony, held in Wellington at the weekend.
The ceremony was the culmination of a weekend of 46 performances by secondary school pupils who had won their regional competitions earlier this year.
Another Kaikorai Valley College pupil, Yi Zhang (18), was runner-up in the national static image category for his poster based on The Merchant of Venice.
Logan Park High School won the Bernina Award for outstanding costume and design for their 15-minute scene from Shakespeare's As You Like It, directed by Denise Walsh.
All pupils involved attended drama workshops put on by the festival organisers. More than 20 workshops were available for all pupils to attend, ranging from design to various acting techniques. They also took time out to visit Te Papa and a play at Circa Theatre.
