The brief specified a New Zealand piece and Fergus, who is interested in Maori language and culture, scoured the library for suitable Maori poems.
His task was to come up with a piece of choral music to accompany the poem, which tells the story of a young woman, Parearohi, who comes from a distant land and meets a man by night.
But he wants to see her in the light, and tricks her into staying until the sun has risen. When she finds out she's been deceived she leaves, singing as she goes.
Titled He Waiata Na Parearohi, Fergus said as it was written from a woman's perspective the melody was mostly in the soprano and alto voices, but the melody moved around between the parts.
"It's more about the whole picture, all the voices coming together, than about a particular voice.
"It's sad because she's saying goodbye, but she's also thinking about where she's come from and her homeland, and there's a bit of hope there."
Fergus completed most of the time-consuming composition during the summer school holidays.
"Sometimes you have an idea and you spend the whole day developing it and pursuing it and then either you don't like it or it crumbles down or it works with something else you want to do. It's finding a balance between everything, really."
With the support of Mrs Hand and the music department head, Rowan Bolley, Fergus' composition, in the form of a written score, was entered into the New Zealand Choral Federation/SOUNZ Composition Competition 2017. Mrs Hand was confident that it would make the finals.
"It was definitely a winner, it was so well-written."
