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Watch the behind-the-scenes video of the songwriting day!

This year, we wanted to provide even more students the opportunity to participate in the mentored songwriting session. Twelve talented young musicians were chosen (there were nine last year), based on their teachers’ recommendations and on their initial responses to the brief. They were flown to Sydney from around Australia, to work in teams with some of Australia’s leading songwriters as mentors, under the expert eyes and ears of Ambassador, John Foreman.

Our songwriting mentors this year are Clare Bowditch, Holly Throsby, Kav Temperley (Eskimo Joe) and Rai Thistlethwayte (Thirsty Merc). They brought great generosity and skill to their roles as collaborators.

Each student came to the workshop with lots of ideas to contribute, knowing that John Foreman would be picking the song which would go on to be professionally recorded as this year’s song.

After a hard day’s work against the clock, the teams came up with four great songs, each representing a different response to the brief:

Team 1 song: ‘Music Starts with You’, an energetic singalong
Mentor: Kav Temperley
Students:  Maddi Bignell (Albany Senior High School, WA)
Lisa-Marie Long (North Sydney Girls High School, NSW)
Hayden Wilcox (Christian Outreach College, QLD)

Team 2 Song: ‘We’ve Got the Music’, a rock-y anthem with a call to action
Mentor: Rai Thistlethwayte
Students:  Dylan Confaloniere (St Columban’s College, QLD)
Courtney Loxton (Woonona High School, NSW)
Josh Prichard (St Aloysius Catholic College, TAS)

Team 3 Song: ‘Sing Out Loud’, a pop-y celebration of self-expression through song
Mentor: Clare Bowditch
Students:  Tori Bailey (St Hildas School, QLD)
Geneviene Cartlon (Cartitas College, SA)
Connor Ross (Narooma High School, NSW)

Team 4 Song: ‘Music Fills the Air’, an indie/folk song
Mentor: Holly Throsby
Students: Stephanie Holt (Heathdale Christian College, VIC)
Natalie McIver (St Ursula’s College, QLD)
Luke Scattini (Katherine High School, NT)

 

After some intense deliberation the groups were called back into the room and John announced that the program song to be learnt by schools all around Australia would be... ‘We’ve Got the Music’.

“What I got out of the experience is the thrill of working with not only the fantastic and talented mentors, especially Rai, but also working with the other amazing mates I made. I had no idea that you could make 11 best friends in 24 hours. I am so happy that I had this amazing and life changing experience.”
Joshua Prichard, St Aloysius Catholic College, Huntingfield, TAS

“I’ve gained so many new songwriting and collaborating skills and met so many new amazing people, including the mentors that were there to guide us. 
Maddison Bignel, Albany Senior High School, Albany, WA

“I think that the workshop was probably the best thing I have ever done in my whole life!!”
Luke Scattini, Katherine High School, NT

 

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Three weeks later ‘We’ve Got The Music’ had been tweaked and made ready for its final journey to life in the studio, as a succession of talented Melbourne secondary students laid down their tracks for the recording of the song. Some of Australia's best session musicians were on hand as mentors: Simon Patterson (guitar), Dave Beck (drums) and Craig Newman (bass).

Lead vocals on the track are by TJ Alcaniz, year 11, Mansfield Secondary College, VIC (has been on X Factor as a soloist, is through to Australia's Got Talent with his band, the Uprising, which has also been Unearth'd, on Triple J) and up-and-comer, Jackie Ivosevic, year 11, Ave Maria College, Melbourne, who's a student of celebrity vocal coach, Susie Ahern (who also trains Bobby Andonov, our vocalist last year).

Backing vocals are by Jess Peters and Ben Colley, VCA Secondary School and Jimmy Stevenson, Braemar College, Melbourne.

 

The student session players on the recordings are from VCASS:

Drums: Alastair Kennedy; Guitars: Matt Hoyne; Bass: Bryce Buxton; Piano and organ: Lena Douglas; Horns: Rhiannon Johnston (sax), Max English (trombone) and Mateusz Gwizdalla (trumpet).

 

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This year all the arrangements of the program song, 'We've Got The Music', have been provided by arrangers Andrew Robertson and Peter Hind:

Since graduating from the NSW Conservatorium of Music (Sydney) in 1991, Andrew Robertson has followed a career as a professional jazz musician, composer/arranger and jazz educator. As a woodwind specialist he has performed with such diverse artists as Michael Buble, John Farnham, James Morrison, the Sydney All Star Big Band, Emma Pask, Tom Burlinson, Don Burrows and Broadway musicals such as The Producers, Crazy For You, Chicago, West Side Story, Dusty, Hugh Jackman's The Boy From Oz etc.

Andrew Robertson is one of the busiest freelance commercial arrangers in Australia, having arranged for Australian Idol (03-07), Battle of The Choirs (Channel 7), the Sydney Opera House 30th Birthday Gala Concert, Sydney and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, Eurovision Song Contest, television ads, Channel 9 (the 2006 Channel 9 theme song), and many others.

Andrew is of JozzBeat Music Publishing P/L, a print music publishing company which produces the highly regarded JozzBeat range of print music and education resources for the school market.  This is his second year of involvement with Music: Count Us In, having provided the Jellybean resources in 2010.

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Peter Hind is an instrumental music teacher with the School of Instrumental Music, currently working for the WA Department of Education as a brass tutor and band conductor. He has been a musician in the Australian Regular Army, a primary school music specialist and the head of music in three different high schools.

He is passionate about inclusivity and providing inspiring music performance opportunities for all people regardless of circumstances and musical ability. He often combines musicians from different schools to form large ensembles to facilitate this. Recent examples of this are the Northam Area Youth Band which took musicians from 10 schools and 3 Universities to China to play at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010 and he is currently preparing a combined band from the Perth Hills and WA Wheatbelt region to participate in the Pacific Basin Music Festival in Hawaii in March 2012.

This Peter’s second year with Music: Count Us In. Last year he conducted the Kalamunda Senior High School Concert Band from the Perth Hills as part of the music team at the Perth performance on the steps of the Perth Concert Hall.

 

Are you registered for 2011? Click here to register now

 

Read (and watch the videos) about last year's program song 'Come Play Your Part' .