The search is on for aspiring musos in Lithgow and Parkes to be part of a new music industry mentoring program touring regional NSW this summer.
The SongMakers Holiday Sessions are presented by national music organisation, APRA AMCOS, as part of the Office for Regional Youth Holiday Break program in partnership with Create NSW.
FREE places are being provided to 16 locals, aged 16-21, to participate in the program. They will spend 2 days writing and recording songs and learning about music careers from some of Australia’s most inspiring creators.
The workshops will run Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 January at Mitchell Conservatorium Lithgow and Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 January at Marramarra Makerplace Parkes (attached to Parkes Library).
“Collaboration and connection makes the global industry tick: just about every great song has been written in a team process. And connection through music is also a powerful part of how we’ve all coped through the trials of the past couple of years,” said Tina Broad, SongMakers Project Lead, APRA AMCOS. “We can’t wait to meet some budding new musos through these sessions and keep the connections going as we match them with some really inspiring mentors.”
Mentors include platinum producer/artist and triple j favourite, Taka Perry, whose credits include Ruel, Denzel Curry, Max Frost, and A.GIRL, and Sydney producer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chelsea Warner.
Taka is forging a path as a go-to global collaborator, making regular writing trips to Europe and Asia.
Chelsea has just returned from the Bali Invitational international songwriting camp, where she worked alongside global writers like MNEK (Dua Lipa, Beyoncé) and Smoko Ono (Chance The Rapper, Kanye West).
Taka and Chelsea will be joined by popular Central West musician, Abby Smith (Smith & Jones).
The APRA AMCOS SongMaker program ran in the September 2022 school holidays in Orange and Bathurst.
Interested young people in Lithgow are invited to email Phil Braithwaite, at Mitchell Conservatorium at phil.braithwaite@mitchellconservatorium.edu.au for details about securing a place.
Interested young people in Parkes are invited to email Roxanne.Gallacher@parkes.nsw.gov.au or tina@songmakers.com.au or message @gosongmakers on Instagram for details about securing a place at the workshop.
