In Week 2, fifteen KHS music students participated in a two day “Songmakers Workshop”. The workshop was the result of a prize won by former KHS student Lucy Menzel in a national song writing competition. We were pleased that Lucy, who is now studying a Bachelor of Music (Creative Practice) at Adelaide Uni, was able to return to KHS and participate in the workshop.

SongMakers is a contemporary music program that partners Australian songwriters and producers with students in schools to create and record original music, fostering songwriting skills and providing industry insights. Our mentors were DVNA (Dana Lowrey-Palmer), Audius and Chelsea Warner who are prominent in the Australian music industry.

It was an intensive two days:

Day 1: Students work in groups of 4 with industry professional mentors to write a song each from scratch. They perform this song at the end of the day, ready for Day 2!

Day 2: Working to a tight deadline, students record their song with the mentors to be played back during a listening party at the end of the day.

The feedback from our students was very positive with them describing it as a “fantastic experience”.

The mentors were very impressed with how respectful and inclusive the students were of each other working in their groups, and how genuinely positive and excited they were to hear each other’s songs at the end of Day 2.

Carolyn Thorne
Music Teacher