Young people will be taking to the stage once again as part of the Mullum Music Festival’s youth mentorship program that has been supporting young people gain experience in the music industry for the last nine years.
‘The quality was high and their were lots of applications by diverse acts. The age range was between 7 – 21 with entries coming from as far afield as Sydney and the Sunshine Coast,’ Youth Mentorship organiser Tom Whitaker said.
The winner of the Under 15 category, to be mentored by William Crighton, is 11-year-old Murwillumbah schoolgirl Emmagen Rain who will also be performing at the opening night gala on Thursday 15 November.
‘The Mentorships sessions happen with the support of Mullumbimby High School, as we use their music rooms to prepare a 20 minute performance for the festival,’ says Tom.
‘They each have an hour with their mentor to play their set and get feedback – on stagecraft, the order of the songs, on vocalisation, on performance, technical stuff. And after that the mentor goes with the young musician to the performance and helps them set up and sound check as its an important part of the process for a young musician to know how to manage!’
Closer to home was 18-year-old Aysha Ndiaye, who only took up music and singing at school two years ago, wowed the judges with her voice will be mentored by Shelly Brown.
‘I still struggle with the vulnerability and anxiety that comes with performance and I would like to learn how to harness and overcome these feelings to become a powerful performer,’ said Aysha.
The Songwriting Category was taken out by Sunshine Coast’s 17 year old boy wonder Izack Hunt whose music has been recognised by the Queensland Music Awards for the Indigenous section and he was a semi-finalist in their International Songwriting Competition.
The final category was taken out by Loose Content, the winners of the Band Category. The three hander comprised of Milla Stewart-Long, Sam Sanders and Aquila Tranz Porter hail from Mullumbimby and are excited about sharing their funk flavoured indie rock with Mullum Music Fest goers. The three 13 – 14 year olds will get to enjoy being mentored by festival patrons Husky who will get to share their enormous enthusiasm and knowledge with the young musicians.
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