Young musicians from five high schools are set to perform tomorrow at one of Australia’s most iconic Blues festivals.
Students from John Paul College, Robina State High School, St Stephen’s College, Nerang State High School and Pro Deo / Aquinas College will take to the Victoria Park Main Stage from 10.00 am on Friday 22 May for the Blues on Broadbeach Music Festival.
Griffith University is sponsoring the ‘Schoolyard Blues’ event for the first time this year, allowing young emerging talent from across the region to perform professionally and gain major music festival experience.
Queensland Conservatorium Deputy Director (Gold Coast) Donna Weston says the new Festival partnership is in perfect alignment with the core goal of the BPM course — to help independent artists forge their paths in the Australian music industry.
“The real focus is industry — having those industry contacts and also building fan bases by getting their music out there — so a performance opportunity like this really aids in nurturing both the creative and business aspects for a young musician,” she says.
“Each year, our course offers student musicians more than 200 paid performance opportunities, and this latest partnership with Blues on Broadbeach is giving an even greater head start to high school students.”
Facilitating such performance opportunities is in line with the course’s industry-first, student focused enterprising initiative — Seed — which Donna says was developed in direct response to the global changes in the music industry.
“With changes in technology, and the rise of digitally available music, the industry has undergone significant change, with a shift from music sales as the major revenue to live performance,” she says.
“It’s vital that emerging musicians learn to effectively produce and represent themselves, while performing professionally, launching EPs and videos, and establishing fan bases.
“We’ve kept up with these changes through the Seed initiative, as well as with a series of events at QPAC, Brisbane Festival, The City Sounds and now Blues on Broadbeach.”
Former Seed artist and BPM graduate Brodie Graham will close the Schoolyard Blues concert on Friday 22 May.
According to Donna, 23-year-old guitarist Brodie is a young musician everyone is talking about.
“Brodie has already established himself as one of the hottest emerging talents in the Australian Blues scene,” she says.
“He has performed alongside the likes of Ray Beadle, Mojo Webb, JB Lewis, Doc Spann, Lil Fi, and Phil Emmanuel, and at the Woodford Folk Festival, Queensland Festival of Blues and the Australian Blues Music Festival.
“Brodie is a fantastic example of the career path an emerging musician can forge when they are given the right skill set coupled with an understanding of the way today’s industry operates.”
In addition to Seed, the BPM course runs annual rock school programs for high school students, student equity programs and professional development for teachers located from NSW to the North Coast and extending out to Toowoomba.
Schoolyard Blues
10.00am — 12.30pm
Friday 22 May
Victoria Park Main Stage
Blues on Broadbeach Music Festival