The 2017 Newsboys Foundation Regional Music Award, in partnership with the Melbourne Recital Centre, is part of the MRC annual Bach Competition.
The Newsboys Foundation Regional Music Award seeks to address some of the issues affecting music students living in regional areas, including working in isolation and the added challenges associated with accessing learning opportunities. The award involves travel and one week’s accommodation for the student and a parent/guardian in Melbourne and a daily per diem; lessons with a top teacher on the relevant instrument; complimentary tickets to concerts at Melbourne Recital Centre during that week; mentoring/shadowing opportunities with Melbourne Recital Centre’s artistic and production staff; and the opportunity to go ‘behind-the-scenes’ with direct contact to industry professionals.
The prize is applicable to entrants who live, and attend a Victorian Government school, in rural or regional Victoria to enable such students to benefit from musical tuition opportunities.
Newsboys Foundation Regional Music Award Winner, Emma Amery, (age 18) lives on a farm in rural North-East Victoria. She began learning violin at the age of 6 in Wangaratta, and since then has played in numerous community concerts and local productions in the region. Emma has been travelling to Melbourne each Saturday since 2014 to participate in the Melbourne Youth Orchestras program, and this year holds the position of Assistant Concertmaster with the Melbourne Youth Orchestra. Emma is currently a student of Isin Cakmakcioglu.
Further information on the Bach Competition can be found on the MRC website.