Cobar High School Year 12 music stu-dent Thomas Bradley is undoubtedly tal-ented and he’s just recently added the title of “winning song maker” to his long list of achievements.
The 17 year old was one of five winners of the Moorambilla Remix Competition which was announced recently at Moorambilla’s Virtual Gala event.
Thomas took out the Under 18 category and, in addition to collecting $1,000 prize money, he will also have the invaluable opportunity to work with and be mentored by an experienced sound producer.
Moorambilla Voices marketing director Lucy Taylor said the Moorambilla Remix Competition was a new addition to their pro-gram and is believed to be the first time a choir has attempted doing live recordings of Australian Art music.
“It was such a wonderful addition to the 2021 program which just the week before won the APRA AMCOS [music rights manage-ment organisation] award for best education program in Australia!
“This remix featured in our online gala which took audiences down memory lane as well as into the future!,” Ms Taylor said.
The Moorambilla Remix Competition called for contestants “to have some fun with the music that brings us joy”.
It was geared to appeal to DJs, arrangers, composers, experimental musicians and im-provisers.
Contestants could choose from five selected works previously created by Moorambilla’s artists, and they were encouraged to get “creative and quirky” and bring something to the judges that would make them dance.
Feedback from the judges on Thomas’ entry report his remix “showed great cohesiveness of style and genre”.
“It also seemed to reflect our collective need for something fun and upbeat in this time of change and uncertainty in the sector and many of the judges commented that it genuinely made them smile and want to dance – fast!” Ms Taylor said.
Thomas has been part of the Moorambilla Voices choir program since he was in Year 3 at Primary School.
“I love being involved with it!
“I’ve also been producing music since I was 10 years old and I thought I had a great shot at winning,” Thomas said.
“I created an electronic dance song using their song ‘Don’t be afraid’ composed by Andrew Howes.
“I won the Under 18s category which was provided by SongMakers, which is a program that assists school children with a passion for music to grow their skills.”
Thomas said he’s excited to be able to work with an experienced music producer to help him grow his skills.
The five winning tracks will also have their music set to a video created by Moorambilla’s Taiko Master, DJ and composer, Anton Lock, and will feature on their social media.
Cobar High School principal Shane Carter said it was great to see Thomas’ talent being acknowledged on a larger platform like Moormabilla Voices.
“We are looking forward to seeing what the future brings for this talented young man,” Mr Carter said.
