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“She Sinks”
Western Springs College
(Auckland)
‘She Sinks’ has a cool mix of musical nous running parallel to the lyrics which are a great journey for we listeners to travel. These First Place getters along with the other 19 finalists chosen will now go into Parachute Recording Studio to professionally record their songs for the Youthtown Album.
"Auckland winter"
Homeschool
"Embrace The Struggle"
Papatoetoe High School
"In the Still of My Space"
Aorere College
"Kids With Rotten Teeth"
Green Bay High School
"Ko Au"
Papatoetoe High School
"Me & You"
Papatoetoe High School
"Middle Ground"
Kaipara College
"Miss You"
Papatoetoe High School
"Share Tea With The Queen"
Kaipara College
"She Sinks"
Western Springs College
"Show Me"
Papatoetoe High School
"Strawberry Kisses"
Lynfield College
"The Dragon"
Pukekohe High School
"The Way To Yesterday"
Lynfield College
"Trojan Legs"
Rutherford College
"Truth"
Papatoetoe High School
"Upgrade"
Papatoetoe High School
"Watch Them Spin"
Kaipara College
"Whakarongo mai"
Kaipara College
"Where Are Your Pants"
Kaipara College
The Youthtown Songwriting Competition is a competition run by Play It Strange in partnership with Youthtown for school students, years 9 to 13, in the West and South Auckland region.
This competition celebrates and embraces the voice of our youth through song -shared with schools, community, whanau, peers and the wider music community.
TWENTY finalist songs have been chosen to be recorded and mastered for the 2020 Youthtown Songwriting Competition album which will be available for free download and streaming on the Play It Strange website playitstrange.org.nz.
2022 Winners & Sound Tracks • 2021 Winners | 2021 Sound Track • 2020 Winners | 2020 Sound Track
Songwriting is a craft of the imagination and we believe that the creative environment surrounding songwriters should foster, expose and celebrate these songs.
We run songwriting competitions with lyric, Maori language, Peace Song awards and others alongside. And we record at least 40 finalists each year in professional recording studios.
Songwriting, performance, and recording are the three pivots of our music evolution.
NZ Songwriters have their own take on what makes songwriting a vibrant, creative practice - read their fresh perspectives in our Songwriters Speak page
Songwriters SpeakWe've designed a poster with all key deadlines and dates for our competitions. Make sure to stick them in your calendar!
Further information about each competitions entry requirements can be found below in our "Competitions" section.
Online entry forms are now available for each competition.
Download the PDF and print it out, stick it up at school and hand it out to friends, get the word out there!
Director/Producer: Mareea Vegas / DOP: Kent Belcher / Art dept: Alex Matthews / Editor: Zac Blair /
Post production: Henry Williamson @ Thievery Studio / Hair: Luci Hare / Makeup: Tiveshni Naidoo / Clothing: Thanks to Lela Jacobs
Special thanks to NZ On Air for their Special Tracks grant which covered the recording and film making.
2018 ENTRY FORM NOW AVAILABLE
The National Secondary School Songwriting Competition is the flagship programme of the Play It Strange Trust.
2018 ENTRY FORM NOW AVAILABLE
This competition seeks songs with the lyrics embodying a focus on Peace. N.B. We are unable to offer the Hiroshima Exchange prizes this year.
2018 ENTRY FORM NOW AVAILABLE
The Winner and all Finalists have been announced.
For all secondary school students in NZ.
The competition is judged based on the originality of the cover you choose to rearrange and sing, written and performed by a kiwi artist.
Supported by a Music Grant from Recorded Music NZ.
2018 ENTRY FORM NOW AVAILABLE
Play It Strange presents a Cover Art competition to celebrate all creatives at New Zealand Secondary Schools.
This competition seeks an Album Artwork for the front cover of the 2018 Play It Strange Lion Foundation Songwriting Competition.
Play It Strange has worked for over 10 years, striving to provide secondary students with a platform they can use to pursue their musical adventures. We've held concerts, workshops and competitions, all with the intentions to provide the right environment from which students can gain confidence, self-belief and an impetus for a career path they would like to follow.
Read MorePatrons, Strange Friend Stars and our Strange Friends are a crucial and valuable community that support us.
We would love you to come on board.
All donations are tax deductible.
If you are interested in becoming a Platinum Patron or Strange Friends Star or indeed support Play It Strange in any way please give us a call, we would love to catch up and talk.
University of Waikato summer paper ‘Introduction To SONGWRITING’ has just finished.
Students have finalised the tracking of their two songs and the results are very cool.
I Know This To Be True was conceived and assembled by Geoff Blackwell of PQ Blackwell, and Ric Salizzo. It is a book about truth, beauty and wisdom. "Sixty New Zealanders in the middle of interesting lives talk about what really matters, truth and beauty, and the things they hold dear to their hearts."
Royalties from the book sales will be forwarded to PLAY IT STRANGE to further their website and school programmes.
I Know This To Be True is an incredible collection of New Zealanders discussing what it is that is important to them. PQ Blackwell have generously donated all profits from book sales to Play It Strange. We cannot thank them enough for their support of Play It Strange, and we are so grateful to be part of such a rich, inspiring project.
The book is available for purchase from any good book store in New Zealand and online. Go and get one and enjoy!
Play It Strange songwriters that have had their songs recorded for the annual CD are making cool inroads out into the world. Their career paths were fuelled from their time at school during which they sent their songs into our competitions and triumphed.
Here we have a selection of those who hit the ground running when they left school. With songwriting, performance and recording experience they were capable and poised for action.
CUSTOMERS: Those philanthropic institutions, individuals, grants bodies and funding agencies. We applaud their generosity in supporting us and their focus on the benefits we bring to the society around us.
CLIENTS: The songwriters and performers that bring their imaginative craft and performing skills to bear and we are all rewarded. From the secondary school songwriting competitions to the recording sessions for the top 40 songs.
Watch Seven Sharp's story on our WE ARE ONE - Concert for Autism here
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