Surround Sound

Region: Rural North Rural South and West | Rural and remote schools

Years 7 to 12

Local arts program Music

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Surround Sound is a band program for students from secondary schools in rural and remote areas. Bands must have between 3 and 16 members and may perform covers or originals in any contemporary music style.

All performers must be students enrolled at a NSW public school in Years 7 to 12. No teachers or tutors can perform as part of the band.

Applications will be held by video submission.
Selected schools will receive a school-based workshop delivered by an industry mentor during Term 3
Bands and their teacher will be supported to travel and be accommodated in Sydney during Term 4 Week 7 at the Surround Sound camp where all bands come together to workshop their performances with mentors .
Each band will perform a 15-minute set twice at SpecFest outside of Schools Spectacular in Term 4 Week 7.

2024 dates

Applications will open on Monday 5 February 2024 and close on Friday 31 May 2024

How to apply

Prepare your video submission and upload it to an online platform, such as YouTube, Vimeo or Google Docs link.
Ensure the settings on your URL are set to allow the panel to view it.
Have each student complete and return a Surround Sound 2024 permission to publish form.
Complete your Surround Sound 2024 application form* with the following information:
- name of band/ensemble
- a short band biography
- name of audition piece (please also indicate if it is a cover or an original song).

*Please ensure you are logged in to your NSW Department of Education Google account before using the application form.

Video submission

Bands are required to submit one song of up to 5 minutes.
The song can be a cover or an original.
The video should be filmed as one continuous live take from a single static camera with no camera movement (including zoom, pan or tilt) with live audio from the room taken into the camera.
A video taken with a smartphone or tablet, using the sound from the internal microphone of that device will be sufficient.
The quality of video and audio recordings will not be considered as part of the judging criteria.
Video filmed at a school or community event may be used as the round 1 submission if it meets the above requirements.