Music Matters

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season – Christina Anastasiadis (15) Christina has been singing and dancing since the age of 3. She attends the Elite program at Patrick Studios Australia where she trains in all styles of dance including jazz, classical, hip hop, contemporary, tap, drama, musical theatre and acrobatics. She sings all genres including Pop, Jazz/Blues/RnB, Musical theatre, Countr...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season – Charlize Costantin (9) Definitely born to entertain, Charlize has a voice way beyond her years. Charlize started dancing and singing lessons when she was 4 and can constantly be heard belting out a tune wherever she goes! She shows great dedication and a real passion for being on stage. This has bought her some well-deserved rewards with numerous placin...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season – Cecilia ‘CC’ Dewar (12) CC trains at Dan Hamill Performance Coaching, and has performed widely as a contemporary vocalist, actor and model. In 2019 she made her musical theatre debut as Rafiki in Lion King Jr at Chapel Off Chapel, then played Pilar in Legally Blonde Jr with the Performing Artists Company at VCA and recently was a Guard in her school’s p...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season - Ally Long (16) Ally studies music theatre and dance at Centre Stage Performing Arts School in East Brunswick. She is a year 10 student at Brunswick Secondary College, and recently played the lead role of Rosemary in their school musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Ally was the recipient of the 14 and under 16 Contemporary Vocal Ag...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season – Electricity Electricity are a pop/rock cover band from Ballarat Clarendon College that formed originally in 2016, with new members bringing in more energy and talent each year. This seven-piece band consists of two Keyboards, two Vocalists Adele and Thomas, Drums, Bass and Electric guitar. Electricity started off as a group of friends bonding over music...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season – Monet Lewis (11) Monet is a very passionate young singer and musical theatre performer, who is already quite a seasoned performer. The past 12 months have certainly been super busy for Monet and to date she has performed in ten musical productions throughout her young career, with her most notable roles being petite Cosette in the 2018 Mount Players pro...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season - Alex Mulcahy (15) Alex found his passion for musical theatre in 2014, when he debuted in BLOC music theatre’s Boutique Production of Honk the Musical, and since then, he has performed in several amateur shows. Alex’s past roles include Fleance in the Australian Shakespeare production of Macbeth, Children’s Chorus in Opera Australia’s King Roger, and he...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season - Chloe Mutton (12) Chloe has been singing and performing since she was just seven years old and she enjoys taking part in competitions like the Royal South Street Eisteddfod, as well as performing in public events and talent shows. Chloe has been successful in the Contemporary vocal section of the Eisteddfod over the past three years, this year placing t...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season - Anna Oliphant Wright (19) Anna is a young musician from Ballarat who has played all around Australia, both as a solo artist, and with her 9 piece jazz infusion band, Butterfunked. In two years Ballarat’s Butterfunked have taken the region by storm. Their unique blend of funk, rap and blues will have you dancing to their groove. A nine-piece band, with a...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season - Orange 42. Orange 42 is a band that was put together for a high school music class, which is now quickly developing a passion for performing, covering popular songs from the likes of the Beatles and A-Ha to writing originals, such as their powerful song ‘Medicate’. The band consist of Isaac McKenzie, Finn Callinan, Max Irwin, Miette Lane Welsh and Sebas...

Royal South Street Hour 2019 Spring Season performer - Lauren Walmsley (18) Lauren has been playing bass guitar for five years, picking up the instrument in year eight after formerly being an acoustic guitarist in primary school. This year Lauren has been working on a jazz funk set, built around artists who have inspired her as a young artist. Music is about expressing yourself through your sound...

Acclaimed singer songwriter and author Damien Leith has released his highly anticipated Damien Leith Storytime app and CD, designed specifically for children. Coinciding the app with a CD release by popular demand, the Storytime concept is all about encouraging children’s imaginations. The app is now available via iTunes and Google Play. The CD is available digitally and via a limited edition hard...

PEOPLE'S CHOICE Spring Season RSS HOUR - ANNIE JONES Annie has been taking singing lessons with Dan Hamil Performance Coaching since 2017 and trains at Patrick Studios Australia in ballet, jazz, musical theatre, hip hop, tap and acrobatics. Annie plays Marcy/children’s ensemble in the stage hit School of Rock the Musical for GWB Entertainment. She will also play Zoya in ABC’s The InBESTigators, wh...

PEOPLE'S CHOICE Spring Season RSS HOUR - ANNA OLIPHANT WRIGHT Ballarat artist Anna Oliphant-Wright's styles span blues, country and folk. Her original music has quirky and insightful lyrics with a sharp and occasionally dark reflection upon growing up in modern society. Chilled, fun and powerful describes Anna’s performances, with thought provoking lyrics and a cheeky sense of humor that engages t...

PEOPLE'S CHOICE Spring Season RSS HOUR - AMALIA SAFONOVA Amalia Safonova is an eight year old talented singer who already has a lot of stage experience. From the age of 3 she showed her interest for #singing, #dancing and performing. Amalia decided to take her passion seriously and started having singing lessons from the age of 5. Being naturally talented and expressing great connection and unders...

PEOPLE'S CHOICE Spring Season RSS HOUR - MONET LEWIS Monet loves performing in musical theatre, singing, and dance. She has sung at the South Street Music Competition 2017 & 2018, Macedon Ranges Music Festival 2017 & 2018, and Lions Christmas Carols as a solo artist. She commence musical theatre late 2016 performing tin the Wind in the Willows Jr, 2017 in Shrek Jr and Micheal in Peter Pan Jr. In 2...

PEOPLE'S CHOICE Spring Season RSS HOUR - JANAKI EASWAR Nine year old Janaki is training under David Jaanz of Jaanz international Singing Academy and Janaki is David's youngest student ever. Janaki learns Indian classical music from Shobha Sekhar of Kalakruthi music school. She also learns violin from Samanta Calvert and she is self-taught on the ukulele from watching YouTube videos. Janaki has rec...

PEOPLE'S CHOICE Spring Season RSS HOUR - CHRISTINA ANASTASIADIS Christina has been singing since the age of 3. Now aged 14, she loves performing and says ‘being on stage just feels amazing!’ Christina sings all genres including #Pop, #Jazz #Blues, #Musical Theatre, #Country and Classical. Last year she was selected to perform in #Opera Australia’s ‘King Roger’ and she learnt to sing in Polish. Chr...

PEOPLE'S CHOICE Spring Season RSS HOUR - CHLOE MUTTON Chloe has studied music since she was 7 years old. She has performed at numerous events such as 15 minutes of Fame at Crossley hall, the Cobden Christmas Carols, and other local gatherings including a mothers day concert and many singing show cases. Chloe performs at her Primary School Our Lady Help of Christians and participates in a musical t...

PEOPLE'S CHOICE Spring Season RSS HOUR - INESSA TAN Twelve year old Inessa started singing when she could barely talk. She sang songs from her favourite cartoons, pop songs from the radio and even put her everyday activities into songs – singing about whatever she happened to be doing at the time! Since then she has learned a lot and won a few competitions including the Royal South Street Society...

For the debut Royal South Street Hour on Music Matters, Miani and Jake chat with Michelle Nicolle who is an adjudicator for the RSS Eisteddfods, so she has a lot to share about the adjudicating process and what sorts of things the judges are looking for. Michelle has had a long career in the music industry, including being a profoundly talented performer herself and she is known for her ability to...

Miani and Jake are joined in the studio by Royal South Street winner and Ballarat singer songwriter Anna Oliphant Wright for the debut of the Royal South Street Hour on Music Matters and Anna performs two of her fabulous originals. Anna was the only regional musician to make the finals of the Melbourne Bank Competition with her original song ‘Hooks’ which actually ended up in the top four of 540 a...

Miani and Jake celebrate Music Matters 6th Birthday with launching a new show within a show – the Royal South Street Hour. The team speak with Brett Macdonald the CEO of the Royal South Street Society, which was established in 1891 and delivers the largest and longest running annual eisteddfod in the southern hemisphere. SBN and Music Matters are proud and delighted to be partnering with RSSS to c...

For this special edition of Music Matters International Discoveries, SBN Executive Producer Viarnne Mischon speaks with original artist and music teacher Elisa Girlando, spokesperson for the 2018 Mid Atlantic Music Teachers Guild Festival, and Orlando Dillon, Executive Director of KiDz HuB Media Network Inc in New Jersey USA. The MAMTG Spring Music Festival is all about the kids! Students of all a...

Jake, Miani and Zoe catch up with the the irrepressible, award winning, permaculture minstrel Charlie MGee from Formidable Vegetable Sound System! Charlie describes himself as someone who likes to write silly songs about food, gardening, permaculture and sustainability and he has been touring the world with his home-grown music and has played in over 14 countries from here in Australia to Portugal...