Composer in Residence | Massive Band

2015

Music; Live Interactive Performances

Artist/s: Bree van Reyk (NSW) with Jess Green (NSW), Zoe Hauptman (NSW), Alyx Dennison (NSW), Annie McKinnon (NSW), Elana Stone (NSW), Jodi Phillis (NSW), Amanda Brown (NSW), Lindy Morrison (NSW)

The Composer in Residence is an opportunity for a musician or group to experiment, produce and present new work over a 12 month period. It allows musicians to perform works in development to small audiences and engage in new projects. It creates space and time to take risks, experiment and allows musicians and the local community to engage in a more sustained manner.

Bree van Reyk was selected as the 2015 Composer in Residence and over this time produced two projects In Stereo with Kate McIntosh and Massive Band.

Massive Band was commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre as part of the 2015 Contemporary Music Program as a project which aimed to inspire and encourage young women to become more actively involved in music by exposing them to what it’s like to be in a band, albeit a massive one.

The project involved 70 female students from Thomas Reddall High School, St Patrick’s College and Holroyd High School who attended 8 in-school workshops with Bree and her associate artists throughout terms 1-3 as well as 20 women and girls from the Macarthur and greater Sydney area who attended 2 workshops at C-A-C with Bree and other female professional musicians to learn three classic rock songs Wild Thing, Respect and Gloria. On-line video tutorials were produced by Campbelltown Arts Centre and Bree and posted to a dedicated Youtube channel to assist participants to continue to learn and practice between workshops, a Massive Band website and Facebook page were also created to give participants access to information, inspiration and Bree directly.

Massive Band was featured in articles and interviews in Frankie Magazine 68, Sydney Morning Herald, Macarthur Chronicle, FBi Radio and ABC Digital.

Saturday 17 October saw the public presentation of Massive Band with 70 members performing as part of the all-girl rock ‘n roll band with Bree van Reyk. For some students, this was their first public performance. The 200 people who attended in the audience were treated to an incredible and inspirational performance by Bree and the Massive Band.