Cowra's World Peace Bell will become an important instrument in a new piece of music, as Cowra Civic Centre welcomes its first ever artist in residence.
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The Civic Centre will this month welcome composer, singer, conductor and teacher, Nicholas Gentile for its artist in residence program .
During his residency Gentile will be composing new music for World Peace Day 2020.
To do so he will be drawing on Cowra's history and role in peace which will be recorded and launched on Monday, September 21, 2020 - World Peace Day - in an exciting exclusive that will sound out across the community of Cowra.
Cowra Shire residents will also have a unique opportunity to take part in workshops in music composition, with Gentile conducting free weekly composition workshops for secondary students and adults during his four week residency.
"We're honoured to welcome Nicholas to Cowra for this exciting program," Cowra Civic Centre manager Jonathon Llewellyn said.
"This is a rare opportunity for our local community to learn from a very experienced and well regarded Australian composer.
This is a rare opportunity for our local community to learn from a very experienced and well regarded Australian composer
- Cowra Civic Centre manager Jonathon Llewellyn
"Some music knowledge is required to take part in the workshops, including basic music notation, but the composition options are varied.
"You may want to compose for a solo instrument, for a choir, for a small ensemble or band, or even for an orchestra," Mr Llewellyn said.
A proud graduate of the prestigious Talent Development Project, Nicholas Gentile has performed and studied internationally, with composers such as Stephen Shwartz (Wicked, Godspell, Pippin) and Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Aladdin).
Back home, his roles have included chief conductor of the Sydney Girls Orchestra; composer and orchestrator on various short films; designer of the musical theatre curriculum for the Sydney Actors School; and teacher of musical theatre at the Australian Institute of Music.
Most recently he was commissioned by Fine Music Australia to write a new Opera entitled Émile & Voltaire that was developed in Italy in 2019 as part of the Puccini International Opera Composition Program.
Workshops will be held at Cowra Civic Centre and Covid-19 Safety Guidelines will be in place.
These workshops will be free, but a four week commitment from participants is required.
To enrol, please visit https://cowraciviccentre.mailchimpsites.com/.
