MEDIA RELEASE 19 Sept 2012

Re: 2012 Play It Strange, Peace Song Competition, Auckland Division

On Friday 21st September at 4pm there will be a special event held in the Auckland Town Hall to celebrate the winner of an Auckland Region category in the annual Play It Strange Peace Song Competition for secondary school students.

This award marks the International Day of Peace and celebrates the Auckland Council declaration of Auckland as a 'City for Peace'.

This year 3 finalist songs were chosen from entries in the Auckland region and passed on to mayor Len Brown to decide on the winner.

“Contemporary-minded students are coming to the fore with lyrics on the theme of peace. Riveting imagery and magnetic language.

Their evocative viewpoints and emotional maturity is remarkable'”, said Play It Strange Trust CEO, Mike Chunn.

The finalists are (alphabetical by song title);
‘And So It Begins’, Kelly Harris, Baradene College
‘Arise’, Jack Larsen, Sacred Heart College
‘Freedom of the Wind’, Elena Siljic, Carmel College

The Play It Strange Trust was founded in 2003 with the purpose of providing programmes that nurture songwriting, performance and recording in the lives of young New Zealanders.

The Peace themed songwriting competition has produced wonderful songs as has the Matariki Songwriting Competition, the Proud and Strong Lyric Writing Competition aimed at primary level,

which along with the flagship Lion Foundation Songwriting Competition have yielded hundreds of original songs from all over New Zealand.

Len Brown says, “The level of talent Auckland is home to never ceases to amaze and inspire me, and this is a great opportunity to mark the International Day of Peace and Auckland as a peace city.

It is great to see our young people make such great contributions – it was a tough decision picking a winner.

The media are invited to the event 4pm this Friday 21 September where the winning song will be announced before it is performed live.

© Scoop Media