Singing From The Same Songsheet

SAE Creative Media Institute (SAE) is proud to announce a new partnership with Songwriting Charitable Trust Play It Strange, uniting two organisations dedicated to nurturing the next generation of songwriters and musicians.

Founded in 2003 by the renowned musician Mike Chunn (Split Enz, Citizen Band),Play It Strange champions songwriting for Secondary School-aged students through its array of programmes and competitions. In their 20 years of operation, over 7,000 songs have been written and entered in their songwriting competitions, and Play It Strange has provided more than 1,000 recording sessions for young songwriters, providing each of them with a studio recording experience.

This year, SAE stepped into Songwriting at the tertiary level, with a new Diploma in Songwriting and Musicianship and a Bachelor of Songwriting. It’s the ideal pathway for Play It Strange participants to further their studies and forge a career in the music industry.

“The partnership between SAE and Play It Strange is a natural alignment”, explains SAE Director Dr Suzette Major. “Collaboration is powerful - not only does this new Memorandum of Understanding enhance the visibility of our respective programmes, it also highlights the value of working together for the benefit of songwriting students and the music industry”.

Play It Strange CEO Stephanie Brown agrees. “SAE has opened their doors to Play It Strange and our talented finalists. Many of these emerging musicians are looking at where they can go next to develop their skills, so a partnership with SAE is a natural fit. We look forward to working closely with them across our programmes and events”.

Second and third-year SAE students will also have the opportunity to work at Play It Strange events through SAE’s Work Integrated Learning programme, in which students log hours in industry that count towards their degree.

“This partnership shows that we are ‘singing from the same songsheet’, as the saying goes” says Stephanie. “It marks an exciting moment for SAE, Play It Strange and more broadly, emerging songwriters throughout Aotearoa New Zealand”.

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