Narrogin Senior High School students start unique Five Steps Forward music program with Zero Emcee and WAYJO
On May 8, national music artist Zero Emcee and WA Youth Jazz Orchestra's artistic director Gemma Farrell travelled to the high school to meet about 20 students for the first of seven incursions taking place from May to September.
Inspired by the school's song writing workshop and performance with Zero and WAYJO in August last year that included eight students, Arts Narrogin, Holyoake, Moorditj Youth Foundation Aboriginal Corporation and NSHS have collaborated once again to offer more young people the chance.
The students self-named the program Five Steps Forward after the song composed in the workshop.
During the session, the group chose the subject sport and wrote one of four songs, each one will be based off a different topic, after brainstorming key words and partaking in a rapping crash course led by Zero.
The students will perform their original songs in a two-nights-only November concert alongside Zero and the orchestra.
'Since I was young I've been making music and my family's really into music and our school doesn't do much stuff with music, in my year they don't even have a music class,' NSHS student and 2024 workshop participant Riley Coxon said.
'So this is really, really exciting for me, especially because I can show off my abilities in music.
'And I'm up on stage doing what I really want to do, so it's inspiring me to keep going.
'There's not many careers I really want to go into and there's never been an opportunity for music in Narrogin, but now there's this big opportunity so I'm definitely taking that.'
Zero said seeing the growth in the students during last year's workshop was the main driver to return.
The Noonjar and Jingili rapper said watching the students write a song in one incursion was 'amazing' and showed 'teamwork and leadership' among them.
'I'm hoping the workshop will teach them leadership, respect, teamwork, because as you see here it takes a whole team for this to happen,' Zero said.
'And confidence, I got the mic out and said 'you can have a go if you want' and some didn't want to and the other boys said 'yeah, do it, go on' and that encouragement is priceless.'
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