Abbey Grace is a 17-year-old pop singer/songwriter from Melbourne, who discovered her love for song writing after penning her first single ‘Burn’ in late 2012 at the age of 14. Burn evolved from Abbey’s personal experience of standing up for a good friend who was being bullied at school, which led to her becoming a target herself. The song went on to place number 9 on the overall charts on Triple J Unearthed and number 2 on the Triple J Unearthed Pop Charts in 2014, which was a fantastic achievement for Abbey’s first single.

In 2013 Abbey won the Australian Music Count Us In song writing contest, and was invited to write a song with Katie Noonan and John Foreman, titled ‘Keep On’. Darren Percival sang on the official recording and the song was learned by 600,000 school students around Australia. Abbey was fortunate enough to perform at the official event, which was on the main lawn at Hamer Hall overlooking the city of Melbourne. The event was web streamed around Australia and New Zealand and Abbey joined Harrison Craig, winner of the second series of The Voice Australia, and a group of selected students from Melbourne to perform the song.

At the end of 2014, Abbey was invited to take part in a series of workshops at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London, where she spent time learning about the music industry with special guest mentors, such as Mark and Ace from British band Skunk Anansie, and gained valuable advice on song writing and performing. Abbey also released her second single ‘Aftershock’ on iTunes and other media platforms that year. ‘Aftershock’ rocketed to number 1 on the Triple J Unearthed Pop Charts and both ‘Burn’ and ‘Aftershock’ will be included on Abbey’s first EP of original songs titled ‘Wonderland’, due for release at the end of 2015.

Harry is an 18-year-old singer/songwriter from Melbourne who picked up his first guitar at a very early age and hasn’t stopped playing since. Keenly interested in music and creation his entire life, it’s recently become Harry’s whole new reality and he’s experimenting with many genres including rock, electronic, metal, acoustic folk, hip-hop, deep house and R&B.

Harry has been performing at numerous open mics throughout Melbourne where he has met so many new, different and interesting people he now calls great friends, who share his love and passion for music. He has been teaming up with a Melbourne rap battle group called The Amped Up Crew, as well as Dig Deep, an underground rap/songwriting program run in the city and ‘his new homies’ Lui, Mono and P.Magic. Harry met Lui, Mono and the Dig Deep crew while busking one cold night and since then they have been collaborating on recordings, videos, various shows and just pure jamming and spreading love to the world. “The new music scene through Melbourne and across the world is truly experiencing a grand evolution.” Harry states confidently.

The journey of his evocative song ‘The End’ all started in early 2015 with some relationship issues, which resulted in Harry writing and recording his first EP project. He spent every lunch hour for a whole term through school putting the five tracks together.

“It was more for my own self therapy” Harry says. Inspired by his creative journey, he continued writing music, playing at open mics, making money from selling his albums, and busking on the street whenever he could. Harry knows the future is now looking so bright for him – he’s more than excited about his creative journey and everything there is to learn along the way and he continues to enjoy every minute of his time as an all-round artist.

“Honestly I couldn’t be more grateful for all the help and assistance I’ve received after such a long time being on my own with nothing but my guitar and an attitude that pushed me to be where I am now. Peace and love to you all.” Harry

Zachary Alexander Rice was born in Irvine, California to famed Artist McKenzie and Computer Scientist, Steven Rice. Zach has appeared in numerous television shows, movies, and commercials. At just 11 years old Zach has 36 professional acting credits to his name. He recently appeared on ABC’s ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ and he is the voice behind ALL of Disney’s ‘Minions’! Zach has also appeared in several National commercials across USA. Zach was chosen on IMDB as one of the top male child actors three years in a row and is respected by his adult peers for being a highly professional and amiable young man.

Zachary is currently completing writing his first comic book and a children’s book based on his rescue dog called ‘Max’. Along with acting, Zach’s passion is helping others. He donates his time to causes close to his heart such as Angels in Fur and the Special Olympics. He is deeply involved with the anti-bullying organisation, Stand for the Silent, and publicly speaks to young people about the importance of kindness and understanding. He co-wrote and recorded his rap about standing strong and believing in yourself, ‘I Am Somebody’, with Billboard producer Andrew Lane and they are currently working on a second song. Zach looks forward to sharing his voice throughout the world. Stay on the lookout for his new music video soon to be streaming online. zacharyalexanderrice.com

With confidence and poise beyond her years, 10-year-old Violeta Bozanic has an amazing voice that is wowing judges at talent quests across Australia, including at the finals of a National Anthem competition, the Aussie Vault (Little Aussie Songster) competition, making the finals on Australia’s Got Talent and as a winner of the 2014 Talent Quests Australia. Kirsten Cotton, director of Talent Quests Australia, spoke very highly of this emerging young artist, saying “Violeta demonstrated a maturity beyond her years and if you close your eyes, you cannot imagine she’s only 10 years old.” With already three videos on YouTube produced by Onemaker Academy of her covers of ‘Titanium’, ‘Heroes’ and ‘At Last’, Violeta’s mature voice and seasoned performances are more reminiscent of an adult with many years of experience, rather than a young girl.

Violeta infuses every thing she does with a passion that comes from within and Violeta clearly has a very bright future ahead of her. Her original song ‘Moving Pictures’, which is featured on the Music Matters Charity Album, evolved from being bullied at school and speaks of staying strong and true to who you are. The song received a Highly Commended Award and placed in the top 4 at the 2015 Australian Children’s Music Foundation’s ACMF National Songwriting Competition, having been selected by an esteemed panel of judges from across Australia. “

Singing is my passion and my plan is to be a successful musical artist. I’m really excited about the opportunity to have ‘Moving Pictures’ featured on the Music Matters album so that it can hopefully inspire others who have been bullied to just let go of the past, move on and believe in their own strength.”

Young New Yorker, Rachel Arianna, is thrilled to be a part of the debut Music Matters International Charity Album with her original song “Walking Away With Your Heart”, for which Rachel won the LA Music Critics Rising Star Award in 2013. The song was also included in the score for the 2015 feature film ‘Lies I Told My Little Sister’, where Rachel plays the role of ‘young Jane’. Now 12 years old, Rachel started writing music when she was 8 years old with some amazing people; one being her mentor, Erin Alden, in LA. She is always writing lyrics and music and working on ideas for new creations and she is currently working on an original album with Broadway Records in New York. Having performed at various charity events, the one Rachel is currently most excited about is the anti-bullying Public Service Announcement she just filmed at YouTube Studios in New York City, as she loves using her talent and music to make a difference.

Rachel is very passionate about the causes she supports and has started her own Anti-Bullying Program, “Words Can Soar”, which has now partnered with ‘Free2luv’. Rachel also loves acting and dancing and this year she had the opportunity to play one of her dream roles, Jane Banks in Mary Poppins and was recently in the recording studio working on demos for Heidi the Musical and Mommie Dearest for the role of young Christine. Her Off-Broadway credits include roles such as Ellen Rosen in Number the Stars, Minnie Mae Barry in bBend in the Road and Annika in Pippi Longstocking, as well as regional credits playing Susan Walker and Annie Duffy in Miracle on 34th Street. Rachel is represented by Innovative Artists in USA and her TV and movie credits include; Saturday Night Live, Sesame Street, Lies I Told My Little Sister, and a selection of short films, commercials and voice-overs. rachelaweintraub.com

Petro is currently at Deakin Uni studying commerce, which is a completely different avenue to music, though that’s what lets him be a creative with his music because it also becomes an outlet. Before Uni Petro attended Wesley College where he found his passion for music and participated in many of the musicals. Finally ending up in the soul band, Petro gained great experience for performing. He’s been singing and song writing for about five years now and he says it’s been the best thing he’s done up so far.

“There’s nothing else quite like it, you can’t express yourself in words the way music allows you to express it. I feel like having the ability to write songs and sing is something I am very grateful to have, and something I would like to pursue and not give up. So this is really my aim over the 6 months, just try and finalise which are my best songs, and see how far I can go with them, and whether people enjoy and connect with them.”

Talented singer/songwriter, 15-year-old Kaitlyn Thomas has attracted the attention of luminaries like Beccy Cole, Amber Lawerence, Lynn Bowtell, Merelyn and David Carter with her dynamic live performances and beautifully crafted original songs, and is set to shine over the next few years as she really finds her feet in the music industry. Kaitlyn began singing at the age of 8 and soon moved on to writing her own songs. Despite her youth, she’s gathered an armful of awards including the Australian Songwriters Association Youth Songwriter of the Year in 2013 for ‘Believe in You’, her song featured on the debut Music Matters Charity Album, plus the Australian Children’s Songwriter 2012 and 2014 for her age division. Kaitlyn is becoming an accomplished songwriter under the mentorship of some of the industry’s finest, including Luke O’Shea, Allan Casswell, Lee Bradshaw and Stuart Fraser. Her strong social conscience sees Kaitlyn spending many hours performing for various charities such as Relay for Life, Royal Children’s Hospital, You Are My Sunshine and other local charitable events throughout Melbourne and Victoria. Kaitlyn also visits the YPKA Bali Orphanage when holidaying in Indonesia and loves spending time entertaining the local children. Her songs are also used to provide support to charity events and causes, such as bullying with the Department of Education and finding a cure for children with cancer and neuroblastoma for the You Are My Sunshine Foundation.

In 2015 Kaitlyn was asked to be an ambassador for the Bully Zero Foundation Australia, which she now proudly supports. She has performed in festivals, shows, school musicals, professional musical theatre, Opera Australia, Disneyland, Universal Studios and participated in the Australian Team at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, where she received 3 Silver, 1 Bronze, and an overall Highly Commended Industry Award for her performances – an amazing achievement for one so young… and there is a lot more to come from this talented teenager!

Cassandra is a musician and songwriter who started her musical journey in 2006 at the age of 14. Since then, she has been involved in a wide range of projects with a focus on musical theatre, performing in productions such as The Boy From Oz, Back to the Eighties and Cinderella. The highlight of Cassandra’s teenage career was meeting and performing with Rhonda Burchmore in 2010. Making the decision to move away from musical theatre after that performance, Cassandra began delving into the art of song writing. Since then she has performed at a variety of venues across New South Wales and Victoria, all the while running her own music tuition business and then branching off to holding a managerial position at a childcare company.

2015 was an exciting and successful one for Cassandra, especially since her beautiful song ‘Promise’ was chosen to be featured on the Music Matters International Charity Album. For the future, Cassandra is working on a collection of original songs, which she hopes to release by the end of 2016.

Renee-Louise is an artist who loves to share and connect with others through music. Her soulful original songs and melody lines are a reflection of her thoughts and appreciation of the people around her, and are an expression of cherishing people, relationships and our different experiences through the documentation of music. Her songs ‘Imperfect’ and ‘Mute’ are tender ballads with graceful vocals that equal the unique talent of artists such as Jewel Kilcher. After spending three fabulous months travelling the United States in 2015 sharing her music with young and old, Renee hopes to continue travelling the world to share her music with others, whilst constantly expanding her craft and learning to appreciate the beauty that music holds for the rest of her life.

Renee-Louise joined the Music Matters team in 2016 as a host and production assistant, and she loves being a part of team! Talking about Music Matters, she quotes, “It has been an amazing experience meeting other original artists and getting to listen to the immense talent in our community, it’s been a true privilege and I’m very thankful for everything”.

At 10 years old Olivia Swinton was chosen to participate in The Voice Kids Australia 2014, where she placed in the top 15 on Team Delta and her performance of ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry has clocked up close to a staggering 32 million views on YouTube! Shortly after appearing on The Voice Kids, Olivia toured with the Cameron Mackintosh production of Les Miserables for 15 months, where she played both Young Eponine and Young Cosette to sell-out audiences. She later moved to Japan for three months where she worked for Universal Studios, as a singer and performer in both English and Japanese, which was a very culturally unique experience for an 11-year-old. In her spare time Olivia loves writing music and busking to raise funds for her best friend Millie Flamm, who died of cancer when Olivia was 9 years old. All proceeds of Olivia’s efforts go towards the Millies Princess Foundation, which is an organisation dedicated to providing financial support and hope to families affected by childhood cancer, as well as raising awareness about the devastating effects of this disease.

Olivia’s song ‘Dance With Me’ is about her special relationship with Millie and although the story is sad, Olivia wanted to write a happy song, because Millie was happy, even with cancer. Olivia says “I hope everyone who has had loss in their life can appreciate the message of the song and still dance in the rain!”

Millie was a very special young lady and her mother, Amanda Flamm, shares this message. “As Millie’s Mom I look to the example she set for our family on a daily basis and try my best to remember that happiness is a choice.  Even in her darkest times Millie found joy.  She chose to be happy and so will I.”

oliviaswinton.com