Classrooms in Harden and Young have come alive with a new kind of creative electricity in recent months. At the end of the 2025 school year a soft hum of laptops, microphones, headphones, and excited voices began when Silo Sounds delivered its first Contemporary Music Workshop, funded through the SOUNDS NSW Contemporary Music Program.
Led by acclaimed Australian clarinettist, pedagogue and project director Dr Deborah de Graaff, the three-day workshop connected local schools with some of Sydney’s most innovative young composer-performers: Aidan Eccleshall, Mina Tyne Migi Johannsen, and Jarah Henderson-Jackson.
The trio travelled from Sydney to Harden with a vanload of electronic hardware, software, microphones, Ableton Live rigs and a contagious excitement for what was ahead. With the support of Michael Croke (M&M Music, Young), they transformed classrooms into professional-grade sound labs—ready for students to step in and start creating.
Across sessions at Murrumburrah High School and the Young Regional Conservatorium of Music during December, teenagers and teachers discovered the extraordinary world of Ableton Live, a software used internationally for film scoring, gaming music, looping, live electronic performance and professional sound design.
Murrumburrah High School’s Deputy Principal Jan Young, who was instrumental in coordinating the event, said the workshop “opened up a world of new opportunity”.
At the Young Regional Conservatorium, staff and students were equally energised, with many signing up for ongoing access to the professional software provided through the grant.
Through a SOUNDS NSW grant, the Contemporary Music Program has enabled SILO SOUNDS to donate substantial equipment packages locally:
To Murrumburrah High School
• 3 Ableton Live workstations
• 3 professional audio interfaces
• 3 multi-jack headphone hubs
• 3 new microphones with stands
• Multiple Ableton Live licences for staff and students
To the Young Regional Conservatorium of Music
• 2 Ableton Live workstations
• 2 professional audio interfaces
• 2 multi-jack headphone hubs
• Multiple Ableton Live professional software licences
These resources will support ongoing student composition, recording, mixing and performance throughout 2026 and beyond.
Workshop number two, held from 22-24 February 2026 ended in a joyful cross-generational final. This time, the Contemporary Music Workshop bought together professional musicians, high school composers, primary students and aged-care residents in three days of acoustic and digital creativity, laughter and powerful shared music-making.
Again, led by Dr Deborah de Graaff and Sydney composer-performers Aidan Eccleshall, Mina Johannsen and Jarah Henderson-Jackson, the second workshop returned to Murrumburrah High School’s Ableton Live studio — now fully embedded in the school thanks to last year’s equipment donation.
Students confidently layered beats, refined their own tracks, and shaped digital textures that would later become part of something bigger.
On the final day, Murrumburrah Public School became the heart of the project.
In a packed hall filled with K–6 students, high school musicians, Trinity School of Music students and visiting performers, something extraordinary happened.
The trio began with live performance. The high school composers joined. Then the workshop theme emerged — reimagined, expanded and digitally remixed.
Professional musicians, teenage composers and primary students combined in a vibrant, digitally created version of their workshop song — layered live through Ableton, looping in real time, with acoustic instruments weaving through electronic beats.
The hall erupted!
For many primary students, it was their first time seeing music created live in front of them using professional digital tools. For the high school students, it was the first time hearing their ideas elevated into a full collaborative performance.
It was not just a concert. It was a statement.
A School Program Growing Stronger Every Year
Murrumburrah Public School’s music program now includes 56 students — more than a quarter of the school’s 200 enrolments — actively learning an instrument.
That statistic alone tells a story.
This is not a town shrinking from the arts. It is a town growing through them.
The partnership between Murrumburrah High School, Young School of Music, Trinity School of Music and the wider Hilltops community is building something sustainable — and joyful.
Music Across Generations
Earlier in the week, residents at The Grange Apollo Aged Care enjoyed an intimate trio concert filled with warmth, rhythm and conversation — reinforcing that contemporary music belongs to every generation.
From aged-care residents to kindergarten students, the project demonstrated one simple truth:
When young people are given professional tools and trusted to create, they rise.
“This isn’t just about technology,” said Dr de Graaff. “It’s about confidence, collaboration and community. The growth over just a few months has been remarkable. You can feel the shift.”
As the final loops faded and instruments were packed away, one thing was clear: The Hilltops region is not waiting for cultural change to arrive. It is creating it. And it is sounding fantastic.
“The students are amazed at the sounds they can create” said Dr de Graaff. “This is the future of music and our regional young people are stepping boldly into it.”
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