Yamaha’s Great Start Grant winner announced

Today Sunshine College in Melbourne’s West has been announced as the winner of this year’s Yamaha Music Australia’s Great Start Grant. The school will be awarded with $50,000 worth of musical instruments, and three days of specialised music training for students and teachers.

Sunshine College Music Teacher, Sarah Blight, couldn’t believe the news when she heard that the school had won the Great Start Grant.

“We are beyond excited and grateful to begin this partnership with Yamaha which will be an enormous benefit to our students, staff and the entire community.”

A nationwide initiative, the Yamaha Great Start Grant gives an Australian school a helping hand to get their music program off the ground, and help foster positive and social connections within local communities. Now in its third year, the Great Start Grant continues to drive and promote quality music education within the school curriculum.

Yamaha Marketing Manager, Mat Taylor was delighted to see so many schools across Australia apply for this year’s Great Start.

“We have been ecstatic to see so many talented schools apply for the Great Start Grant this year. Our esteemed judging panel seeks to find one school that is passionate about engaging young people in music making, and providing an impactful music program that inspires and motivates students.”

“The team at Sunshine College are hungry to learn, hungry to listen, and most importantly dedicated to getting the best for their students” Taylor said.

As the winner of the Yamaha Great Start Grant, Sunshine College will receive:

• $50,000 worth of Yamaha instruments — equivalent to 32 brand new Yamaha band instruments
• Training from Dr Rob McWilliams —Yamaha’s Education Specialist.

In addition, four running up schools have been awarded $2,000 to help bolster their music programs. The schools included Buckley Park College (VIC) Ripley Valley State School (QLD) Ingham State High School (QLD) and Geelong Lutheran College (VIC).

The judging panel for the Great Start Grant 2021 included; Mat Taylor, Leigh Olsson, Alex Yabsley and Dr. Rob McWilliams from Yamaha and Sion Boomsma General Manager from Fine Music.