When Omar Laksono moved to Australia from Indonesia two years ago, he was pretty miserable until he taught himself to play the piano and sing. He’d never learnt music before. When his teachers at Mascot’s JJ Cahill Memorial High School heard the Year 10 student perform, they encouraged him to put his hand up for an annual boys vocal program , run by the NSW Department of Education Arts Unit.
Omar Laksono from Mascot’s JJ Cahill Memorial High School performs for the other students. Credit: James Brickwood “I’m the only kid from my school which makes me feel really proud, I didn’t expect to get a solo part, because it’s 150 boys against me. I find boys try to act tough but when they start singing they melt into big softies,” Laksono said.
Choir master Stuart Davis, who has run the program for a decade now, has taken boys from all over Sydney who have often never sung before, and created a little bit of life-changing magic for many who may be struggling at school and outside of it. Public school students ranging from year 5 to 12 from some of the most disadvantaged public schools from places like Macquarie Fields and Campbelltown, sing in unison with those from the likes of Moss Vale, Lucas Heights and Rose Bay, for three days straight. Each year, Davis arranges a song for them to perform that’s recorded into a music video at Trackdown Studios at Moore Park and distributed online.
This year that song is Follow Your Dreams , released on Friday and composed by Oc.