Lisa Nicol Wide Open Sky

Lisa Nicol Wide Open Sky

Director: Lisa Nicol
Rated: G
Running Time: 87 minutes

Synopsis: Every March Michelle Leonard gets in her car and heads west. Travelling more than 4000kms across the most remote and disadvantaged region of NSW, she visits 30 towns, 55 schools and auditions 2000 kids for her Moorambilla Voices Regional Choir.

Out here, footy is king and music education is rare as rain. To find a kid who can sing three notes in tune is sometimes a struggle. While finding children who can sing is necessary, for Michelle it's more important to find the ones who have a "burning need to express themselves, outside of the environment they're in."

Chronicling their journey from auditions to stage, the film reveals the trials and tribulations of running a children's choir in a remote region of NSW. Most kid's only singing experience is with 'X-Box and Wiis" but Michelle has high expectations. She doesn't want to teach these primary-aged children any old music. She wants to teach them contemporary, original, complex music by Australia's best up-and-coming composers. She wants the children to sing in parts and perform with the Sydney Symphony Youth Orchestra in front of hundreds of people. It's demanding, but it's not X-Factor. It's a tough yet supportive environment.

'Climbing the ladder with her" the children learn they are capable of a lot more than they realise. Travelling to the small quiet town of Baradine, the Moorambilla Choir participants come from far and wide for music camp. A long way from home, the children are looked after by oldschool country women who rule with firm hands and kind hearts.

Very much from the children's perspective, Wide Open Sky follows four kids – Kyhnan, Mack, Opal and Taylah.

Kyhnan is an Aboriginal boy from Lightning Ridge who always gives 100%, whether he's playing footy or singing. Kyh's after the solo. His dream is to win a scholarship so he can go to boarding school in the city. Kyh has big plans: 'I want to make it far to places."

Opal lives in Grawin, a truly remote dusty settlement of hardscrabble opal miners with three pubs and one general store. Opal's never been to camp before and it's all a bit nervewracking. But with a pure, strong voice and a hidden talent for composition, she finds her place. And if her parents make it to town to see her perform, it will be a really big deal. Taylah is from Brewarrina. She has a big voice and is somewhat of a local star. From a big Aboriginal family, her parents support her singing as long as she remembers where she comes from. They hope the choir can teach Taylah to read and write music so she has a chance to follow her dream of becoming a country singer.

Also from Lightning Ridge is Mack. Mack is unique. Unlike many of the local boys, he loves dancing and singing. But in a small town there's next to no opportunities to freely express himself. For Mack, the choir is a rare chance to find other kids he can connect with. With their dreams taking flight through the power of making music, the choir sings the exceptionally beautiful works of Australian composers Dan Walker, Sally Whitwell and Alice Chance. The soundtrack also features renowned Australian artists Dirty Three and The John Butler Trio.

With vastly different lives, hopes and dreams, one thing remains the same for all the children; to believe in themselves, they all need someone to believe in them. Recalling documentaries such as To Be and To Have and Mad Hot Ballroom, Wide Open Sky is a moving portrait of the fragile world of possibility that is childhood. Set against a landscape of devastating beauty, Wide Open Sky reminds us why no child, anywhere should grow up without music.

Wide Open Sky
Release Date: April 7th, 2016

About The Production

Director's Statement – Lisa Nicols I first heard of Michelle Leonard and her children's choir through a mutual friend, Fiona. At the time I was looking for a story close to home. I had three young kids and firmly believed you don't need to travel far to find great stories. Michelle and Fiona were just about to head off on the annual, epic choir audition tour across the remote and isolated northwest. With a backseat full-up with kids – the youngest of whom was Michelle's 9 month old Iggy – they were heading west to travel 4000kms, visit 55 schools and audition over 2000 kids. I wanted to grab a camera and jump in the back but there wasn't any room! So much for not having to travel far.

The more I learnt about Michelle and her children's choir the more astounded I became. This wasn't an ordinary choir. This was something far more ambitious. This was taking primary aged children with no musical education at all and getting them to sing contemporary, original, demanding compositions by Australia's best young composers. It was bringing members of Sydney's Symphony Orchestra out bush for four day music camps. It was about learning to read music, sing in parts and perform in front of hundred's of people. It was a fundraising feat with 85% of the children needing financial assistance to make it to camp at all. It was a resolute belief that these children were capable of great things and to deny them that opportunity because of isolation or disadvantage was plainly unacceptable.

Filming a teaser to secure funding, in 2012 I went along to the music camps in Baradine and the big concert in Coonamble. I watched Michelle transform the children's 'shame" into pride, their fear into delight, their potential into ability. I watched her 'square pegs in round holes" belong and I witnessed how important it is to have someone believe in you if you are ever to believe in yourself.

Up until the camps, this had been a story about Michelle. A force of nature on a personal mission to bring a desolate musical landscape back to life. But the camps changed my focus. Suddenly the grand themes I had used to describe the story – the transformative power of music and the importance of music in children's lives – had real meaning. Hearing the children's stories, their hopes and fears was intensely moving. One of my greatest aspirations for this film was to let them speak for themselves.

Hearing the children sing and tell their stories was a defining moment. I realised this was a film about children and growing up as much as it was a film about a choir and an extraordinary woman. It was about the challenges we've all faced as we struggled to find out who we are, to believe in ourselves and find acceptance. It was a story about the fragile world of possibility that is childhood and a stark reminder that no child, anywhere, should grow up with out music.

The Region

The Moorambilla Voices program is geographically centred in the regional, remote and very remote regions of western NSW.

Michelle's epic audition tour covers over one third of the state and the local government areas of Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Central Darling, Cobar, Coonamble, Dubbo, Gilgandra, Narrabri, Narromine, Warren, Warrumbungle and Walgett. Annually, she visits over 55 schools in 30 towns.

This region is designated as outback and remote. It has the highest proportion of young people (aged 5-14) as a percentage of population in NSW. It has the highest proportion of indigenous children in the state. Forty percent of the population are designated as low income.

Because of the vast distances between small population centres, the region currently receives no professional musical touring programs. Nor does the region have access to organised music except in a very few number of schools.

Characters

Michelle – Choir Director
Michelle Leonard is a mighty force. She doesn't want the children to sing traditional children's choir ditties: she wants to teach them contemporary, original, complex music. Not a fan of X-Factor, she's tough but powered by an underlying belief that the children are capable of great things.

Kyhnan – Choir Member From Lightning Ridge
Kyhnan is an Aboriginal boy from Lightning Ridge who always gives 100%, whether he's playing footy or singing. Kyh's after the solo. His dream is to win a scholarship so he can get to boarding school in the city. Kyh has big plans: 'I want to make it far to places."

Opal – Choir Member From Grawin
Opal lives in Grawin, a remote dusty settlement of hardscrabble opal miners with three pubs and one general store. Opal's never been to camp before. It's all a bit nerve-wracking. But with a pure, strong voice and a hidden talent for composition, she finds her place. And if her parents make it to town to see her perform, it will be a really big deal.

Mack – Choir Member From Lightning Ridge
Mack is unique. Unlike the sports-mad local boys, he loves dancing and singing. But in a small town there's next to no opportunities to freely express himself. For Mack, the choir is a rare chance to connect with likeminded kids, awakening a newfound confidence to imagine himself on a big stage.

Taylah – Choir Member From Brewarrina
Taylah is from Bre. With a big voice she's somewhat of a local star. From a big Aboriginal family, her parents support her singing as long as she remembers where she comes from. They hope the choir can teach Taylah to read and write music so she has a chance to follow her dream of becoming a country singer.

Katelyn & Ella – Choir Members From Cobar
Best buddies Katelyn and Ella were 'dying" to make it into the choir and the fact that they both made it is a giant plus! Such close friends they finish each other's sentences, this dynamic duo offer surprisingly insightful and always hilarious commentary on the choir experience.

Alice – Composer
Alice Chance is only nineteen. Calm, extraordinarily talented and well on her way to becoming one of Australia's best composers, Alice is composer-inresidence. At camp she makes a huge impact on the children, particularly the girls. They love her voice and her music. As Taylah says; 'she's my inspire!"

Dot – Camp Manager
With a dry wit and a keen eye for an unmade bed or towels left scrunched in the bathroom, Dot is in charge of camp. She's the lady you come see if you're homesick or you've wet the bed. And she has a repertoire of campfire songs the envy of anyone.

Nea – Cake Maker
Nea is a Baradine local. She's makes all the cakes. Literally hundreds, with pink and blue icing. Morning and afternoon tea, she makes sure the kids have -cake and citrus' twice a day. Many of the kids she's known for years. She's watched them grow. And she loves them to bits.

Wide Open Sky
Release Date: April 7th, 2016