Two of Casey's brightest local performers are preparing to take their music to the international stage.
Sonyta Trahar and Matt Prins are fine-tuning their instruments and vocals, ready to showcase their talents in the Chengdu International Sister Cities Youth Music Festival in China, this July.
They will be joined by hundreds of artists from across the globe who will rock the live audience of more than 1000 and be broadcast to more than 5 million music fans online.
"Sonyta and Matt will represent the City of Casey in the festival to celebrate our thriving sister city relationship with Dujiangyan City, located on the fringe of Chengdu in the heart of China," said City of Casey Mayor Cr Amanda Stapledon.
"The vibrant and eclectic annual event provides a platform for artists to showcase their talents to an international audience."
"The event also attracts significant media coverage so it is a great opportunity to promote the City of Casey and enhance our international relations with Chengdu and our sister city as part of our Casey China Engagement Strategy," said Cr Stapledon.
Both artists were selected to represent Casey in the Festival through a competitive process that was assessed by a panel against a range of criteria considering experience and confidence performing in front of large crowds, ability to represent the city and wow the Chinese audience.
"Sonyta and Matt each stood out as they have a wealth of experience performing in front of diverse audiences and understand what is required to entertain large crowds and meet the standard required at this popular annual festival,' said Cr Wayne Smith.
"Sonyta is a solo singer and songwriter with a list of credits to her name including graduating the Academy of Country Music and receiving a Lyrebird Award among many other industry accomplishments."
"Matt Prins is a contemporary artist with competitive singing and performance experience including winning 2018 Casey's Got Talent, as well as a number of musical theatre credits, just to name a few accolades."
"Together, Sonyta and Matt will be strong representatives for our city, and with 19 countries getting involved they will be commanding the stage for a global audience," said Cr Smith.
Following their selection, Sonyta and Matt are being supported by Council to prepare for the event with professional mentoring from performance and cultural specialists to help them get the most out of the experience.
"We are delighted to put forward Sonyta and Matt to represent our great city in Chengdu. They will have a big Casey cheer squad watching on from back home when they take to the stage and we know they will make us proud," said Cr Stapledon.
