There will be a number of family members and friends in the audience on Thursday to watch Josh perform Bruce Springsteen’s ‘My Hometown’ as singer and guitarist with an accompanying pianist. He said his family knew he was a singer, but suspected his friends might not.

“My friends will be surprised... in a good way, I hope,” he said.

Karri Thomas, primary school student

At 11 years old, Karri Thomas is Wintersong’s youngest performer. She said she loved singing and has always wanted to learn more about it. Karri said that she signed up for the Wintersong workshops for three reasons: to find out some of the tricks and techniques that will help her improve her voice, to gain more confidence and experience on stage, and, ultimately, to have fun.

Karri has a musical streak in her family that she thinks has passed onto her. A piano player and self-taught drummer, Karri will take to the stage with her father Morgan accompanying her on guitar. She said she was a little nervous about the upcoming performance but thought it would be fun, nonetheless.

Karri has had no vocal training before, but does sing with the school choir. At Wintersong, she said she had learnt how to hit notes, get a clearer and more pure sound with her voice, and how to belt it out while making sure her voice still sounds good. Karri said she hoped Wintersong would not be the last time she performs on stage because she would one day like to make a career as a singer.

Mat Minns, high school student

When Mat Minns couldn’t find a song he would like to perform in the Wintersong showcase he decided the best thing to do was write his own.

Wintersong will provide Mat his first opportunity to perform an original song on stage and show his abilities as a singer and guitarist after only months of experimenting with his voice.

Mat said though his stepfather had always told him that he had a good voice, he only began singing and experimenting with his voice around three months ago. He said Wintersong had taught him a number of techniques for improving his singing voice and he was looking forward to performing for his family.

Mat used personal experiences to write ‘My Life’, the pop punk song he will perform on Thursday at the Wintersong showcase. He said the song was based on relationships and a girl, and was one of the songs he had written since he began ‘mucking around’ with writing music.

Barry Patterson, Wintersong’s vocal trainer, said Mat was a great example of the talent that is on display at the Wintersong showcase.

“The talent of the young performers is really promising, and performing your own compositions is one of the creative pinnacles of writing and performing,” Mr Patterson said.

Rosemary Boyle, former nurse and casual piano teacher

Tenterfie ld’s got talent in Rosemary Boyle.

This semi-retired nurse and TAFE teacher has spent recent years almost completely immersed in music.

Now in her 60s, Rosemary is still courting the first love of her life as a piano teacher, choir member in Pitching Tents, organist for the Anglican Church and, with the 2009 Tenterfield Eisteddfod just months away, trainer for St Joseph’s School.

Rosemary said she was taking part in the Wintersong arts project and bringing her classical vocal training to the stage to encourage these students and to rediscover the confidence within herself.

Rosemary will sing a Scottish folk song as a tribute to her heritage and to showcase her classical styling. It will be the first time in years that she has taken to the stage, and the looming appearance has stirred up mixed feelings for Rosemary.

Though she doesn’t suffer like she used to, she said she was still nervous about the performance and hoped the experience would provide a boost to her confidence.

One problem she is confident she has overcome is pitching troubles that bothered her for years.

“I used to struggle with pitch, and I always wondered why ... until the piano tuner told me that my piano at home was tuned a semitone and a half lower than it should be,” Rosemary said.

Trish Binge, student and mother

One of Trish Binge’s fondest memories is of her father singing at the bowling club.

Trish’s father, Bobby Binge, would gather crowds when he sang, even though he wasn’t on stage. He would sit at the bar and begin singing country and western songs and people would start to collect around him to hear. His voice was good, but Trish said that wasn’t what drew the people around him. It was the stories he told, and not just with words but also with the way he sang the songs.

For Trish, these memories were one of the reasons she began singing at church and with a choir. And for Trish it was at church that she found her voice.

Trish will sing a gospel song at the Wintersong showcase concert. She said she was nervous and excited about the show, and hoped to use it as a way to encourage and motivate other local Aboriginal people to follow their dreams and use their talents.

“There are a lot of Aboriginals out there with a lot of talent. They’ve just got to find it and find the self confidence to use it,” Trish said.

“I hope that my voice will make a difference and show them that we can do it,” she said.

Heather Middleton, mother, grazier, tennis coach and dance teacher

Though she is used to performing and singing on stage, taking part in the Wintersong showcase this Thursday will provide Heather Middleton with an entirely new experience.

Though she has spent her years since high school on and off stage with musical theatre, drama and dance, Heather has never performed on her own. It has been a niggling question that Heather has been asking herself: how would I do on stage by myself?

Heather joined the Wintersong project to try to find the answer to this and a few others questions that she said might be difficult to answer.

“At certain points in your life you can forget to do things like this, things for the soul,” she said.

“I really enjoy this side of my life – dancing, singing and performing – and sometimes you can just get so busy and so distracted that you forget about doing things like this. So Wintersong is a great way for me to keep in touch with that side,” she said.

Heather initially signed up for the Wintersong workshops to learn from Barry Patterson. But, with Mr Patterson’s encouragement, her focus quickly changed from the lessons to the show and what it would take to put on the solo performance.

Heather said she was used to working with other people on stage and wanted to use Wintersong as a way to learn how to communicate and relate to the audience as a solo performer.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl, and this is my first chance,” she said.

“So there are some other questions that I want to answer like if this could have been a good choice and if this was something I had really wanted to do.”