by Jan Ramirez
More than 20 of our nation’s top music practitioners – composers, arrangers, singers – will serve as mentors to 60 up-and-coming songwriters in this year’s Elements Music Camp, to be held in Dumaguete on November 9-13. Now on its fifth year, this songwriting camp is a project of 7101 Music Nation, an organization which has no less than Maestro Ryan Cayabyab as its Artistic Director.
60 very lucky campers who were selected from all over the country through online auditions will get to spend 5 days at the Bahura Resort in Dumaguete listening to talks and lectures, networking with fellow-musicians, and simply bonding and hanging out with the likes of South Border’s Jay Durias, Gloc-9, Joey Ayala, Jim Paredes, Gerard Salonga, Jungee Marcelo, Jonathan Manalo and many more industry greats.
Trina Belamide, who was one of the camp’s mentors for two years, looks forward to her third time. “The camp is designed in such a way that everybody – not just the campers – learns something. Pati kaming mga mentors may mga napupulot sa campers at sa kapwa-mentors namin. Everyone gets to share their ideas, their music, we get to talk about current trends, play games, eat and have fun! It’s always an enriching experience. I’m thankful to have been invited again this year.”
Mentoring is not a new thing for Trina, as she has conducted songwriting workshops in the past. She says it is important for any songwriter to know the basic rules of songwriting. “There’s a Pablo Picasso quote that goes, “Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.’ It’s one thing to purposely and purposefully bend the rules; it’s another thing to be ignorant of them. I like it that young songwriters are able to bring in a fresh sound, but it’s still important for them to know the basics.”
Asked what tip she can give aspiring songwriters who want to hit the mainstream, she says, “Joining contests is always a great experience. If you’re a good songwriter, you’ll definitely get noticed and you’ll have immediate access not only to top musicians and arrangers but even to individuals who work for TV networks and radio stations. It’s the fastest way to establish industry contacts and to get your work produced and heard by a big audience.”
Trina is a contest veteran herself, having participated and won in various competitions such as Metropop, Himig Handog, Philpop and Asia Song Festival. Her most recent victory was winning the public poll in the USA Songwriting Competition last year. This was her second time to win in this prestigious competition, which collected more than 45,000 entries from more than 80 countries around the globe.
Her first was winning Overall Second Prize back in 1999, and was the first Asian to win one of the top prizes back then.
She is best known for having written the 1995 World Youth Day theme song “Tell The World Of His Love” as well as other hits like “Now That I Have You” by the CompanY, “You’ve Made Me Stronger” and “Shine” by Regine Velasquez. Her Philpop 2012 entry “Bigtime” by Baihana won Best Jazz Recording at last year’s Awit Awards, and her song “Home To You” by Jed Madela is also a nominee for this year’s Awit Awards.
Know more about the Elements Music Camp at http://elementsmusiccamp.com.ph/ Be updated with Trina Belamide by liking her Facebook page at http://facebook.com/trinabelamide
