VIDEO: Nikko Benson, Andre Catrini, Jess Newman Discuss Australian Discovery Orchestra's '16 Stories' Contest

The Australian Discovery Orchestra, the world's first solely digital streaming orchestra, is proud to announce "16 STORIES" - a worldwide online vocal competition. Renowned musical theatre creators from around the world have contributed a song from a musical they have written that has never previously been recorded for commercial release; these 16 songs will comprise an upcoming Australian Discovery Orchestra album, to be released on the Broadway Records label.

Three of the writers involved in "16 STORIES," Nikko Benson, Andre Catrini, Jess Newman, discuss their songs and the project in the videos below.

An online global vocal competition will commence to find 16 vocalists for each song on the album - who will appear on the album as well as in the accompanying music videos. The deadline to enter is March 31. For more information, including submission instruction, entry rules and fees, visit ADO online at https://australiandiscoveryorchestra.com/16-stories-introduction/.

Check out info about the three of the contest's writers below. Videos courtesy of MWG Productions.

'It Starts Again' from Einstein
Music, Lyrics and Book by Jess Newman

An award-winning Australian composer, lyricist and performer, Jess was a winner of the 2017 New York City Center Encores songwriting competition, for which he performed an original song for Stephen Sondheim. Einstein had its premiere in Melbourne, Australia in 2016 and was selected by The Age newspaper as one of the year's theatrical highlights. A resident of NYC, he is currently completing a Masters of Musical Theatre Writing at Tisch, NYU.

'Long Way Home' from Start Again
Music and Lyrics by Nikko Benson

Nikko is an NYC-based writer and performer, a recipient of a 2016 Jonathan Larsongrant, and an O'Neill Music Theater Conference Finalist. Projects include Nikola Tesla Drops The Beat (w/ Benjamin Halstead, Adirondack Theater Festival); Start Again (Musical Theater Factory); and In Pursuit of Magic (Kennedy Center Millennium Stage). He has received development residencies with Village Theater Festival, Pace New Musicals, the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, Catwalk, and Goodspeed Writers Colony.

'My World' from The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit
Music and Lyrics by Andre Catrini

Andre is a proud ASCAP member and the recipient of the 2014 ASCAP Foundation Cole Porter Award, given "in recognition for his outstanding talent as a musical theatre composer and lyricist". Stage works include The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit, A Game Called Life (book by Laura Zlatos) and The Wolf (book by Joe Calarco).

For information on all of the songs, CLICK HERE.