REDONDO BEACH, Calif. (August 18, 2023) – A trio of community partners supporting youth mental health are offering a one-of-a-kind opportunity for a lucky young person via a unique songwriting competition entitled “emerge & see."

allcove Beach Cities and Hermosa Beach-based Indivisible Arts, in conjunction with the BeachLife Festival, will host the inaugural emerge & see contest Saturday, August 26 from 5 – 8 p.m. at the allcove center in Redondo Beach.

“This emerge & see contest is a great example of how creative outlets can give young people a chance to express themselves, and support their overall well-being,” said Ali Steward, Chief Partnership Development Officer for Beach Cities Health District and one of the leaders of allcove Beach Cities. “While one lucky winner is going to get an incredible opportunity to perform at BeachLife next year, everyone who comes to emerge & see is going to have a great time and will see that allcove Beach Cities is a therapeutic, welcoming venue for young people.”  

“This is the first of its kind, an original songwriting competition which shows young people that writing a song is an accessible way to express yourself, with everyone welcome to be a part of the experience,” said Rafael McMaster, founder of Indivisible Arts. “The message we want to share is that writing a song is a power that we all have, even for those who do not consider themselves a musician.”

The format for emerge & see calls for an interactive experience, where the audience writes the lyrics guided by a songwriting format inspired by David Bowie. Ten youth original songwriters from the South Bay will take the winning lyrics into separate rooms, used as music studios, where they will write original music to the lyrics provided by the audience. Song performances follow and the audience will use electronic voting devices to choose a winner. The winner will perform at next year’s BeachLife Festival in May 2024. And a lucky audience member will win two tickets to BeachLife Ranch, coming up September 22-24, featuring Jack Johnson, The Doobie Brothers, and Brad Paisley.