Lake Hawea singer songwriter Anna van Riel is celebrating more than just Christmas as 2016 comes to an end. The local muso has taken home ‘Best Children’s Song’ for her song and album title track ‘Cooking Up a Song’ at the annual Australian Songwriters Association music awards held last Wednesday (December 14) in Sydney.

Anna not only gained first place among hundreds of entries in the children’s music category, she was the second person in the 36-year history of the competition to gain a perfect score. "They called me and announced that I literally could not have scored any higher. I was fairly blown away to learn this as over 3,000 overall artists enter in various categories each year and the calibre of songwriting is excellent,” Anna said.

Anna performed her interactive children’s song to an audience of more than 400 at Sydney’s Orion Theatre on Wednesday evening.

‘Cooking up a Song’, both the album and track of the same title, were also nominated Best Children’s Song and Best Children’s Album at this years NZ Children’s Music Awards. And 2017 is looking to be a busy year for Anna. She has also been successful in gaining a Creative NZ grant to perform a series of concerts for her Off the Beaten Track tour of remote schools in the deep South, and later on the West Coast, hosted by WESTReap and funded by Westland Creative Communities. "I remember when musicians and theatre groups came through our school when I was a child. It used to blow my mind and leave me so excited and inspired. I want to be that for kids who are off the beaten track and are missing out,” Anna said.

"I have two small children and am part of a flourishing community, full of families with small kids. It makes sense that I create songs for our tamariki right now and be part of this growing culture of nurturing the growth of great music for little people. I don’t mind what kind of music I’m making, so long as I get to be creative.”

PHOTO: Supplied