Up to a dozen USC Creative Industries students have written an original song they will perform live as an anthem for Harmony Week festivities at Sippy Downs and Cotton Tree.

Orchestrated by professional singer-songwriter-musician Melinda Wells, who is majoring in Music, the group this week gathered again on campus at USC Sunshine Coast to put the finishing touches to their three-minute soft rock track, ‘We Sing One Song’.

Written on guitar, the song will be performed with keyboard, guitar, bass and drums and a chorus of many voices. Student Luke Mills, on lead vocals, will sing lyrics developed around the week’s theme, ‘Everyone Belongs’.

Ms Wells, a Bli Bli resident who has facilitated similar projects across regional Queensland in the past 10 years, said the collaboration had brought together USC students of diverse backgrounds who couldn’t wait to present their work to the community.

“There’s so much more than just study at university and this is one example,” she said.

“It can be hard to get a full-time job as a musician, and this is an opportunity for students to gain experience in collaborative songwriting as well as different elements of public performance, such as sound engineering and stage management.

“We’re doing what we love and contributing our talent while expanding our skills.”

Harmony Week is an annual national celebration of Australian multiculturalism and the successful integration of migrants into communities. It centres on 21 March, the same date as National Close the Gap Day, which calls for action to achieve Indigenous health equality.

The USC students will perform the song on Wednesday 20 March on campus at Sippy Downs during an outdoor celebration from 11am to 1pm. There will be a Welcome to Country, cultural activities, bush tucker lunch and information stalls at the Brasserie lawn and stage.

The USC students also will perform the song at the Voices of Harmony event at Cotton Tree Park on Saturday 23 March. The community event from 10am to 3pm has been coordinated by Sunshine Coast Council and the Sunshine Coast Multicultural Network Group.

Ms Wells said the group intended to teach the song to people attending the community event so everyone could join in the chorus.

USC’s other campuses will host Harmony Week activities: Caboolture on Tuesday 19 March from 11am to 1pm, Gympie on Wednesday 20 March from 11am to 1pm, Fraser Coast on Thursday 21 March from 11am to 1pm, and SouthBank on Thursday 21 March from 1pm to 2pm).