Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing
National Council
The Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing Ltd National Council meets approximately ten times each year to discuss what's happening in each chapter, plan future initiatives & events, develop national strategies and administer the association.
2024/25 ANATS National Council
National President: Nadine Manion (NSW)
National Vice President: Dale Cox (QLD)
National Treasurer: Ireni Utley (QLD)
National Secretary: Debbie Grace (NSW)
National Membership Secretary: Freya Meredith-Hanson (VIC)
Chapter Representatives:
NSW: Debbie Grace, Christina Wilson, Nadine Manion
QLD: Ireni Utley, Dale Cox, Sierra Webb
SA: Kim Spargo
TAS: Lisa Crosato
VIC: Wendy Todd, Tracy Bourne, Freya Meredith-Hanson
WA: Rebecca Watson
PRESIDENT Nadine Manion
NSW Chapter
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Nadine is a highly sought-after singing teacher, vocal coach, presenter, and researcher known for her work in singing voice habilitation, contemporary voice training, and transgender and gender diverse singing voice.
She is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Griffith University Creative Arts Research Institute (CARI). Her current research explores the experiences and motivations of transgender singers in Australia, to inform relevant vocal pedagogy and increase accessibility. In 2020, Nadine was awarded the Dr. Iain C. Medgitt Churchill Fellowship, investigating vocal technique and care of the transgender singing voice in the US and UK.
She is a senior voice lecturer in the Contemporary Music department at JMC Academy and is engaged in the design and delivery of the Undergraduate Voice Performance degree. Nadine also teaches music theatre voice at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (USyd).
Nadine runs a thriving private voice studio in Sydney, Australia, working with professional and aspiring professional vocalists. She has worked with countless performers in the commercial music and professional music theatre industries.
She holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Music & Theatre), a Graduate Certificate in Creative Industries, and is currently completing a Masters of Speech Pathology.
VICE PRESIDENT Dale Cox
QLD Chapter
Dale Cox is a singing teacher, researcher, and performer who began her vocal studies with Alan Dean in Sydney, Australia. She holds a PhD from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), a Master of Music Studies (Voice Pedagogy) from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (QCGU), and a Bachelor of Arts in Music and English from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Her teaching and research experience spans internationally—from Australia to the Middle East, the UK, and the USA. She is the owner and director of the independent Dale Cox Singing Studio.
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Most recently, Dale served as Assistant Professor of Music at Coastal Carolina University. She has taught at the Sharjah Performing Arts Academy in the UAE, was a visiting research scholar at Shenandoah Conservatory during her doctoral studies and has worked with students at numerous U.S. institutions including NYU, Temple University, Penn State University, and Auburn University. She has also contributed to Classical Singer Conventions, where she served as a judge for the Musical Theatre Competition. Her teaching specialties include musical theatre, commercial music styles, and jazz singing.
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A published author, Dale’s book Exposing the Chasms in Voice Pedagogy: Playing the Field was released by Routledge in 2024. She is co-author of the chapter “Pedagogy of Western Musical Theatre Singing” in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Voice Pedagogy. Her research has been presented at The Voice Foundation, the International Congress of Voice Teachers (ICVT), the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA), where she currently chairs the Voice Advisory Board.
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Dale is passionate about voice pedagogy and supporting the singing teaching community. She serves as Co-Editor of the Australian Voice journal and is honoured to be appointed interim Vice President of ANATS.
TREASURER Ireni Utley
QLD Chapter
Ireni Utley is a performer and teacher in classical voice genres. She studied singing at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with Prof Janet Delpratt in a Masters of Opera Performance, and later with Dr Margaret Schindler, while completing her Masters in Vocal Pedagogy. Ireni has been a principal artist and chorus member with Victorian Opera and Opera Queensland, as well as touring with and Musica Viva; internationally with Sirens of Song; and as an oratorio soloist.
Ireni has been teaching for 16 years, most of which has been spent with boys’ changing voices. She currently teaches at St Laurence’s College, Brisbane, with male changing voice; at the Cathedral of St Stephen with trebles and adults; and as a sessional lecturer in Classical Voice at the Queensland Conservatorium. In addition to teaching, Ireni has presented lectures for Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing, Griffith University, Voices of Birralee and elsewhere on adolescent changing voices, the importance of posture and alignment in teaching singing, repertoire choices, and on the use of Vocalises in the studio. She has adjudicated Eistedfoddau and competitions in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, and run performance masterclasses. In her spare time, Ireni competes in ocean swims, rides her bike around the city, runs after her children, and eats way too much.
SECRETARY Debbie Grace
NSW Chapter
Debbie Grace holds a BMus (Hons) from UNSW, GradDipEd from University of Melbourne and a
GradDipOp from VCA. She originally studied singing with Beth Willis and gained her AMusA in
voice at 21, performing as a soloist and singing as a Cantor at the Leo Baeck Centre in Melbourne.
Debbie has taught singing to girls and boys for the last 16 years mainly in secondary schools. She
specializes in young voice and currently has a large vocal studio at Kambala Girls School, as well as
teaching classroom music and conducting choirs. Debbie is the current Secretary of the NSW
Chapter of ANATS.
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Freya Meredith-Hanson
VIC Chapter
Freya Meredith-Hanson (DipMT BMus MFA), a Wonnarua woman, is a pioneering interdisciplinary performing arts practitioner, academic and advocate. She is an advocate for reform within Australia's performing arts landscape, with particular emphasis creating access to training in vocal performance and pedagogy for First Nations people. An early-career researcher, Freya is a published author in the Australian Voice journal, and recently presented on singing voice equity for First Nations people at ICVT in 2025. Through ongoing research and advocacy, Freya is dedicated to inspiring others to join her in fostering an equitable and validating industry for all. Ngarkatowa nyiirun kilibiinbiin.
COUNCIL Lisa Crosato
TAS Chapter
Lisa Crosato is a music teacher with more than 30 years experience as a performer in both opera and musical theatre, both in Australia and overseas. Lisa is an alumna of The Royal Academy of Music in London.
Lisa’s opera engagements have included: Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) for Mid Wales Opera; Tisbe (La Cenerentola) for Garsington Opera; Karolka (Jenufa), Giovanetta (L'amore dei tre Re by Montemezzi), and Countess Ceprano (Rigoletto) for Opera Holland Park; Countess Almaviva, Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) and Vénus (Dardanus by Rameau) for Royal Academy of Music; Stéphano (Roméo et Juliette) for British Youth Opera; Good Fairy (Wild Swans by Kats-Chernin) for the Australian Ballet and Mimi (La Bohème) for Minotaur Music Theatre. In addition to opera, Lisa was a soloist in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (Beijing & Shanghai) for the Really Useful Group and performed in the Ensemble in The Wizard of Oz for GFO Entertainment.
Having started singing lessons at the age of 7, Lisa understands the need to provide a fun and nurturing environment for young singers to learn and develop a safe way to sing.
Lisa is passionate and committed to making a difference to all through music and the arts. She has a friendly, warm and empathetic approach, which creates a positive environment for learning and participation. The power of the arts can be life-changing and she believes that all should have the opportunity to experience this firsthand.
COUNCIL Rebecca Watson
WA Chapter
Rebecca Watson holds an Honours degree in Music, majoring in classical voice, from the University of Melbourne. She is a qualified secondary music teacher who has worked extensively with boys’ voices for over 20 years, across classical, contemporary and music theatre genres. As a teacher, examiner and adjudicator, Rebecca’s primary focus is the developing voice in solo, choral and stage performance. She has been an AMEB(WA) Voice examiner and member of the AMEB(WA) Advisory and Executive Committees for many years. In addition, Rebecca enjoys adjudicating for many community music festivals. She is currently the President of the ANATS WA Chapter.
COUNCIL Christina Wilson
NSW Chapter
A graduate of the Canberra School of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and the National Opera Studio London, mezzo-soprano Christina Wilson has sung professionally in opera, oratorio and recital performances throughout the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia. Christina studied in London with Janice Chapman AM.
She has completed several Estill Voice courses and Accent Method Breathing workshops. In addition to her private studio, Christina taught at tertiary level for many years, including the Australian National University and University of Canberra. She regularly adjudicates and gives master classes nationally and internationally. Christina was ACT Chapter President from 2014-2018 and served as Assistant Treasurer from 2017-2018.
COUNCIL Kim Spargo
SA/NT Chapter
BMus. (Perf.), Grad.Dip.Ed., Grad.Cert.(Drama), Grad.Cert.(Jazz), A.Dip. (Dramatic Arts) and currently a student of Masters of Applied Theatre Studies
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Kim’s bio reads a bit like a checklist of milestones in performance art. Session vocalist? Check. Touring with Australian and international artists? Check. Kim’s also had many shows in major world festivals, directs a successful & diverse studio, been MD or performer for a bunch of shows, runs award winning vocal groups, has published arrangements, works with numerous industry icons & stars, and tours the world presenting at conferences.
COUNCIL Tracy Bourne
VIC Chapter
Tracy originally trained as a classical singer (Qld Con, Melb Con) and as an actor at the Victorian
College of the Arts (Company 93). She worked professionally in new opera and theatre work in the
1990s including The Two Executioners for Chamber Made Opera, the ABC and Melbourne
International Festival. From 2000-2011, she was Lecturer in Singing at the University of Ballarat (now
Federation University) teaching Bachelor of Music Theatre and Acting students in all year levels.
Over this period, Tracy wrote and directed a number of music theatre projects in response to social
and environmental issues, and established SEAM Inc. (Sustainable Environment Arts Movement), an
organization that created art projects with communities in response to climate change. In 2015, she
moved to regional NSW, near Canberra ACT, where she established a freelance career as a theatre
maker and performer alongside her teaching practice, collaborating on projects with artists such as
Mikelangelo (aka Michael Simic), Shortis and Simpson, Karen Middleton and Nigel Featherstone. She
received ArtsACT funding to produce Finale, starring Moya Simpson in July 2023, and was selected
by The Street Theatre as an ‘Early Phase’ participant in 2023 to write a new music theatre work
currently entitled Mother, Beetle, Sky. She was appointed to the role of Director of Voice at Radford
College, a K-12 Anglican school in 2020.
In July 2025, Tracy was appointed Lecturer in Music Theatre (Singing) at the Victorian College of the
Arts, University of Melbourne and is in the process of relocating to the western suburbs of
Melbourne.
Tracy completed a PhD by publication through Sydney Conservatorium, University of Sydney in 2016
on the Perceptual, Physiological and Acoustic Characteristics of Male and Female Music Theatre
Singers. Her research findings have been cited in international voice journals and contributed to the
understanding of music theatre vocal technique and effective pedagogical approaches to singing
training in Australia and internationally. She has been invited to contribute as an expert teacher to
publications about training the music theatre voice including the renowned publication The Vocal
Athlete: Application and Technique for the Hybrid Singer, Third Edition, by Marci Daniels Rosenberg
and Wendy D. LeBorgne, Plural Publishing (3 rd edition, 2026) and Training Contemporary Commercial
Singers, by Elizabeth Anne Benson, Compton Publishing (2020).
Tracy’s teaching practice is student centred, reflective and consultative and informed by her
research and her creative practice as a singer and theatre maker. She works with singers to extend
their vocal skills in a way that fits with their aims, encouraging them to deepen their understanding
of their own instrument, and assisting them to develop an autonomous approach to resolving
technical issues in their own practice, in rehearsal and in performance. Many of her past students
are working professionally in the entertainment sector as music theatre performers in mainstage
productions and tours, fringe shows, cabaret, and comedy festivals.
COUNCIL Wendy Todd
VIC Chapter
Wendy holds both Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Music Education from the University of Melbourne and has pursued post graduate studies in conducting at the University of Oregon and UCLA. She was a Director of Music at an Independent School for ten years, currently teaches singing at an Independent School in Melbourne and her own studio, and conducts two secondary choirs and an adult vocal ensemble.
Wendy teaches students of all ages and abilities and is an VCAA assessor for both Performance and Music Investigation subjects. Many of her students have gone on to further study and have careers in music in many different fields including jazz, music theatre, contemporary commercial music and classical. Wendy is a frequent adjudicator of both vocal and choral eisteddfods and has been a National Councillor, Victorian President and committee member for many years, of both ANATS and ANCA.
