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.
2023/24 ANATS National Council
National President: Linda Barcan (VIC)
National Vice President: Nadine Manion (NSW)
National Treasurer: Christina Wilson (NSW)
National Secretary: Debbie Grace (NSW)
National Membership Secretary: Seamus Kirkpatrick (QLD)
Chapter Representatives:
ACT: Angela Giblin
NSW: Debbie Grace, Christina Wilson, Jo Fabro
QLD: Seamus Kirkpatrick, Ireni Utley
SA: Kim Spargo
TAS: Lisa Crosato
VIC: Linda Barcan, Wendy Todd, Curtis Bayliss
WA: Rebecca Watson
PRESIDENT Linda Barcan
VIC Chapter
Linda Barcan trained at the Conservatorium of Newcastle, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and
the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). She performed as a lyric mezzo-soprano for Opéra de
Lyon (France) and Opera Australia, amongst other companies, before choosing to combine vocal
performance with voice teaching, a balancing act she continues to enjoy!
Before taking up her current position as Lecturer in Voice at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Linda was for nine years Lecturer in Voice at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), teaching into the Classical Voice, Music Theatre and Acting departments.
VICE PRESIDENT Nadine Manion
NSW Chapter
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.
TREASURER 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.
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 Seamus Kirkpatrick
QLD Chapter
Seamus Kirkpatrick is a musician, singer, and singing voice specialist. His primary area of
expertise is Contemporary Commercial Music. Seamus is a multi-skilled instrumentalist and gig-
singer who has practised as a music and voice teacher for 32 years in private studios and tertiary
settings. He has achieved a Master of Music (Vocal Pedagogy), a Bachelor of Music (Sonology),
and a Diploma of Performance (Clarinet). Currently a PhD candidate at Griffith University, he is
assessing a teaching model designed to help non-singers learn how to sing.
Seamus is currently a sessional staff member at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music
Griffith University and JMC Academy. For 22 years, Seamus was a co-director of one of
Queensland’s largest music schools, Independent Music Academy; where he taught hundreds of
students voice, bass guitar, and woodwind; and trained dozens of teachers. He is an experienced
workshop facilitator.
Seamus has performed at The Big Day Out, The Woodford, National, and Port Fairy Folk
Festivals, Jungle Love, The Adelaide Fringe, The Sydney Opera House, and The Arts Centre
Melbourne. He has been involved in over 25 physical and online albums/ EPs and works within a
host of genres including rock, pop, jazz, metal, choral, European classical, country, soundtracks
(TV and film), trad (UK, Australian, and North American), dance, hip-hop, world (Romani, Balkan,
and Turkish), electroacoustic, and avant-garde/ experimental/ improv.
COUNCIL Jo Fabro
NSW Chapter
Jo Fabro is a Singing-Voice specialist with 20 years of teaching experience. Having taught voice at many of Sydney’s most prestigious schools including ASCHAM, Sydney Grammar & Newington College, Jo went on to lecture at The Australian Institute of Music and now operates a thriving private studio in Waterloo, specialising in CCM voice, specifically Jazz, Soul & Blues singing & voice rehabilitation. Jo currently teaches the ‘Contemporary Singer’ and ‘Contemporary Vocal Studio’ courses at the Sydney Conservatorium Open Academy and is the current Vice-president of the NSW chapter of ANATS. Jo has performed as a vocalist across Australia and internationally and holds a Bachelor of Music from UNSW and a Master of Music (Vocal Pedagogy), from Brisbane Conservatorium of Music (Griffith University). She is also trained in Myofascial Release for head and Neck disorders and Accent method breathing. In 2018, Jo’s research on the use of Registration Terminology in CCM singing teaching was published in the journal Australian Voice.
COUNCIL Angela Giblin
ACT Chapter
Angela Giblin studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and then joined the Opera Studio of Opera Australia, becoming a principal. Awarded grants from the Arts Council of Australia and the Austrian Government, she studied at theVienna Academy, and then sang in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Highlights include a commendation for Idamante (Idomeneo) in the Yearbook of the prestigious German magazine, Opernwelt, and the title role in Der Rosenkavalier with Gundula Janowitz as Marschallin. Angela has sung fifty operatic roles, and sings in nine languages. She was nominated for a Green Room Award, and awarded a Canberra Critics' Circle Award.
In 1996 Angela was appointed Lecturer in Voice at the ANU School of Music. In 1999 she was appointed Head of Voice, and 2003 Senior Lecturer in Voice. She is a foundation member of ANATS. Angela Giblin resigned from the ANU School of Music in 2004.
COUNCIL 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.
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 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 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.
COUNCIL Curtis Bayliss
VIC Chapter
Curtis Bayliss specializes in young and cambiata voices. Formerly a conductor of the Australian Children’s Choir he is currently teaching voice at Melbourne High School and Camberwell Grammar School in Naarm. He is honoured to serve as the President of the Victorian Chapter of ANATS.
Curtis holds a B.Arts in ethnomusicology and linguistics from Monash University and a B.Mus.Edn. degree from the University of Melbourne. He also trained at the Opera Studio of VCA and in Information Science at RMIT. He undertook short courses at The National Voice Centre (NSW) and a lengthy teaching apprenticeship with Melbourne teacher Gary May.
Curtis’ breadth of performance experience ranges from playing keyboards in rock bands and musical theatre pits to singing in a cathedral choir, early music ensembles, close-harmony groups and long stints with the Victorian State Opera and Opera Australia. His favourite roles have been playing Monsuiuer D’Arque in Beauty and The Beast and the title role in Brittens’ Albert Herring.
He has voice coached for The Bell Shakespeare Company, Playbox Theatre and Melbourne Theatre Company. An avid composer, his musicals for schools have been produced in a number of Victorian primary schools. He has also composed a musical based on Australia’s most expensive cemetery tomb.
Curtis is increasingly fascinated by the relationship of the cardiac system to voice function and quality.
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
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.