YOUR NATIONAL COUNCIL
National Council meets via online video calling approximately ten times each year. Every meeting, we discuss what's happening in each chapter, address any issues, plan for future events, develop national strategies, discuss numerous ideas and administer ANATS Ltd.
The 2018/19 ANATS National Council consists of:
National President: Shelli Hulcombe (QLD)
National Vice President: Diane Hughes (NSW)
National Treasurer: Christina Wilson (NSW)
National Secretary: Marisa Lee Naismith (QLD)
National Membership Officer: Emma Wilson (QLD)
CHAPTER REPRESENTATIVES:
ACT: Angela Giblin
NSW: Debbie Grace, Diane Hughes, Christina Wilson
QLD: Shelli Hulcombe, Marisa Lee Naismith, Emma Wilson
SA: Kim Spargo
TAS: Helen Thomson
VIC: Linda Barcan, Julia Nafisi, Wendy Todd
WA: Rebecca Watson
SPECIAL APPOINTMENTS:
Liz Pascoe
For the minutes of our previous national AGM, please enter the ANATS members section.
YOUR STATE CHAPTERS
PRESIDENT Shelli Hulcombe
QLD Chapter
Shelli Hulcombe studied classical voice at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK. Performance engagements have included principal operatic roles and concert performances with many of Australia’s leading state orchestras and ensembles. Shelli still regularly performs as a chamber musician and tours nationally with Musica Viva in their schools’ program.
Shelli is currently a Lecturer in Voice at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, where she also convenes the Young Conservatorium Classical Voice program. She is a former Qld Chapter President of ANATS, a regular adjudicator at eisteddfodau and an AMEB examiner across all singing syllabi. She holds a MMusSt in vocal pedagogy and is currently enrolled in doctoral studies, investigating the implications of cross genre vocal training on overall vocal function.
'ANATS is more than an association. It is a network of colleagues and opportunities that aids best practice in vocal pedagogy'
VICE PRESIDENT Diane Hughes
NSW Chapter
A/Prof Diane Hughes (PhD) is a researcher and teacher in Vocal Studies and Music at Macquarie University. She has an extensive background in contemporary popular singing pedagogy. Her work within the industry has involved artist development and recording. Diane's research interests include vocal artistry, pedagogy, recording, performance and singing in schools; current research projects include singing in the new music industries, emotion and voice, the singer-songwriter, cultural musicology, and recording processes. Research on singing in schools led her to become an advocate for the development of cross-curriculum voice studies in school education. On behalf of ANATS, she authored the 2017 SWOT Analysis of Music Education – Vocal Music, available at http://musicinaustralia.org.au/index.php?title=SWOT_Analysis_Of_Music_Education_-_Vocal_Music_-_2017.
She is a co-author of The New Music Industries: Disruption and Discovery (Hughes, Evans, Morrow & Keith, 2016, Palgrave Macmillan). Other publications are listed at https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/diane-hughes/publications/.
In 2014, Diane received an Australian Office of Learning and Teaching Citation. This followed her 2013 Vice Chancellor's Citation for an outstanding contribution to facilitating student engagement and learning through the design of contemporary and innovative music curricula. Her respective contributions have also been recognised with an Outstanding Professional Service Award from the NSW Professional Teachers’ Council (2014) and a National Certificate of Recognition from ANATS (2018).
TREASURER Christina Wilson
NSW Chapter
Winner of the Australian Singing Competition's Marianne Mathy Award and prizewinning 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 and has since incorporated current voice science practice into her own teaching. She has completed several Estill Voice courses and Accent Method Breathing workshops. In addition to her private studio, she has taught at tertiary level for many years, at the Australian National University (2009-12) and currently at the University of Canberra where she runs an undergraduate voice unit “The Working Voice”, TQI accredited Voice Workshops for teachers and community group classes “The Singing Voice”.
She regularly adjudicates and gives master classes nationally and internationally and recently received BOSTES accreditation for her “VoiceWorks” workshop to be offered at Sydney University’s Conservatorium Open Academy. Christina was ACT Chapter President from 2014-2018 and served as Assistant Treasurer from 2017-2018.
SECRETARY Marisa Lee Naismith
QLD Chapter
Marisa is an award-winning vocalist performing predominantly in pop and rock styles, a singing teacher and CCM voice advocate. In more recent years, Marisa has been undertaking a doctoral program as a voice researcher seeking to develop a foundational CCM pedagogical framework.
Marisa is presently employed as a Voice Teacher in the Bachelor of Popular Music Program at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, and is also a contractor teaching private voice lessons in the education system in northern NSW and in performing arts schools. Marisa is passionate about passing her wealth of industry experience onto emerging performing artists and is actively involved in mentoring young talent to strategise and transition into the professional world.
Marisa has recently presented at ICVT (Sweden), The Pan European Voice Conference PEVOC (Italy), The ANATS National Conference (Hobart, & Leura), QCGR Conference (Brisbane), The Voice Foundation’s Care of Professional Voice Symposium (Philadelphia) and at both ANATS and AVA events.
MEMBERSHIP OFFICER Emma Wilson
QLD Chapter
Emma Wilson is an experienced and qualified Voice Teacher and Lecturer, with a passion for helping singers of Contemporary Commercial Music develop their voices in a healthy and authentic way. She holds a Masters Degree in Vocal Pedagogy from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where she studied under renowned vocal pedagogy guru Irene Bartlett, as well as a Bachelor of Music (Voice Performance) from the Queensland University of Technology.
Emma is a Music Lecturer and Vocal Tutor at JMC Academy in Brisbane, in the Contemporary Popular Music Course. She loves playing a part in the development of aspiring artists as they build their skills and knowledge, and helping singers to get the most out of their voice while finding their own unique sound. In addition to her lecturing duties, Emma is an educator and workshop presenter, and runs her own busy private singing teaching studio in South Brisbane where she teaches a variety of vocalists from beginner to professional level.
Having been a professional contemporary gigging singer for over 10 years, performing both original music and covers, Emma frequently spends her weekends performing at weddings and corporate functions both solo and as a member of various duos and bands.
Emma is the current Secretary of the QLD Committee for the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing (ANATS).
COUNCIL Angela Giblin
ACT Chapter
Angela Giblin completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at the University of Sydney, before continuing her studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, after which she joined the then Australian Opera, singing various principal roles with the company.
She received grants from the Arts Council of Australia and the Austrian Government, and studied at the renowned Vienna Academy. She performed in theatres in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Angela has sung fifty operatic roles in nine languages. She has been nominated for a Green Room Award, and has received a Canberra Critics' Circle Award.
Angela holds a Graduate Diploma of Education at the University of Canberra.
From 1996-2004 Angela held an appointment at the Canberra School of Music, becoming Head of Voice in 1999.
Angela's recordings include Tall Trees, with Margaret Legge-Wilkinson and the Canberra New Music Ensemble, and Gordon Kerry's opera Medea, for ABC Classics. She has broadcast for the ABC and for Norddeutsche Rundfunk, presented recitals in Australia, Germany, and New Zealand, and performed in oratorio in Australia, (Sydney Symphony) Austria, and Germany.
She continues to teach and perform.
COUNCIL Debbie Grace
NSW Chapter
Deborah Grace has been a member of ANATS since 2003 and joined the NSW committee in 2013. She has 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.
She performed as a soloist and as a Cantor at the Leo Baeck Centre in Kew, Melbourne, before discovering a love of teaching - as a classroom teacher, choral conductor and private singing teacher.
Deborah has taught singing to girls and boys for the last 15 years mainly in secondary schools, specializing in young voice, and currently has a large vocal studio at Kambala Girls School.
She presented at the ANATS NSW Back to Basics workshop in 2017 and is currently the Secretary on the ANATS NSW committee.
COUNCIL Kim Spargo
SA 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. Check!
COUNCIL Helen Thompson
TAS Chapter
Helen Thomson's international performing career encompasses appearances (in Europe) with such outfits as Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, the Netherlands Bach Society, the Egidius College and the Netherlands Radio Choir, and (in Australia) the Song Company, Festival of Voices, e21, La Compania, Ludovico's Band, and Van Diemen's Band. She is a founding member of baroque/contemporary ensemble Sequenza, directs Sing Australia Hobart and the UTas Conservatorium Vocal Ensemble, and teaches Classical Voice at the UTas Conservatorium.
Highlights in 2018 have included appearances with the TSO, and the world premiere, generously supported by the Australia Council and Arts Tasmania, of her own composition A Tasmanian Requiem.
COUNCIL Linda Barcan
VIC Chapter
Following undergraduate studies at the University of Newcastle, mezzo-soprano Linda Barcan won a scholarship to study voice in France, leading to a two-year engagement with the Opéra de Lyon. On her return to Australia, Linda performed for many years with Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House and the Victorian Arts Centre. Her affinity for 20th and 21st century opera has led to appearances in Christina’s World (Sydney Chamber Opera), Abelard and Heloise (Opera Hunter), Pecan Summer (Short Black Opera) and The Emperor of Atlantis (Lost & Found Opera).
Linda completed a Graduate Diploma of Dramatic Art (Voice Studies) at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and a Master of Music Studies (Pedagogy) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Open Academy, Wesley Institute, Australian Institute of Music (AIM), and the Actors College of Theatre and Television (ACTT).
For nine years Linda was Lecturer in Voice at the Western Australian Academy of Perming Arts (WAAPA), teaching into the Classical Voice, Music Theatre and Acting departments. Linda is currently Lecturer in Music (Voice) at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where she is also completing her PhD.
COUNCIL Julia Nafisi
VIC Chapter
Julia Nafisi began her voice training in her hometown Munich/Germany and continued her studies in Vienna/Austria with, amongst others, Prof. KS Hilde Rössel-Majdan and Prof. KS Walter Berry. She has appeared in opera, oratorio and recital throughout Europe.
Upon moving to Australia, Julia has completed a MMus (Vocal Pedagogy) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, a Grad Dip Ed at the Australian Catholic University and a PhD at Monash University. She divides her time between performing, teaching and researching, the latter with a focus on 'the role of gesture and body-movement in voice teaching/therapy and performance' as well as 'German Lieder in Australia' and has published numerous articles on both topics.
Julia currently teaches Voice at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of Audiology and Speech-Pathology at the University of Melbourne.
Julia is the current president of the Victorian chapter of ANATS and the editor of Australian Voice.
COUNCIL Rebecca Watson
WA Chapter
Rebecca Watson holds an Honours degree in Music, majoring in classical voice, from the University of Melbourne. She is also 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 has a particular interest in the developing voice in solo, choral and stage performance. She has been an AMEB(WA) Voice examiner for many years, and is a member of the AMEB(WA) Advisory and Executive Committees.
In addition, Rebecca enjoys adjudicating for many community music festivals She is currently the President of the WA Chapter of ANATS.
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 from the beginner to the professional including VCE Performance both Contemporary and Classical Voice, and Music Investigation for which she has been a VCAA assessor of both for several years. Many of her students have gone on to have careers in music in many different fields and to study music at a tertiary level in jazz, music theatre, contemporary commercial music and classical.
Wendy has worked extensively with vocal ensembles and choirs both as a conductor and a singer. She is often invited to adjudicate vocal and choral eisteddfods and has been a National Councillor, Victorian President and committee member for many years, of both ANATS and ANCA.
COUNCIL Liz Pascoe
Special Appointment
Elizabeth (Liz) Pascoe has been a member of ANATS for 25 years. She originally trained as a classical pianist and singer as well as qualifying as a secondary English and Music teacher. Since 1990 she has been a lecturer in singing in the Acting and Music Theatre Departments at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
Liz also works in schools as a member of the School of Instrumental Music (SIM) voice team. Liz’s performing and creative experience includes opera, theatre restaurant work, musicals, music direction and composing for youth theatre, accompanying and vocal coaching.
