Dean of Collarts
As Dean of Collarts, Tim provides leadership and strategic direction, and supports staff to develop their expertise in innovative teaching practice. Tim is an award-winning teacher and researcher with almost 20 years of experience in higher education, and has held leadership roles at a number of institutions, including Swinburne University of Technology and the University of Tasmania. Within these roles, Tim has balanced opportunities to engage in course development and delivery within his own discipline of teacher education, with roles focused on faculty development across all disciplines.
At Torrens University, Tim was a key member of the team that developed the Voices of Autism Massive Open Online Course, which was completed by over 13,000 individuals from 88 countries. As a researcher, Tim is known for his work in student engagement (including an invited contribution to The Student Engagement Handbook), and innovative digital teaching practices. His PhD used arts-based research techniques to explore drama teachers’ identities and practice, and his recent work in this field incorporates his practice as a writer and photographer to raise questions about teacher and student identity construction, particularly in online environments.
Associate Dean
PhD (algorithmic composition), BCompSc, BMus, DipEd
Dr Paul Doornbusch is the Associate Dean. As well teaching on the Audio Engineering program and with more than ten years of international practice and teaching experience, Paul is regarded as one of Australia’s major players in the electronic and computer music scene. He is a composer, sonologist, researcher and occasional performer who works largely with algorithmic composition systems for traditional instruments and electronics.
Paul’s work has been presented internationally in concerts throughout Europe, the US, Canada, and Australasia, and ranges from compositions involving instruments and electronics to media works. Paul successfully completed a major research project – to reconstruct and document the music played by Australia’s first computer (CSIRAC) – while he was a composer-in-residence at the Computer Science department of the University of Melbourne.
Managing Director of Collarts
As the Managing Director of Collarts, Dr. Ben O’Hara provides leadership and oversees the academic and operational running of the college.
Ben has taught music industry business at a number of institutions across Australia, including the Sydney Institute of TAFE Ultimo, The University of Tasmania, EORA College, and JMC Academy in Sydney and Melbourne. His most recent position saw him working as the Head of Higher Education (Music Business) at Box Hill Institute in Melbourne.
Ben has a broad range of experience in the music industry, having worked in music publishing and licensing as well as event and artist management. He has also been a performer for over 15 years, and runs his own booking agency. Ben also runs thebiz.com.au, an online music business resource centre and has published six textbooks on the music industry.
Head of School (Entertainment)
Dr Clive Harrison is a renowned music educator, having been a successful songwriter, session musician and film composer for over 45 years. Tasting his first songwriting chart success at age 19, he has been composing rock, funk, jazz, swing, and soul songs as well as music for 15 albums, 9 feature films, and 13 television series, ever since. His music has been performed in over 80 countries worldwide, and he has been one of Australia’s highest royalty-earning composers. A member of the Australian Guild of Screen Composers since 1988, he served 8 years as Vice President and 5 Years as President of the Guild.
For the past 12 years he has been lecturing in songwriting, music composition and performance, and having completed his PhD (Creativity, Multiple Intelligences and Songwriting) at the University of Newcastle in 2016, he now devotes his energies to Higher Education management, joining Collarts in December 2021 as head of School, Entertainment.
Head of School (Communication)
MBA (Exec), MBus (Business & Law), MAICD, MPRIA
I am the Founder and Managing Director of Regeneration Media, an international communications agency specialising in brand strategy, publicity and promotion, digital strategy, media training and social media. We specialise in branding individuals and training clients in presentation skills for TV, radio and conferences. We help individuals and organisations create a brand of influence. My PhD is in online identity and self marketing (how we are perceived by others online).
I am a Lecturer and Discipline Head in the Bachelor and Master of Media and Communication (Public Relations) at La Trobe University. My teaching area is in social media practice, digital journalism & communication campaigns.
Head of School (Design)
Dr Rachel Matthews is the Head of School (Design). Previously, Rachel established fashion at Collarts, leading Fashion Marketing and developing the unique Fashion & Sustainability program. Rachel is a firm believer that design is an ‘attitude’, with design thinkers operating as essential problem-solvers, agents of change and possibility creators for the future.
Originally from London, Rachel trained at Central Saint Martin’s and Winchester School of Art before beginning her professional career. Working as a designer for companies such as Whistles, John Lewis and Next, she then went on to consult for fashion companies in Hong Kong, Tunisia and Mauritius. Throughout her career, Rachel has been involved in fashion education with academic positions at Chelsea College of Art and Middlesex University in the UK. In Australia, she has lectured at QUT and was head of the Melbourne School of Fashion for five years.
Rachel has completed a PhD at Monash University. Her doctoral thesis examined fashion taste-making and changing narratives of influence in contemporary fashion media. Continuing to publish on fashion in education, communication and popular culture, Rachel’s research work can be accessed in Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty, Communication Sciences, Catwalk: The Journal of Fashion Beauty and Style, Bloomsbury’s Fashion Business Case Studies and readingdesign.org. Her current projects examine new communication practices that are helping drive meaningful, sustainable change in the way we view fashion.
Head of Course Development
As Head of Course Development, Bridget is responsible for Collarts’ new course development, and accreditation and reaccreditation with the national higher education regulator, TEQSA.
Bridget has worked in the higher education sector for fourteen years and during this time developed nearly 50 bachelor degrees, associate degrees, and diplomas. She has lectured in Creative Writing, English Literature, Critical Thinking, Academic Writing, and Research Methods at a number of Victorian universities and institutes.
As a researcher, Bridget is known internationally for her work on the intersection of writing and trauma. Her PhD examines creative emergence from trauma through creative writing. Bridget’s critical work is published in Hecate Journal by The University of Queensland, in TEXT Journal of Writing and Writing Courses by Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP), by Inter-Disciplinary Press, UK, and by Brill Rodopi, a Dutch international academic publisher.
Bridget also has a creative practice that encompasses writing and performance, she was awarded a full scholarship to study acting at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in London, and continues to appear in theatre, film and TV, music and radio productions in Australia and the UK.
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO of Collarts, David provides financial leadership and advice to senior management and the Corporate Board. David also leads the professional Finance team, which is responsible for the capture, reporting and analysis of all financial, banking, payroll and related finance processes across Collarts, including the various systems that support these functions, and all external and internal parties who rely on this information and processing. This team is also responsible for timely provision of financial reports, including regular actual results, historic reporting, forward projections and related analysis and explanations of these key college metrics.
David has a varied professional history, from Chartered Accounting through various finance roles across a variety of industries, including retail, engineering, property development, entertainment, manufacturing, printing and, prior to joining Collarts, several years at Deakin University in senior finance roles.
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Director of International Recruitment
Domenica holds a Master degree in Intercultural Communication from USI in Lugano, Switzerland and a Bachelor in International Studies from UdeM in Monterrey, Mexico.
She is fond of languages and travel. She is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian and English, and has been to 47 countries. These give a broader intercultural understanding when dealing with students from different cultures. She is a passionate individual, who is focused on the student experience.
Domenica is in charge of the International Strategy for Collarts, this includes dealing with different stakeholders such as partner schools, agents, international prospective students, among others. She has over 7 years of experience working in International Education ranging from ELICOS, VET and Higher Education Providers.
Head of Student Recruitment
Originally from Manchester, England, Lauren graduated from the University of Central Lancashire and worked in both recruitment and education before joining the Collarts family. She has recently made the big move to Melbourne after spending time in both Perth and Adelaide. However, the arts and music scene of Melbourne sparked Lauren’s interest and she couldn’t stay away.
Her passion for music has always been apparent as displayed by the wide array of instruments she’s laid her hands on including: piano, flute, and more recently guitar. Aside from music, Lauren also loves traveling, scuba diving, painting, and a delicious cup of Melbourne coffee.
Head of Educational Development
As Head of Educational Development, Natasha provides leadership in the areas of staff
development, teaching enhancement and scholarship.
With more than 20 years experience in higher education, Natasha brings a wealth of
teaching expertise to Collarts. During her early career as a criminology lecturer in the UK,
she discovered a passion for pedagogy and a talent for academic development. That led her
to a national role at the UK Higher Education Academy where, working with more than 150
universities across 28 disciplines, she gained significant expertise in active and experiential
learning, creative pedagogies and the research-teaching nexus.
Natasha has held leadership roles in 2 large UK/Australian universities (Sheffield Hallam and
RMIT) supporting staff to develop their teaching practice through professional development
programs and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) initiatives. She is passionate
about making scholarly practice inclusive, accessible, and relevant to all staff.
Natasha is also an experienced researcher and author with a strong track record in
consultancy, grant income and publications. She is regularly invited to share her work at
international conferences, webinars and via web-based media (podcasts, blogs and
tweetchats). She is best known for her work with the cross-disciplinary research
collaborative Lacunae, who are currently investigating the use of epistolary methods (letter
writing) to transform reflective practices in higher education.
Head of Operations
Originally from NZ, Selena has a background in student support and audio engineering and music production and lecturing. Having joined Collarts in 2012, Selena now leads the Collarts Operations Group which looks after our campuses, the Register Team, and our Student Services and support teams.
MA, MEd (Hons), PhD
Andrew was Professor of Education and faculty Dean at UTS from 1997 to 2006.
He was Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney from 2006-2014, where he worked in the Education Faculty and in the Faculty of Health Sciences and was head of SydneyLearning the university’s professional development program.
He has been adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra from 2015- current.
Andrew’s academic speciality has been education for occupations- including professional and vocational education and industry training. He has published extensively in this area, both books and articles, focussing on curriculum, learning and assessment.
Prof. Gonczi has been the leader of many educational projects around the world including projects in Mexico, Vietnam, China and Hong Kong
He is currently chair of academic boards at Macleay and Collarts colleges and chair of the Board of Directors of Kaplan Australia and of Sydney Community College.
Francoise is an accomplished vocalist and songwriter from Melbourne.
She graduated from Monash with a Bachelor of Business Law in 2010, before being accepted into Collarts in 2012 where she completed a Bachelor of Music (Performance).
Since that time Francoise has worked professionally as part of the Academic Board and as a music teacher across different primary and secondary schools in Melbourne. She is currently completing her Masters of Education at Curtin University.
Francoise has performed, recorded and toured with many different bands and projects including Condensed Milk, Cocoa Noire, Silver Linings, Lake Minnetonka, Raw Humps and the Mandarin Dreams collective. In 2017 Silver Linings was nominated for Best Soul Album of the year as part of the Age Music Victoria Awards.
In 2017 and 2018 Francoise performed internationally with Silver Linings touring the USA, Europe and Russia. In 2019 Francoise released her debut solo project under the moniker “Fossey”. This debut single “Be You” included an independent vinyl release which has received local and international acclaim.
Since this release, Fossey has enjoyed the opportunity of performing at the Tote’s New Years Eve Celebration and supporting local band Close Counters for one of their sold out residencies at the Night Cat. Fossey’s “Be You” has also received noteworthy support from UK’s Gilles Peterson and Worldwide FM.
PhD
Dr Gene Bawden has over twenty-five years’ experience as a communication designer and design educator, and has a unique capability as a design thinking facilitator. He is currently Head of the Department of Design at Monash University Faculty of Art Design and Architecture. At Monash, he has played central roles in design education and course development, including initiating and leading a major review of the Bachelor of Design; the development of MADA’s design thinking curriculum and the delivery of a tailored design thinking program for the Monash Business School MBA and Global Executive MBA.
As founding director of D-Lab, Gene has developed the design thinking process into a robust and self-reflexive process, while honouring its heritage in design practice. Leading a team of researchers and facilitators, D-Lab delivers bespoke material tools of enquiry around design thinking processes and research, including workshops and resources for internal and external clients. This is an area of investigation that is increasingly part of Gene’s expanding area of design education and research.
Gene is also a founding member and co-director with Associate Professor Nicole Kalms of the Faculty’s XYX Lab. The Lab affords him the opportunity to combine his knowledge of gendered spatial practices and his communication design expertise within collaborative research projects aimed at mitigating gender inequity in Australia’s urban environments.
Gene’s other areas of research and design practice investigate material, visual and spatial narratives of belonging. In particular he interrogates the design of Australian domestic spaces as highly charged representation of cultural belonging, social alignment and gendered expectations. His book, Comfort and Judgement: Nineteenth Century Advice Manuals and the Scripting of Australian Identity, published by Monash University Publishing, was released in September 2019.
PhD
Lyn Yates is Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Emerita of Education of the University of Melbourne. She has taught at and held senior positions in research leadership and management at the University of Melbourne and University of Technology Sydney; and previously has been Professor of Teacher Education at UTS, and Director of Women’s Studies at La Trobe University.
Lyn has also held visiting professorial appointments at universities in Europe,USA, South Africa and New Zealand, and served on the Australia Research Council. She is a past Chair of AARE (Australian Association for Research in Education) and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.
Lyn’s own research and teaching focus has been on education and social change (including lifelong learning); gender and class inequalities; identities in changing cultural contexts; and research methods for education.
Her most recent books are Curriculum in Today’s World: configuring knowledge, identity work and politics (Routledge 2011), Knowledge at the Crossroads (Springer 2017) and Reconfiguring Knowledge in Higher Education (Springer 2018).
PhD
Michael Hannan is a composer, keyboard performer, music researcher and educator. He studied at the University of Sydney and graduated with a PhD in music in 1979. He is the author of two books on Australia composers ( Peter Sculthorpe and Richard Meale), and a book on careers in music. He has also published over 60 scholarly journal articals and book chapters and around 150 CD and book reviews.
Hannan has written over 150 compositions covering diverse genres such as theatre music, electronic music, advertising music, screen music, concert music, experimental music and songwriting. Most of his concert music is published by Wirripang Pty. Ltd.
In the late 1980s, Hannan established the first Australian degree program in contemporary music at the Northern Rivers CAE (now Southern Cross University). He is currently Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Business, Law and Arts at Southern Cross University.
Head of Audio Engineering
Graduate Certificate in Learning & Teaching (Higher Education), BMus
Jason is the Head of Audio Engineering. He is a Pro Tools Certified 310M Expert with an AVID ACSR 400 qualification, Bachelor Degree in Applied Music / Audio Production and has a Graduate Certificate in Learning & Teaching. As the builder, owner and manager of the successful Debasement Recording Studios in Ferntree Gully, JT has worked with clients from Bodyjar, You Am I, Slipknot and hundreds more.
Jason is also an in-demand drummer and teacher, who for over 15 years taught students across a range of ages and skill levels: kids as young as five, to top-level VCE solo performance students. Jason has played drums with dozens of artists like 28 Days and Bugdust, and is currently in a few bands including Cisco Caesar, Mono Deluxe & Scorn Of a Superhero.
Audio Production Program Coordinator
Dylan Mitrovich is an audio engineer, writer, producer and musician who has recently relocated to Melbourne, Australia.
Spending the last 5 years primarily touring the world as a live audio engineer & tour manager, Dylan was based in New York City during 2015-2016. He has worked with a range of artists both Australian and International, in venues from clubs to theatres and arenas, as well as some of the world’s biggest festivals.
Although live sound has been Dylan's focus in recent times, he is equally at home in the studio. He has been a Pro Tools user for over 18
Completing a BMusic (Hons) at Western Sydney University, Dylan majored in Music Technology. He is a
Dylan's passion lies in the combination of the technical and the creative - whether it be behind the live soundboard or in the studio.
Lecturer
Ted Furuhashi is a Melbourne - based producer/composer/ engineer. As the guitarist and founding member of Circles, he and his bandmates have traversed the globe touring with some of the world's best in the genre including The Dillinger Escape Plan, Meshuggah and fellow countrymen in Twelve Foot Ninja. He has also performed in the 2022 documentary “AGE OF RAGE – The Australian Punk Revolution” and regularly composes pieces for content creators.
Ted has immersed himself in creativity and despite inheriting Japanese stoicism, he found a unique way to express emotion through his music. Drawn to creativity, the musicianship was just the beginning. Taking advantage of technology, Ted is forever expanding his knowledge in taking musical expression and practical usability to new heights. Whatever the genre may be, he evokes emotion in the listener.
Lecturer
James Wilkinson works as a musician, sound engineer and educator. He is a graduate of the VCA (BMUS, MA) and Charles Sturt University (BA).
He has taught audio technology at many institutions including LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore and University of Melbourne.
James’ primary instrument is trombone, performing repertoire and improvised music. He has worked as session musician, created solo electronic compositions, and performed in Europe, Asia and South America.
His live sound production work includes theatre, dance, installations and music theatre productions. When freelancing he can be found mixing a diversity of music acts from rock n roll to avant-garde.
Lecturer
Luke is a well-renowned Producer, Engineer, and Mixer in the Australian scene. With over 9 years of experience working in-house at one of Australia’s highest-profile studios, Luke’s production style is extremely versatile, and is aimed at helping artists from all backgrounds realise and exceed their highest creative goals.
With a keen ear for detail, a strong passion for creativity and a devotion to pushing artists to achieve their best, Luke's outstanding and exciting brand of work has led him to credits that include A$AP Ferg, Sia, Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus, Airbourne, Jet, The Amity Affliction, The Butterfly Effect, Matt Corby, Katie Noonan, X Factor (TV), and many more.
Luke has also had the opportunity to work with and study under a variety of the worlds most legendary Producers, including Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Metallica), Bob Marlette (Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd), Forrester Savell (Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect) and Will Putney (Northlane, In Hearts Wake), among many others.
Lecturer
Sean Hutton is a multi-faceted creative arts industry professional. A highly capable performer, engineer and business consultant - Sean has worked and experienced almost all corners of the creative arts industry.
Sean has two decades of live performance experience; national/international touring, countless festivals and television. The last decade has been dedicated to audio engineering, producing and working in the tertiary education industry.
He has been awarded the "Musician of the Year" (NT), completed a Bachelor of Music and is currently completing his Masters of Business at RMIT.
Sean brings a wealth of professional and technical knowledge to any project he is involved with and is more than happy to be pulled aside for a chat, a laugh and to share some stories with anyone that will listen - especially with a caffeinated beverage in hand.
Lecturer
Steeve’s formative years were focused on classical music before transitioning, as a teenager, to the inevitable appeal of rock, alternative, pop
After studying physics at uni,
After many years producing, songwriting and engineering for other people, whilst working as a freelance sound mixer and sound designer for film and television, it has become clear that his skills and passion are best suited for the field of music composition for film and television. Writing music for
Head of Comedy
Renowned for her characterisations, Andrea has written and performed 14 comedies for theatre, for which she has received three Comedy Awards and one Green Room Awards nomination.
Her best-known character is Ethel Chop, but she has a suite of others in her repertoire and also performs stand-up and hosting roles as herself. Her book Strain Your Gherkins by Ethel Chop was published through Penguin (now an ebook) and she has many TV credits including The Panel, Kath and Kim, The Librarians, The Games, Whatever Happened To That Guy, Micaleff Tonight, Headliners, Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey, Judith Lucy Is All Woman, Please Like Me, Utopia, Get Krack'n, and The Edge of the Bush. She wrote and performed weekly radio spots as Ethel Chop on Triple J and Austereo’s Australia-wide network for over 13 years.
Andrea has taught comedy writing for television at RMIT University and mentored VCA script writing students through Melbourne University.
Lecturer
You may recognise Alexandra Aldrich from guest roles in Preacher Season 4 (Frontier Productions) and Nine Network’s True Story Season 2.
Since she completed her Bachelor of Dramatic Art: Acting at NIDA in 2012, she’s gained credits in a host of Australian and international productions. From Louis Nowra’s Cosi to an Edinburgh Fringe Festival season of White Whale Theatre’s Macbeth Rearisen to the lead role of The Widow in Rainbow Man (45 Downstairs) and Casca in Julius Caesar (Edinburgh Fringe/Adelaide Fringe), her work has been internationally recognised, earning nominations for the Green Room Award’s Best Actress.
While completing her Bachelor of Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne, Alexandra co-founded the Melbourne University Shakespeare Company to bring together contemporary productions of Shakespeare, Children Classics and other plays. She currently performs in Macbeth at Shakespeare in the Vines for Essential Theatre.
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Lecturer
Ben McKenzie is an actor, comedian, writer and game designer who describes himself as “a nerd for all seasons”. He has written and performed stand-up, sketch and impro comedy for over a decade. He has hosted and/or produced half a dozen podcasts, including the book club Pratchat, now in its fourth year. He has been a voice actor and narrator for video, apps and games, though he is best known for travelling through time and space with Jackie Woodburne (Susan from Neighbours) in the BBC radio series he co-created, Night Terrace. As well as Night Terrace, his writing includes educational video scripts, articles on science and pop culture, the virtual reality videogame Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown (Tin Man Games), and dozens of live games, including Pop Up Playground’s hit bank heist puzzle room Small Time Criminals. As well as teaching at Collarts, Ben is also a workshop facilitator for 100 Story Building, a creative writing centre for young people based in Footscray. His favourite dinosaur is Stegosaurus, and his favourite element is helium. He tweets at @McKenzie_Ben.
Lecturer
Bronwyn Pringle is a Melbourne/Naarm based Lighting Designer. She has worked around Australia with companies such as ArtPlay, NICA, Ilbijerri, MTC, Australian Theatre of the Deaf, Jolt Arts, Black Hole Theatre, Outback Theatre for Young People and more, working on projects ranging from large festivals to small developmental pieces in venues that include The Princess Theatre, a London West End Nightclub, a warehouse in Buenos Aires, the Federation Square air-conditioning ducts and a wool-shed in Glencoe, plus many more conventional and non-conventional theatre spaces.
She co-founded the company Making Space, to create opportunities for design driven, immersive works that engage in the tactile qualities of live experience, while prioritising a sustainable design. Her work also has a strong focus on art that engages with social justice.
Bronwyn received the 2020 Green Room Award for technical achievement, and has previously received Green Room Awards for alias Grace (Malthouse Theatre) and Letters from Animals (Here Theatre/SRWT) plus numerous nominations, and two Melbourne Fringe Festival Design Collaboration awards.
She holds a Masters in Design for Performance from the University of Melbourne.
Lecturer
Clare Bartholomew has been performing, writing and producing in Australia and globally for 17 years. Having been a clown doctor in children's wards for 15 years, she's perfectly poised to teach clown masterclasses, assisting in the training and development of clown doctors nationally. In 2014, Clare completed a three-week intensive course in Barcelona with the company of 20 other international clown doctors.
Clare's talent is also seen on stage, with credits as a co-producer of cabaret/comedy act Die Roten Punkte–a Berlin indie pop punk duo that has been on 18 international tours since 2006. Her work has received seven Green Room Award nominations and winner of Best Cabaret. Clare’s latest venture with Bouffon Group We3 resulted in The Long Pigs, which was presented by the Sydney Festival in 2015.
Lecturer
Since kickstarting his entertainment career as a baby on the TV show Prisoner, Declan Fay has cemented his name in Australian media. He comes with extensive experience as a Writer, Producer and Director, having written for Rove, Dirty Laundry Live, Problems, and You’re Skitting Me to name a few.
Well-versed in the radio world, Declan has worked at 3RRR’s Breakfasters as a co-host, podcast The Sweetest Plum as a host, alongside Triple J, and Triple M. You may have seen him on ABC’s evening program with Lindy Burns, or presenting Hawks TV on the Hawthorn Football Club website.
In 2015, Declan worked as series producer and head writer on the award-winning comedy Fancy Boy, and co-creator and co-writer on Ronny Chieng: International Student. He’s directed a number of successful stage shows, including Dave Thornton’s Different Kind of Normal, which sold out the Melbourne Comedy Festival and later toured to Edinburgh.
Lecturer
Laura Milke-Garner (MILKE) is an award-winning producer, mentor and active advocate for the arts in Australia. She has been producing events, shows and touring productions for over 20 years. In 2008, she established her own company MILKE to help artists produce their work, while also providing 1:1 mentorship, workshops and online courses for artists and producers looking to develop their artistic careers.
MILKE has creatively developed and produced work for Sydney Opera House, Sydney Festival, Arts Centre Melbourne, Darwin Festival, Brisbane Festival, Brisbane Power House, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Melbourne Fringe Festival and Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Venice Biennale and Edinburgh Fringe Festival to name a few.
Laura is a proud Board Member of the Perth International Cabaret Festival and Golden Gibbo Award (as part of Melbourne International Comedy Festival).
Lecturer
Maria is an award winning Australian Actress and Writer. Known for her starring role in Netflix series Sisters as well as major roles in Netflix series Stateless, starring and produced by Cate Blanchett, ABC’s Retrograde, Netflix's The InBestigators, ABC’s Other People’s Problems. She also appears in The Newsreader, My Life is Murder, Mr Black, How to Stay Married, sketch comedy Orange is the New Brown, Glitch, Get Krackin’, We Can be Heroes, New Gold Mountain and countless Australian film and TV over the years. On stage, Maria played the lead in the national tour and premiere of broadway comedy hit Bad Jews. Maria is popular on the voiceover circuit in Australian and US markets, voicing games including the Winter Queen in iconic World of Warcraft, audiobooks and animation. Maria is busy behind the lens too, she wrote and starred in her own award winning web series, Movement, which debuted at Tribeca Film Festival in New York. In 2019 she was the director’s attachment on the N.Y.C set of Awkwafina Nora from Queens - mentored by current Emmy nominated writer, director and producer Lucia Aniello. Maria is currently co-creating a series with Screen Australia support called UnbeWeavable.
Lecturer
Lecturer
A member of the 2019 Lincoln Center Theater Director’s Lab (New York City), Stephen’s achievements span across 12 Green Room Awards and a Sydney Theatre Award. Having directed for Melbourne Theatre Company, Arts Centre Melbourne and Yirramboi Festival, his works have been critically acclaimed and sold out nationally.
The theatre director Stephen Nicolazzo runs the Little Ones Theatre, an independent company that he founded in 2009, that’s focused on innovative queer theatre-making. Delivered by Nicolazzo and designers Eugyeene Teh, Katie Sfetkidis and Daniel Nixon, Little Ones Theatre produces bold, brash and energetic interpretations of queer classics that celebrate a highly theatrical aesthetic.
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Head of Entertainment Management
Chrissie started her career in the music industry in 1981 at Festival Records in Sydney. With over 39 years experience in the music and entertainment industry, Chrissie has worked with some of the biggest names in music—both in Australia and internationally (based in Los Angeles for 5 years at Virgin Records Worldwide)—including the Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, David Bowie, Sex Pistols, Smashing Pumpkins, Rod Stewart, and Australian artists and bands such as The Living End, Pete Murray, Don Walker, Jeff Lang, Tim Rogers, Tex Perkins —the list is endless.
Over the years, Chrissie has worked in various capacities including publicity, artist management, TV production, record promotion, radio promotion and music television at MTV in Australia and the US. In 1999 she took the opportunity to branch out on her own as an independent publicist establishing Chrissie Vincent Publicity & Management.
Over the past 17 years, Chrissie has worked on successful publicity campaigns for events such as Falls Festival, St Kilda Festival, St Kilda Film Festival, Pyramid Rock Festival, Boogie Festival, the Australasian Worldwide Music Expo and CD, and National Tour Campaigns for both local and international touring artists.
In January 2015, Chrissie accepted the position of Head of Entertainment Management at Collarts (Australian College of the Arts) where she is overseeing the Bachelor of Applied Business degree in Entertainment Management.
In November 2017, Chrissie was the first person to complete and be awarded a Masters Degree in International Music Business and submitted her thesis on Local content quotas on Australian commercial radio.
In November 2018, Chrissie presented her recommendations for change with regard to Local Content on Commercial radio to the Federal Parliament at the inquiry into the Australian Music Business. In April 2019, the Parliamentary Inquiry findings were released, using 3 of Chrissie’s key recommendations for change within the commercial radio/local content area. She has presented her research at several local and international conferences in 2019, is passionate about the industry and continues to push for changes to guarantee the music business is sustainable into the future.
In late 2019, Chrissie started FM/AM - Feature More Australian Music campaign to help bring awareness of the issue to the broader public with the support of many musicians and industry professionals including Michael Chugg, Pete Murray, Kram and many more.
Entertainment Management Coordinator
Jess Carroll is an educator, researcher and communications professional. She has worked within the entertainment industry with commercial clients, artists, independent labels, brands, not-for-profits, government and community organisations in communicating and presenting projects to the public.
Beginning her career as a music manager, Jess developed a global perspective through international export opportunities with her management roster. She then focused her attention on developing and promoting music, events and artists to the Australian public.
Across her 15 year career, Jess has worked with the Falls Festival, Mushroom Creative, Victorian Government, Music Victoria, Nandos, Melbourne French Theatre, CLIPPED Music Video Festival and on campaigns with a diverse selection of artists. Specialising in custom made strategies for events, brands and artists, Jess has succeeded in placing her artists on top-tier international and national publications.
She has a Masters of Teaching from the University of Melbourne and is completing research studying music exports and the cultural and creative economy of France. Jess is a member of Music & Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA), Music Victoria, Regional Arts Victoria and the Association of Artist Managers (AAM).
Lecturer
Bruce Butler has worked in numerous professions within the Australian Music Industry for almost four decades.
He began in music retail before moving to Sony as a promotions manager eventually leaving there to set up Virgin Records Australia as an independent label and worked as A&R Manager along with roles in promotion and marketing.
Leaving record labels, Bruce became Music Producer and Talent Co-Ordinator for two music programs on ABC-TV. During this time, he was also a founding board member of The Push and wrote the book ‘Young Players Guide’ aimed at musicians and entrepreneurs entering the local industry.
Post-ABC, Bruce managed a number of artists and started two independent labels, the first with Steve Kilbey of The Church and the second was Australia’s first electronic trance label Psy-Harmonics with Ollie Olsen.
In 2016 Bruce completed his Master of Art (Arts Management) Degree and has been teaching at Collarts ever since.
Lecturer
Jane has twenty years experience in the music industry and began her music career working on the tours of Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz and Led Zeppelin to name a few.
After stints at a recording studio and music management, she then went on to pursue her dream of working in A&R at Warner/Chappell Music UK where she stayed for eight years signing several multi-million selling artists as well as overseeing 50 songwriters and producers.
After her move to Australia nine years ago, she moved into Music Supervision and set up her own company, The SyncHouse. She has worked on over 100 commercials and promos as well as numerous TV shows and films and is passionate about the Entertainment Industry and being entrepreneurial. She has also completed a Masters in Teaching at Monash University.
Lecturer
Matt Walters is an artist and entrepreneur with over 15 years’ experience in the arts and entertainment industries
After spending his 20’s as a touring musician signed to Universal Music he launched Parlour Gigs - an event creation technology platform.
Since 2015, Parlour Gigs has facilitated over 2000 events worldwide with some of our most cherished artists and established itself as a major brand in live music. Parlour has also curated bespoke branded events for the likes of LVMH, Lion, CUB, Heineken and Hachette Books.
Matt is also the founder of Momento - a blockchain based platform that aims to help creatives build deeper connections with their fans via events.
Lecturer
Armed with an obsession with music and a Degree in Media (La Trobe University) Emily set about becoming a music writer early in her career, dedicating almost two years to copywriting and freelancing with various music and culture titles (including notable contributions to Robert Dimery's popular '1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die').
She shifted into a formal communications role in Shock Records' PR department in 2005, learning PR ropes in a fertile media environment and working with some of the best record labels of the era. Here she also worked closely with some transformative musicians including Billy Bragg, Mike Patton, Martha Wainwright, Bloc Party, Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Throughout this time she continued to write for various titles including JB Hi-Fi's Stack Magazine, providing monthly reviews published in print and distributed across thousands of stores Australia-wide.
In 2011, Emily joined Shock Records colleague Rebecca Reato in establishing independent PR agency Deathproof, which initially specialised in niche heavy music tours and releases (Soundwave Festival, The Smith Street Band, Bring Me The Horizon, City and Colour, Against Me!, Motley Crue, Smashing Pumpkins).
Eventually the company's scope expanded alongside evolving tastes and came to encompass community-focussed arts and music programs from Darebin, Port Phillip, Moreland, Yarra and Melbourne City Councils. Their music clients include some of Australia's finest talents including King Stingray, The Chats, The Peep Tempel, Parkway Drive, Northlane +The Chats. Deathproof's PR services have also expanded to encompass , marketing, events and content collaborations with venues (The Old Bar, Northcote Theatre, Reverence Hotel), comedians (Doug Stanhope, Rose Callaghan, Arj Barker), food and bev partners (Melbourne Bitter, Victoria Bitter, Goose Island), experiential theatre (Flight, Darkfield Radio), tech start-ups (Tixel), media titles (NME Australia, Lunch Lady Magazine) and fashion (Stance Socks).
Throughout Emily's 18 year career she's worked as a conference panelist and facilitator for a range of organisations including Big Sound, Face The Music, RMIT University and Music Victoria as well as being profiled in The Age, MX, Huffington Post, Tone Deaf + more. Emily began teaching as a sessional lecturer for Collarts in 2021.
Lecturer
Dave has more than 25 years experience working in the Australian and international entertainment and travel industries with senior roles in sales, marketing and general management with companies including Universal Music, Warner Music, Festival Mushroom Records and Flight Centre.
Dave currently works as a sessional lecturer for Collarts, Swinburne University and The University of Adelaide (MBA program) specialising in marketing, management and organisational behaviour. Dave earned a Master of Business Administration (Executive), Graduate Diploma of Business Leadership and Graduate Certificate of Marketing from RMIT and is a member of the Music & Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA), Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) & Music Victoria.
Lecturer
Moira McKenzie is a Melbourne based lawyer specialising in music, entertainment and intellectual property law. Having worked for over ten years at Sanicki Lawyers, Moira founded her own law firm Moira McKenzie Legal in 2021 to focus on providing expert legal services for the arts and entertainment industries.
A musician herself, prior to pursuing law Moira completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Music at Southern Cross University in Northern NSW. While completing her studies Moira worked for independent record label/distributor Vitamin Records and for Mullum Music Festival. These work experiences taught her about different aspects of the music industry and informed her passion for working in music.
In 2011 she joined boutique law firm Sanicki Lawyers, under the mentorship of Darren Sanicki, becoming Senior Associate in 2016. While at Sanicki Lawyers, Moira gained valuable experience working with a broad range of commercial and entertainment clients.
She has advised some of Australia’s best-known artists, managers, indie labels, producers, venues, promoters, music festivals, ticketing providers, start-ups, fashion and footwear brands, models, game and app developers, print media, visual artists and authors.
Over the years Moira has lectured in music business and copyright law at JMC, RMIT & NMIT and Collarts.
In the past Moira has served on the Boards youth music not for profit organisation, The Push and Music Victoria.
Lecturer
After a number of years in the music industry, in 1999 Susan began working in London based PAMRA/PPL as Royalty Accounts Manager, securing income for PJ Harvey, Muse, Crowded House whilst developing relationships with the societies around the globe. When PAMRA was absorbed by PPL, Susan established International Royalties Rescue (IRR) in London, signing Beyoncé, Radiohead, Rihanna and many more. Susan is indisputably one of the world’s most experienced people in neighbouring rights.
Lecturer
Growing up in Central Queensland Laura found a love for music at a young age, studying classical piano from the age of 6. Laura continued her studies of music later attending SAE (School of Audio Engineering) whilst completing her Bachelor of International Hotel Resort Management at Bond. Upon completing her Bachelors Laura found that her love of music outweighed her interest in Hotel Management and she relocated to Melbourne to pursue a career in PR. During this time she completed her Masters of Communication at RMIT whilst working for raraPR, interning for the booking agency Hub Artists and starting her pop-culture blog Semplesize. Semplesize quickly grew to have over 30 contributors Australia wide and covering some of the largest festivals and artists across the country.
In 2013 she began working for social media agency Get Glossy, which was her first real introduction to how social media could be used as a powerful marketing tool. Later leaving the agency to work for Viceroyalty as a music publicist, later also began working for Wondercore Island, This Much Talent and Handsome Tours across PR, booking and digital marketing. Laura then used skills she had learnt throughout this time to go out on her own as Hunger Digital, focusing more on the digital marketing side Laura has worked hard to help music artists harness the power of both social media and PR to create meaningful conversations with their audience with a focus on sustaining a presence outside a release cycle.
Today Laura manages local Melbourne artists Dirty Versachi, LOUV and Mo•Louie and has worked on PR campaigns for Indiana Williams, Rya Park + more. She also makes up one-fourth of the event collective Fem Fantasy - a group that work to make inclusive events focused towards the queer community.
Lecturer
Penny Weber is a music business entrepreneur who has run businesses ranging from music industry recruitment agencies to artist management. Penny’s management business has looked after the careers of: True Live, The Raah Project, Paris Wells, Josh Abrahams, Describe Eliza, Quadraphonic, The Grand Silent System (Shock), The Sound Movement, Virtue, Offcutts (Rubber), Lindsay Gravina (producer at Birdland Studios), Irwin Thomas (Jack Jones) to name a few. She has also worked in music licensing and film.
Penny has created, facilitated and run local and national education programs, conferences, forums, workshops, masterclasses and online seminars on business practice within the music industry. She has worked as the Professional Development Manager of a Music Industry Advisory body and as the director of the Digital Entertainment Program Plug In Summit and recruitment agency Cover Your Artz.
Penny has contributed to the film, music, digital and education industries as an artist manager and arts administrator for the music business sector. Her roles have varied from working with film composers (Cezary Skubiszewski), record companies (Standard Records RCM International/Standard Music Publishing), industry associations, artists (Jam Packed Entertainment), Venue Bookers (Indie Initiative at Metro Nightclub) and music producers (Lindsay Gravina of Birdland Studios). Her experience in film has been as a producer/ music supervisor for independent production company, Truncated Pictures on the film Verite – taking it to Cannes Film Festival in 2007.
She has a Bachelor of Performing Arts from Monash University, Masters in Business Administration (Executive) and Masters of Commerce from RMIT.
Head of Music Performance
Jesse Hooper leads the Music team, taking Songwriting Master Class, Ensemble, and Collaborative Performance.
Jesse is four-time ARIA-award-winning songwriter and performer. Best known for founding the music groups Killing Heidi and The Verses, he is a multi-skilled writer, producer, performer and mentor.
As a hit songwriter, Jesse has achieved critical and commercial success internationally. In 2001 he won the prestigious Australasian Performing Rights Association Song Writer of the Year award and has written eight top 20 hit singles including #1 singles and albums.
As a guitarist, he has performed in major music festivals in Australia and abroad including main stage Big Day Out, Falls Festival, and Livid to name a few. Jesse has toured with some of the biggest acts in the world including Fleetwood Mac, Counting Crows, INXS and Midnight Oil.
In the studio, Jesse has collaborated and worked with iconic producers including Mark Opitz (INXS, AC/CD, The Divinyls), Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, The Pretenders) and John Travis (Kid Rock, Social Distortion, Buck Cherry).
Throughout his career Jesse has worked closely with the biggest and most powerful record companies, managers, and booking agents in the entertainment industry and maintains unique relationships with stakeholders across the mainstream and independent music sectors. Jesse has run successful touring and recording companies and is able to help artists holistically approach their branding and creative side with astute business acumen.
He also is working on a series of multicultural collaborations featuring refugee hip hop act FLYBZ, Paul Kelly, Waleed Aly, Pataphysics and indigenous artists Dan Sultan and Kutcha Edwards. This work is partnering with key community arts organizations The Artful Dodgers Studios and Multicultural Arts Victoria.
Jesse is passionate about helping share his world-class connections, knowledge and skills with emerging artists through his teaching and course design at Collarts.
Music Performance Coordinator
Brett is an accomplished composer, guitarist and producer from Melbourne. He graduated from NMIT with a Diploma of Jazz and Popular Music in 2000 before being accepted into The Victorian College of the Arts where he completed a Bachelor of Music (Improvisation) in 2004.
Working professionally since 1998 he has composed, recorded and performed with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Dan Sultan, The Verses (Ella Hooper), Paris Wells, The Hello Morning, Spender and many more. He has also supported Jimmy Barnes, Casey Chambers, Counting Crows (USA) and Fleetwood Mac on their 2009 Australian tour.
In 2009 Brett formed his own group, Magic Mountain Band who released their debut EP, Over an Ocean Away, in early 2010. The compositions from this first offering went on to be widely used in short films, television and documentaries, while the band has become a must-see live act in Melbourne.
In Feb 2014, Magic Mountain Band released their long-awaited debut album WILDERMAN to critical acclaim. Since then, the band has sold out multiple shows around Melbourne and gathered considerable support both nationally and internationally, culminating in their recent invitation to support American drone rock legends Earth on their recent Australian tour.
Music Performance Coordinator
Larissa Agosti is a composer, educator and multi-instrumentalist. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music as well as a Diploma of Education in Sydney before moving to Melbourne. Larissa has worked in various schools as an educator, and became the Head of Instrumental Music at University High School before moving overseas to work with one of Canada’s premier orchestras, Edmonton Symphony. Larissa helped to develop music programs for the community, and also toured extensively through the United States with different musical projects.
Her work has been featured in TV commercials, films, and she has released an album as well as various singles under the performance name 'Gosti'. Larissa's song Nostalgia on My Right Shoulder was chosen for the Australian feature film Torn Devotion.
She composed music for the Australian feature film Harmony directed by Corey Pearson, released in 2018. Larissa was a recipient of the APRA AMCOS female composer mentoring program, which gave her the opportunity to work with award-winning TV Composer Jay Stewart. Since then, Larissa has written music for The Block, and other TV shows on Channel 7, Channel 9 and ABC. More recently, Larissa was awarded the Johnny Dennis Award through the Australian Guild of Screen Composers.
Academic Program Coordinator (Music)
Phil Bywater is one of the finest saxophonists in Australia; an exciting and dynamic performer. His experience is diverse, encompassing rock, afrobeat, funk, reggae, world music, jazz, free improv, and contemporary classical music. He has toured Australia, the United States, Europe, the South Pacific and South East Asia, and played countless Australian music festivals (Big Day Out, AWME, Byron Bay, Blues and Roots, MONAFOMA, Woodford, Apollo Bay, Queenscliff, St Kilda, Meredith, Fairbridge, Port Fairy, Yalukit Willam Ngargee, Dreaming at the G, Melbourne Indigenous Arts, Brunswick, Wangarratta Jazz and Blues, National Folk) as well as International Arts Festivals in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, and New Zealand.
Phil has released three independent CDs and appeared on dozens of other recordings as a band member or featured guest. He has performed extensively on radio and television (Rove Live, Spicks and Specks, Alive and Kicking, Denise), performed on TV and movie soundtracks including Crackerjack, Boytown and Judith Lucy’s All Woman and performed and recorded with an array of Australia’s finest musicians.
Phil was a key member of the board of the Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival from 2005–2009, and was a curator and publicist for the Make It Up Club improvised music series 2004–2007. He has been active in both secondary and tertiary education since 1989, lecturing at VCA, AIM and JMC Academy.
Phil holds a Masters in Music (VCA), Graduate Diploma in Education (Melbourne University), and a Bachelor of Music (VCA), and has been an APRA member since 1993.
Lecturer
Adam is a drummer and percussionist with a keen interest in challenging the possibilities of rhythm, drawing inspiration from musical cultures that have deep rhythmic traditions.
As a percussionist he has studied Balinese Gamelan extensively and has performed professionally with many of Bali’s most renowned musicians, composers and orchestras. As a drummer Adam has performed and toured internationally with many different ensembles, including the Australian Art Orchestra, of which he is a current collaborator.
In 2012 Adam was invited to perform in India as part of the collaboration between the Australian Art Orchestra and a leading South Indian group, Sruthi Laya, lead by mridangam maestro Guru Karaikudi R Mani. Adam’s performance with this group in Brisbane earned them the 2013 APRA Performance of the Year.
Adam has also performed, recorded with Labjacd (Latin Hip-hop group), The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra (large Afro-beat ensemble), Umlaut (lead by Mr Bungle’s Bar McKinnon), Maya Hasan (Indonesian Harpist) and Hiatus Kaiyote (2014 album release).
Lecturer
Adam is a pianist and composer, originally from a jazz background, who has an interest in exploring the synthesis of jazz, funk, and more experimental music styles.
Adam has studied jazz piano with Steve and Bob Sedergreen, as well as Mark Soskin (Sonny Rollins), Laurence Hobgood (Kurt Elling) and Andy Milne (5 Elements, Dapp Theory). In 2003 Adam also received an advanced diploma of Music Performance from NMIT.
Adam’s major projects include his jazz trio, and the cinematic future-soul project Neon Bogart and the Minneapolis-style, jazz-fusion group Lake Minnetonka. Adam’s music also saw him tour across the UK, Europe and the USA in 2011.
For the past five years Adam has presented the jazz show Black Wax every Monday on Melbourne’s PBS 106.7FM. He has also worked as the musical director of Etta James tribute show, Heart of a Woman, and was musical director for A Soul Séance.
In 2014 he performed Game of Themes at the Melbourne Fringe, a one-hour solo piano concert of science fiction and fantasy TV and movie themes.
Lecturer
Melodic architect and soulful crooner Ainslie Wills has been writing and performing her brand of progressive pop within Australia since 2007, when she was unearthed by Triple J not long after finishing her Bachelor of Music Performance degree at the Victorian College of the Arts.
Her 2013 album, You Go Your Way, I’ll Go Mine was nominated for the Melbourne Music and Australian Music prizes and has received ongoing critical acclaim. Rolling Stone claimed it “a beguiling debut” and Dom Alessio from Triple J described it as “A dark, moody and self-assured first record.” Her most recent offering Oh The Gold was featured on BBC6, ABC Radio National, PBS 106.7, RRR and Bandcamp Weekly. The first single off the album, Drive, was added to full rotation on Triple J.
Over the last 10 years, Ainslie has been lucky enough to perform alongside the likes of Leon Bridges, Hiatus Kaiyote, Lianne La Havas, Missy Higgins, Bernard Fanning, John Butler, Clare Bowditch and Michael Kiwanuka. More recently, Ainslie teamed up with Tom Iansek of Big Scary and #1 Dads fame to co-write the single So Soldier on the AIR nominated album About Face.
In addition to writing and performing Ainslie has worked as a vocal coach and music industry mentor for the past 12 years and loves to share and exchange information with like-minded, passionate music lovers.
Lecturer
Angela's passion for performing live earned her a spot on backing vocals with the talents of Vanessa Amorosi, Ross Wilson, Renee Gayer, Kate Ceberano, Marcia Hines, Thelma Houston, Jimmy Barnes, Brian Cadd, Eric Benet, Jess Mauboy and most recently Hugh Jackman. She also had the privilege of performing for Sir Richard Branson.
As well, she has worked extensively overseas as the lead for various corporate functions all around Australia, Italy, Fiji, Borneo, Hong Kong, Tai Pei, Shanghai, Hawaii, Bali and Kuala Lumpur. Performing live is a passion, but Angela also lends her vocal prowess to radio and television advertisements and albums.
But Angela can certainly stand on her own as an acclaimed singer. A fan of the iconic women of soul including Eryka Badu, Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill, Mary J Blige and male icons including Prince and Stevie Wonder, Angela has developed her own unique style of singing described as neo soul, RnB with an infusion of jazz.
This is by far her most passionate repertoire and Angela knows hows to get a crowd of music lovers up on their feet. For the past 12 years, Angela and her band Afrodescia have performed to an excitable crowd of fans, entertaining them with their strong soulful sounds. So much so that band members from James Brown and Alicia Keys bands have come down to jam with the group. To top this off, in January 2013, Afrodescia were asked to open for the legendary Chaka Khan at her one and only performance in Melbourne at The Plenary. Performing to a sell out crowd for over an hour, Angela said, “Performing as a support act for Chaka Khan was surreal. One of the biggest highlights of my career it cemented our band as one of the best in the business.”
With such a talented and powerful voice and vast industry connections, it’s only natural for Angela to want to help others. For the past 15 years she has been a teacher and vocal coach for a range of students from teenagers to adults. Many are already established singers who need Angela’s help with voice and technique. She says, “I’m really passionate about teaching and have recently taken a position at Collarts University which allows me to share my experiences and knowledge to young singers who want to start in the industry.”
Two years ago Angela decided it was time to further her knowledge of the industry with some further study. She enrolled in a Masters of Arts (Arts management) at RMIT and graduated with distinction.
With such an impressive background in the live music industry, Angela has defied all odds and has one of the hardest and longest working careers in the music industry. Her commitment to performing, her art, her band and her family just keeps her going and wanting more. The next step is an original album currently in the making. “I’m so privileged to have worked with some of the most amazing musicians and have learnt so much that I’m inspired to create my own original music,” she says. “It’s time I expressed myself and my experiences through song and hope that I can put a smile on peoples faces when they listen to my music.”
Lecturer
Belinda is an improvising musician/composer living in Melbourne, Australia. A recent PhD graduate of the VCA, Belinda was awarded a Creative Victoria Scholarship for excellence in 2015, was a recipient of an APA from 2011-2013 and a finalist in the 2011 APRA Professional Development Awards. Artistic director of the Make It Up Club from 1993 – 2007, and Project Manager for the Click Clack Project and Jolt Arts 2010-16, Belinda has played a significant role in supporting and enhancing the development of the Melbourne music scene.
Predominantly a flautist, Belinda performs as a soloist and appears in many ensembles including her own groups Lo-Res (six piece chamber jazz) and Saveja (flute and harp duo), Tim Pledger’s Bohjass – of which Belinda has been a member for 20 years, and the BOLT Ensemble – dedicated to performing the music of composer Dr. James Hullick. As a soloist Belinda has developed an array of extended techniques which she utilises in performances as an improviser and an interpreter of music. She has been invited to perform in Festivals across Australia, Japan and Europe as well as independently curated events across Australia. Belinda’s work as a session musician has seen her record with many outstanding artists of various genres including pop legend Cat Power, songwriters Ned Collette and Martin Mackerras, composers Kate Neal, James Hullick and Tim pledger as well as sound artists Philip Brophy and Graeme Croft.
Belinda explores the use of texture and contour within her compositions and improvisations to paint scenes of rich complexity, focusing on the acoustic nature of her instrument. Belinda also extends her abilities towards the composed music of the 20th and 21st centuries, the structure and innovation of which she draws into her own improvising and composition.
Lecturer
Clio Renner is a Melbourne born pianist, vocalist and songwriter. Renowned as the go-to keyboardist and session vocalist for a roll-call of Australian rock royalty including Angus and Julia Stone, Deborah Conway, Tim Rogers, Bob Evans, Alex Lahey, Killing Heidi, Olympia and Do Re Mi, Renner has been a fixture of SBS TV’s much-loved music show ‘Rockwiz’ houseband, and featured in the esteemed ‘Countdown’ band at the Sydney Opera House for the ABC’s 2017 and 2018 New Year’s Eve concert broadcast.
Clio was appointed Musical Director for ‘Her Sound, Her Story’ concert in 2016, which later evolved into a “comprehensive and captivating documentary”. Her directing role continued into 2017 when she was appointed MD for The Age Music Victoria Awards house band.
Clio teamed up with Melbourne’s Ella Thompson (Bamboos, GL) and Becky Sui Zhen (Sui Zhen, No Zu) in 2017 to premiere a collaborative work, Like Running Water, for Melbourne Festival. The performance explored feminity and the complex nature of water.
In 2018, Clio finally emerged as a solo artist, with the release of her first EP ‘Something Left to Leave Behind’. The record received a 4-star rating from Forte magazine, and she was subsequently named indie artist of the week by the Australian Independent Record Labels Association. ‘Something to Leave Behind’ was a triumphant statement from a woman growing in confidence in her own skin and relishing the realisation of her creative power.
Lecturer
Dallas is the namesake front-woman of the award-winning Australian rock outfit, Dallas Frasca. A stand-out of her class and an almighty presence on the mic. Frasca has not stopped for over a decade. She’s toured the world, clocking over 1000 shows with her band including 9 international tours and has managed to put a Top 30 Australian ARIA charting album under her belt, a #10 Aus album as well as many awards including ‘Artist of the year’ at the Independent Music Awards.
2018 saw frontwoman Dallas Frasca a finalist for the inaugural Australian Women in Music Awards in the ‘Artistic Excellence’ category and in April 2018, showed off her guitar skills to an estimated 1.5 billion viewers for the closing ceremony in the first-ever all-female band to play a sporting event in Australia for the Commonwealth Games held at the Gold Coast, Australia.
Her song, ‘All My Love’ finished 3rd in the International Songwriting Competition (ISC - over 16,000 entries) which landed her band to sign with French label, Verycords.
On the tour circuit, Dallas Frasca has rocked the world for more than a decade, supporting the likes of Ugly Kid Joe, Patti Smith, Aerosmith and Van Halen, and once fronting legendary Aussie rock band Midnight Oil in support of Amnesty International.
Her time is spent between Melbourne, touring with the band and working in the Northern Territory with indigenous women from remote communities wanting to engage with music.
Dallas is also the spearhead for the world-first concept, A Hitch To The Sticks Festival where she takes the audience on the road with her across regional areas in Australia.
Lecturer
Hailey Cramer works with our Music Performance students, teaching vocals.
Hailey featured on the smash hit collaboration ‘Summer Days’ with rapper Pez, knocked audiences out performing with the likes of Michael Franti, 360 and Blue King Brown, all the while exploring and refining her own sound.
Hailey’s interest in music sprouted at a very young age. Infatuated with old school vocalists from her father’s vinyl collection, she developed a hobby of making mix-tapes to send to her grandmother in Sri Lanka singing all her favourite songs and splicing in messages from her family as interludes. In these early stages as an audio documentarian, Hailey learnt how to reach out and connect through song.
Ten years later, with an established reputation for her vocal talents and tireless work ethic, Hailey was welcomed into the fold of illustrious roots music giants Blue King Brown. Through extensive touring to the US, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean playing a massive array of national and international festivals, Hailey has performed alongside the likes of Santana, Silverchair, Powderfinger, Ben Harper and The Black Eyed Peas. Throughout Blue King Brown’s hectic touring schedule, Hailey has seized every opportunity to develop. From attending industry forums at Austin Texas’ prestigious SXSW festival to performing onstage with Michael Franti to spending time in the studio with Jamaican producer royalty Bonsai, Hailey makes the most of her surroundings to expand her experience and develop her creativity.
Back in Australia, her 2008 collaboration with rapper Pez both as a co-writer and performer elevated Hailey’s career to new heights. The smash hit The Festival Song gathered a national following, coming in at number 7 in Triple J’s Hottest 100, number 1 on the AIR 100% Indie Singles chart and number 11 on the ARIA Australian Singles chart. Since then, she has toured extensively with Pez and also lent her vocal prowess to hip hop contemporaries 360 on his chart topping album Falling and flying and Mantra’s Speaking Volumes album.
Shaped by a wealth of performance experiences over and spurred on by encouragement from the artists she has been working with and supporting, Hailey was inspired to realise the contents of her own songbook, define her own voice and seek out potential collaborators for her latest and most exciting creative stage – Hailey Cramer the solo artist.
Working alongside Melbourne-based producer Dan West Hayley has released her debut EP. the duo has sculpted a remarkable sonic landscape in which Hailey’s soulful vocal prowess is supported by a minimal yet funky accompaniment. Vintage analogue synthesizers, percussive sounds sourced from the body and everyday objects and noise making toys gleaned from local flea markets all combine to celebrate the nuance and humanness of a live performance in an electronic music context.
Welcome to the sonic world of Hailey Cramer, where story becomes song, electronics become humanized and where trash is sometimes treasure.
Lecturer
Josh Jones works with our Music Performance students, teaching Bass Guitar and Instrumental Master Class.
From a young age Josh knew all he wanted to do was play music. As a child there was always music around the house, whether it was his dad playing keyboard or his mum playing her favourite Carol King record.
After two years of trumpet in primary school Josh made the change to bass and never looked back. He went on to complete his degree in Music Performance at Box Hill Tafe and built himself as an established musician recording and touring nationally/internationally with Dan Sultan and Gossling. His musical adventures have seen him record in Nashville with Grammy-award-winning producer Jacquire King as well as share the stage alongside Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Missy Higgins and also members of the Jools Holland Band.
In 2009 Josh recorded on Dan Sultan’s second studio album, Get Out While You Can, which won an ARIA Award in 2010 for Best Blues and Roots Record and also won two Deadly and AIR Awards. Since then Josh has toured America, the United Kingdom and China as well as played at some of Australia’s biggest music festivals such as Big Day Out, Splendor in the Grass, Falls Festival and Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival to name a few.
Joshua is endorsed by Aguilar Amplification and his latest work can be heard on Blackbird by Dan Sultan and Harvest of Gold by Gossling.
Lecturer
Karishma Sadhai has been performing since age four at various charity events for UNICEF in Melbourne. She was frequently involved in singing at public events throughout her childhood and was part of the choir that sang at Olympic Park for the Freedom Day Celebrations when Nelson Mandela was released from prison. Recognized as a natural talent, she first sang the South African National Anthem at the MCG at age 12 and again several times at Etihad Stadium for the South African cricket team.
She began studying a Bachelor of Music Performance – Jazz Improvisation at the Victorian College of the Arts at age 17, at which time she formed her own band and played corporate events, as well as several residencies at iconic Melbourne venues. Looking to expand her horizons, she moved to Ireland, where she toured around county Cork with a jazz trio and performed on national television with Susan McFadden (sister of Brian McFadden) and Michael Leonard who represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Since then she has recorded guest vocals on The Cat Empire’s Aria-Award-ward winning album, The Sun, as well as performing featured vocals on two studio albums for Aria-nominated Melbourne band Jackson Jackson and backup vocals with Dan Sultan for the critically acclaimed Maurice Frawley tribute album Long Gone Whistle. Several hip-hop records have benefited from her vocals, including Illy’s Pictures, which was in the JJJ’s Hottest 100, and Phrase’s critically-acclaimed album Clockwork. She also co-wrote and recorded Shining Bright, which was the theme song for the Delta Goodrem movie Hating Alison Ashley. Karishma has recorded her own original material with Jan Skubiszewski (Way of The Eagle) at Sing Sing Studios, which featured Daniel Merriweather and Harry Angus.
Karishma has toured all over Australia playing most major festivals including Byron Bay Blues & Roots Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival, St. Kilda Festival and also performed with Marva Whitney (backing singer for James Brown) at Falls Festival. She co-founded the Jayka Academy of Music, where she has drawn focus to providing students the opportunity to perform at big community events. In 2013 and 2014 students performed at the Summersault Festival main stage and were selected as the choir for the Melton Carols by Candlelight where they performed with a 30-piece brass band and backed singer Kane Alexander.
Karishma is a passionate and driven vocal teacher, who loves being surrounded by music and has been dedicated to music education for over 12 years.
Lecturer
Katie Wighton is one quarter of ARIA-award winning folk outfit All Our Exes Live in Texas. All Our Exes Live in Texas has gained a wide and loyal audience, touring with a range of diverse international artists including The Backstreet Boys (USA), Passenger (UK), Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats (USA), St Paul & The Broken Bones (USA) and Marlon Williams (NZ). Not to mention Australian icons Midnight Oil, Megan Washington and Kate Miller-Heidke. They also provided backing vocals on Kesha’s multi-platinum selling comeback single “Praying” and hosted ABC TV’s Rage in 2016.
Wighton has written and worked with a huge range of international songwriters and producers including Jake Sinclair (LA - Panic! At The Disco, Taylor Swift, Pink), Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas), Marc Orrell (Dropkick Murphys), Tony Buchen (The Preachers, Courtney Barnett), Jenny Owens-Young (LA - Panic! At The Disco) and Henry Wagons (Wagons). She is currently working on a solo project called KIT which is being co-produced by Dave Symes (Boy and Bear) and James Seymour (Feelds). She plays in Feelds and Hannah Blackburn's band.
2018 saw Katie inducted as an APRA ambassador which entailed carrying out advocacy work in Canberra, Hobart and Sydney. She spoke at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the music industry and met with several key politicians to address the sustainability of being a working musician in Australia. She continues to work with APRA as part of their Songmakers Program in Tasmania as well as other advocacy work in her role as ambassador. Katie is also a mentor with YoWo. She loves teaching young people and is stoked to be part of the Collarts family.
Lecturer
Keppie Coutts is a performing singer-songwriter and passionate educator. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music in 2007, Keppie was hand-picked as one of 12 young songwriters to spend a week with John Mayer in 2008, resulting in her song, ‘Waiting for the Avalanche’ being produced by Mayer in the studio.
Shortly after, Keppie was invited to sit on the Songwriting Faculty at Berklee, and since returning to her native Australia, has held teaching positions at the Sydney Conservatorium, Berklee Online, the Australian Institute of Music, and the JMC Academy. As a professional songwriter, Keppie works in collaboration with many artists in Australia and abroad—from Indie bluegrass Canadians, to major label pop acts, and even heavy metal artists.
She is thrilled to now join the ranks at Collarts and is excited to bring her technical and theoretical knowledge of music and songwriting with a love and sensitivity for contemporary songwriting, diverse styles, and a desire to help songwriters clarify and communicate their unique voice.
Lecturer
Lena’s musical experience covers much ground; growing up playing trumpet in The Cactus Channel, playing piano in contemporary jazz ensemble Lazercatz 2000, keys in electro-pop outfit Tetrahedra and vocals in art-rock eight-piece Tulalah.
She has toured Australia with Killing Heidi, No Zu, Bec Sandridge and Ryan Downey and plays in Melbourne with SPIRE Ensemble and Dance Party. She is the co-founder and artistic director of YoWo Music, a contemporary music program for young women and GNC teens in high school which aims to contribute towards gender equality in the music scene, and is a passionate music educator.
“Lena’s star is rising so fast due to her incredible work ethic and prodigious talent. She is truly one of the most impressive musicians and people I’ve had the pleasure of working with” - Ella Hooper (Killing Heidi)
Alumni Support
Since graduating from the Collarts Music Performance degree in 2016, Louis has built a career as a session musician, establishing himself as a versatile drummer in Melbourne and surrounding areas.
With 10 years experience in the music industry, Louis has performed and recorded with many national and international artists/bands, including several Australian tours and high profile shows. He is also actively involved in the Australian corporate music scene, regularly playing Victorian and interstate functions and weddings with a range of corporate acts.
Beyond this, Louis teaches drums at music schools and hosts a series of drumming workshops throughout Melbourne.
Lecturer
A jazz singer in a former life, Melbourne songbird and storyteller Mezz Coleman finally found her home in the folk music world, and with her ukulele in hand has spent the last decade performing her unique blend of dreamy folk pop at festivals and venues around Australia.
Whether playing solo or with her full band, Mezz always manages to create an intimacy with her audience. Her passionate vocal delivery, poignant yet down to earth lyrics, and relaxed banter between songs very quickly breaks down the barrier between performer and audience. With four independent releases under her belt and over a decade of shows in some of Australia’s top venues and festivals all across the country, Mezz is currently working on a fresh batch of songs to share with the world soon.
While working as an original artist will always be Mezz’s greatest love, she has also had the incredible privilege of working as a backing vocalist and session singer for artists such as Nana Mouskouri, Marcia Hines, Barry Humphries, Gary Pinto, Delta Goodrem, Anthony Callea, Brian McFadden, John Foreman, The Melbourne Gospel Choir and more. She has performed at many events including the Channel 9 Carols by Candelight, MCG Grand Final, Dancing with the Stars and Good Friday Appeal Gala.
Mezz is also a passionate educator and works extensively around Melbourne as a vocal coach.
Lecturer
Rebecca received her undergraduate degree from the Victorian College of Arts as an improvising pianist and later, completed a Master of Music (Contemporary Practice) where a combination of research and collaboration with other sound artists resulted in a recording entitled Momentum: Sound Stories – based on a study on deep listening and observations of reoccurring themes in the local community.
Alongside over 20 years of experience in music education, Rebecca plays across various genres, in live performance settings and as a session recording musician. Rebecca has also directed and arranged music for choir and theatre. She currently enjoys sound-making and listening and sharing her knowledge with music students.
Lecturer
Reuben Lewis’s practice is both singular and eclectic. As an award-winning composer and producer he has refined a diverse electro-acoustic language, devised through trumpet with extended techniques and preparations alongside live analogue processing with pedals and samplers, that is as much at home in a beer-stained nightclub as it is on a hilltop in Malaysia surrounded by dancers and bull-trance shamans. Reuben considers improvisation to be at the core of his artistic practice, both as a vehicle for meaningful collaboration that transcends stylistic or disciplinary boundaries as well as a fundamental philosophy behind making new work.
Reuben has become widely known for his strong artistic vision and ability to bring people together. The first studio album with his ensemble I Hold the Lion’s Paw (IHTLP), titled Abstract Playgrounds, was released through Earshift Music (AU) and gained international acclaim – including a glowing review in ‘The Wire’ magazine and a nomination for the Best Australian Jazz Ensemble at the Bell Awards. Subsequently, he produced a successful Australian tour with high profile performances at the SIMA Jazz Series and Wangaratta Jazz Festival in 2018. His latest album with IHTLP, titled Lost in Place, was released in 2021 with a glowing feature in ‘beat.com.au’ and an album launch at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. His debut solo record, titled The House is Empty, was released in 2022 on the esteemed ambient label Shimmering Moods (NL).
Lecturer
Saxophonist Savannah Blount graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts [Improvisation Stream] and also has a Masters in Music [Contemporary Practice]. Savannah has regularly performed both locally and internationally in a wide variety of genres including jazz, pop, rock and hip hop.
Savannah works and tours in both the corporate and independent music sectors and has performed with artists including Don Burrows, James Morrison, Kevin Hunt, Bob Sedergreen, Deborah Conway, Architecture in Helsinki, David Campbell, Rhonda Burchmore, Wilbur Wilde, Gil Asky, Ninna Ferro, Carl Cox, Kate Miller Heidke, Tim Rogers, Kate Cebrano, Tex Perkins, Steve Kilby, Harry Angus, Mojo JuJu, Thando, Clare Bowditch, Jen Cloher, Melbourne Women’s Jazz Festival Sextet, Gian Slater, Andrea Keller, Tony Haynes Grand Union Orchestra [UK], Oliver Mann [Opera Victoria], Jo Sehee [USA], SPIRE Ensemble, Masta Ace [US], Megan Washington and Vince Jones.
Lecturer
Stevic MacKay is a Melbourne-based guitarist, producer, songwriter, author, clinician, video-director, university lecturer and entrepreneur with an impressive and diverse track record.
As guitarist and founder of Twelve Foot Ninja, he has pushed the boundaries of alternative rock music. He and his bandmates won the Revolver Golden Gods Award for ‘Best New Talent 2014’, garnering a reputation for demolishing international stages with undeniable force, blowing away audiences at US festivals including Rock On The Range, Carolina Rebellion, and Germany’s Euroblast.
Prior to forming Twelve Foot Ninja, MacKay was in high demand as a young session guitarist, playing on records produced by some of music’s big-name producers such as Eliot Kennedy (Brian Adams, Spice Girls, Take That) and Billy Mann (P!nk, John Legend, Sting). MacKay also wrote two guitar instructional books published by Hinkler Books entitled Simply Guitar and Lead Guitar, which have now sold over 1.3 million copies worldwide, making the guitarist one of Australia’s most successful authors of guitar tuition products.
Lecturer
For his 5th birthday, Tim’s grandmother got him a ukulele so that her kitchen utensils would stop going missing. Since then, a passion for the guitar and music in general has directed his life. Early childhood classical piano lessons didn’t work out well, but a great high school music teacher taught him the value of using students’ passion for music to guide and inspire them. Tim started teaching in 1994 at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium, assisting Diploma students understand theoretical concepts. He continued teaching whilst establishing himself as a working guitarist around Northern NSW and Brisbane. He has played hundreds of gigs as a guitarist and solo artist, mastering pop, rock and heavy metal styles. Tim is also a competent screen composer, art-music composer and singer-songwriter, producing an EP and two independent albums.
Head of Music Production
As well as being the head of Music Production at Collarts, Tommy Rando is a chart-topping Australian performer, producer, singer-songwriter and composer. Tommy’s unique voice and impressive guitar skills have seen him work alongside some of Australia’s best and the finest international acts.
Tommy’s early education came from a scholarship grant to study at the National Guitar Summer Workshop New York USA, where he studied with Jazz virtuoso John Scofield, Robben Ford, Lenny Stern and Ernie Jackson (James Brown).
Tommy has also been accepted globally, having toured the USA and UK with his debut album Winter Sky and follow-up hit, Signature. After being spotted at South by Southwest music festival (Austin Texas) by music great Seymour Stein (Warner music.), Tommy went on to tour the UK where he met his future mentor, John Reid (Elton John/Queen manager), and proceeded to sign a record deal with All Terrain Music Universal Group. In 2012 Tommy went on to work alongside producer Mark Ronson and toured France with UK sensation Paulo Nutini.
In 2010 Tommy Rando released his debut EP ‘Signature’ which he performed live in the UK on BBC Radio 2 (Jo Whiley). Back in Australia, two songs from the EP received high rotation on radio stations Mix and Light FM. Tommy has also written and produced songs for Vanessa Amorosi, Australian Idol artists Lee Harding, Anthony Callea, Casey Donavan and UK Pop Idol artist Kirsty Crawford. His songs can also be frequently heard on the Australian television production Neighbours. In 2004 Tommy co-wrote the song ‘Wasabi’ hit number one on the Australian ARIA charts (performed by Australian Idol finalist, Lee Harding).
Tommy has recently signed a publishing deal with Karma Power Records New York and is also collaborating for film and TV sync’s including Alloy Tracks Los Angeles USA. Back at home in Melbourne, Tommy is a regular performer and owns a commercial studio in Melbourne CBD at Rooftop Studios where he is in demand for radio and TV advertisements.
Tommy is currently working on a PhD in research in digital music production at Victorian College of Arts Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.
Music Production Coordinator
Mitch Catterall is a young award-winning composer, producer, performer, and lecturer of music.
Based in Melbourne, Mitch is currently studying his PhD in Interactive Composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where his studies focus on electronic music creation - specialising in glitch, trip hop, lofi, and industrial.
His music is published and performed under three separate aliases - Bribery, Slacktivist, and Lo.Fi.stro - which each have a defined aesthetic and style. He was awarded the Adolph Spivakovsky Scholarship for Composition of Music for his piece “Waster” in December 2018, as well being placed 2nd in the International Compfest Award for “Bodies on Everest”.
Mitch’s performance and recording history includes touring Australia (including venues such as the Melbourne Recital Centre) and the United States with various experimental, electronic, and electro-acoustic music groups, as well as teaching and performing in Taiwan, South Korea, and India.
He has worked collaboratively with domestic and international artists such as ARIA-award winner Trials (of A.B. Original), Jeswon (of Thundamentals), Shirt (NYC, Flume), Basy Gasy (Madagascar), and many more.
As an academic educator, Mitch brings extensive experience from his previous role as the Program Leader of Composition and Production at AIM, he is also a sessional lecturer at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, and part of an international lecturing group that specialises in teaching electronic music techniques abroad. He is currently a project lead in the Melbourne-Monash Consciousness Research group, where he is exploring the neuro-scientific impacts of music on the brain, alongside a team of neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers, and engineers.
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Music Production Coordinator
David Jacob is a composer and producer of electronic music who hails from the south-east of Ireland. Having spent his teenage years as a DJ and holding his first club residency at the age of 16, his relationship with music technology started early. Producing since the turn of the century, he has released remixes and original productions on Motormouth, Gobsmacked, Raven Sigh and Industrial Strength Records among others. Although largely self-taught, David also holds an MA in music technology from the University of Limerick where he developed his interest in more experimental forms of composition
As resident DJ and founding member of an Irish sound-system collective and club nights, he has provided support to luminaries of the hard electronic dance music scene and promoted countless electronic music events. His recent Power Struggle EP has seen strong continued support from the international hardcore community, achieved chart positions on both Beatport and Juno, and remains one of Juno's best-selling hardcore releases of 2016. David is currently focused on hardware-based live electronic performance and DJing as part of the Rhythmic Shift collective.
Faculty Administrator Coordinator
Arvan is an alumnus of the Music Production course, graduating in 2019 with a Bachelor's degree. In 2019, he was part of a small group of musicians invited to Germany for a songwriting scholarship to produce for Sony Music. Since then, he has travelled the country working behind the scenes at festivals and as a freelance music producer. Arvan is a skilled keys player with over 20 years experience. He is also a certified ProTools user, as well as being proficient at Ableton. Outside of Collarts, Arvan is working on music with up-and-coming local artists. His production ranges across multiple genres, including Hip-Hop, Indie-Pop, and RnB.
Lecturer
Al began life as an orchestral trombonist and pianist, but came to prominence performing, producing, and touring (on keyboards, vocals and trombone) with The Black Sorrows, Deborah Conway, (performing live at the 1992 Aria’s), Boom Crash Opera, and Stephen Cummings. As a performer, Al has toured with some of the biggest acts in the world, such as Sting, Jethro Tull, Whitney Houston, Nirvana (sharing the stage at the Big Day Out in Sydney in 1992), and Crowded House. (Al was once offered the keyboard gig with Crowded House in 1986, but it wasn’t to be!)
Al later turned to composing for Film and TV, where he became one of Australia’s busiest and most versatile composers and sound designers. He has directed and conducted many ensembles in the studio, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, various Big Bands, and producing many local, young bands.
Producing from his boutique studio in Elsternwick, Al has scored the USA feature film The Heist, TV series City Homicide, Canal Rd., Halifax f.p., many short films and most recently the Howard on Menzies documentary series for the ABC, as well as composing the theme song for the ABC TV show Backroads. More recently, Al has produced orchestral works for the feature films, I Am Mother and Celeste, and the title theme for the feature film H is for Happiness. He has completed orchestral scores for the Flagstaff Maritime Village, Light and Laser installation show in Warrnambool. Al has also composed many hundreds of local and international, TV and cinema ad soundtracks.
In addition to his production work, Al has a particular passion for Aural training, believing that the musical ear is a sometimes neglected tool.
Entertainment Management, Fashion Marketing, Entertainment Journalism & Music Production Teacher
Andrew is vastly experienced in many areas of the music and entertainment industries. He is an intellectual property, entertainment and media lawyer operating his own practice Ravens Nest Consulting. He also operates an artist management business Raven’s Nest Artists.
Previously Andrew has had an exceptional career, being a lawyer at national law firms, the co-founder and publisher of street press publication InPress, a music publisher with the Paul Dainty Corporation, an artist manager of high profile acts in both Australia and the US, a television producer with multiple network credits and a music journalist and commentator on various print and on-line platforms
Andrew is also the author of Welcome To The Jungle – Navigating the Music Business In Australia (4 editions) a 570 page anecdotal textbook for the music business in Australia. He also founded and curates a music festival at Melbourne Airport and promotes selected international tours.
Lecturer
Annabel is a singer-songwriter, producer and engineer. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music Production at Collarts. During her study Annabel was awarded a scholarship to Popakademie in Mannheim, Germany, to write and produce for Sony Music. She was also one of three to be selected for internationally-acclaimed mix engineer Andrew Schepps' workshop. Annabel is ProTools certified and proficient with Ableton live.
Prior to Collarts, Annabel moved to Sydney to teach HSC Visual Arts, Digital Media and Photography at Knox Grammar School where she was also trained in positive psychology and mentored students from Year 7 to Year 12. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and was awarded the outstanding student award on completion of the course exposing her work to leading Australian Galleries who have represented her internationally including at the critically acclaimed art fair SoFA Chicago. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including Craft Arts International and the multi-award-winning book CAST: Art and Objects.
Annabel is now focused on the release of her self-produced EP and is enjoying continuing her connection with Collarts as part of the Music Production team.
Music Production Teacher
Enthusiast of all things that make noise, and some things that don't. Approaching 30s as a queer electronic musician who places major importance in assisting upcoming artists finding their identity in sound. A number of releases under the name B. C. Slumber, where Slumber focuses on identifing and foregrounding human-like qualities in electronic music, drawing closer the lines between ambient music and dancefloor rhythms. 2019 - Red Bull Music Festival x MESS Synthesis Masterclass Scholarship.
2021 - UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE VCA CURRENT Music Honours (Interactive Composition)
Entertainment Management & Music Production Teacher
Jane has twenty years experience in the music industry and began her music career working on the tours of Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz and Led Zeppelin to name a few.
After stints at a recording studio and music management, she then went on to pursue her dream of working in A&R at Warner/Chappell Music UK where she stayed for eight years signing several multi-million selling artists as well as overseeing 50 songwriters and producers.
After her move to Australia nine years ago, she moved into Music Supervision and set up her own company, The SyncHouse. She has worked on over 100 commercials and promos as well as numerous TV shows and films and is passionate about the Entertainment Industry and being entrepreneurial. She has also completed a Masters in Teaching at Monash University.
Production Teacher
Karl Lewis has firmly established himself as one of Australia’s in demand drummers. His passion, versatility and dedication to his craft has led him to play and record with some of Australia’s finest artists such as Savage Garden, Bachelor Girl, Daryl Braithwaite, Killing Heidi, Keith Urban, Tim Watson (Taxiride), The Hampdens, Andrew Wishart (X Factor), Tweed, Winterpark, Laspina, and The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to name a few!
As a touring drummer Karl has shared many stages globally with some of the biggest acts in the world including Bon Jovi, Genesis, Bob Dylan, Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton, Mariah Carey, Boys To Men, Pink, Midnight Oil and INXS.
In the studio he has had the privilege to work along side some of Australia’s finest music producers, including Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, Beth Orton), Chong Lim (John Farnham, Dancing with the Stars) and producer/engineer Jimi Maroudas (Eskimo Joe, Tim Rogers).
Karl regularly backs artists such as Ross Wilson, Phil Emanuelle, Brian Mannix, Scott Carne (Kids in the Kitchen), Dale Ryder (Boom Crash Opera), Anthony Callea, Tim Campbell, Bjorn Again, Blanche Dubois, as well as performed in musicals Rock of Ages, Spring Awakening and a multitude of YABC productions.
As an established composer/producer in his own right. Karl has also provided programming and compositional skills to various projects including his own band She Said Yes (featuring Tania Doko and Jack Jones), Silent Passenger and various Film and TV work.
Karl is Internationally sponsored by Gretsch Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Remo Drumheads and Roland Music Corporation.
Music Teacher
Playing guitar from age 12, Lawrence’s formal musical endevours began at the Victorian College of the Arts where he studied a Bachelor of Music performance, spending time in various ensembles exploring the art of sonic interaction via texture, groove and melody by means of improvisation. It was here Lawrence garnered the Dr Phillip law Award for Innovation and began strong musical friendships that continue to this day.
Upon leaving the VCA Lawrence began exploring various experimental music production and composition techniques. His infuences range from Debussy to Elliott Smith to Aphex Twin to name a few. Lawrence’s diverse sound pallete has led him to be a key collaborator with a number of artists – most notably Ainslie Wills.
Lawrence’s sonic and compositional contributions to Ainslie Wills’ live and recorded music began formally in 2010 with the release of Wills’ Somebody For Everyone EP. This marked the beginning of a strong musical relationship, which led to the pair co-writing and producing the LP You Go Your Way, I’ll Go Mine, which was nominated for the Australian and Melbourne Music Prizes in 2013 and scored 4/5 stars via Rolling Stone Australia. The pair’s most recent offering comes in the form of EP Oh The Gold, with the single Drive added to high rotation on Triple J, while the track, Constellations was deemed Headphones Moment of the Day on BBC 6.
Lawrence’s performance experience include supporting the likes of: Vance Joy, Leon Bridges (US), Hiatus Kaiyote, Michael Kiwanuka (UK), Lianne La Havas (UK), Clare Bowditch, Daniel Merriweather and Andy Bull. He has also played a number of festivals including: Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Womadelaide, Falls Festival, Homebake Festival and Panama Festival.
Teacher in Performance Forum, Ensemble, Vocals, Logic, Production
Best known as an accomplished singer and songwriter for pop/rock/harmony band Taxiride, Tim is also a producer, multi-instrumentalist and programmer.
Tim has won an ARIA Award, had Number 1 & Number 5 albums, 7 singles in the ARIA Top 40 Charts and Number 2 & Number 15 songs in the ARIA Club Charts. Two of his songs have been the most played songs on Australian Radio in 2000 & 2003 against local and international recordings.
Tim has performed extensively in Australia and overseas including multiple tours of Japan and the USA and a
Tim written music for television and film including Neighbours and Reef Doctors; composed music for online campaigns such as Mazda & Quit Victoria; and produced music for other artists from independent releases to Australian Idol competitors; and vocally produced an album for The Voice Kids.
With indie/electronic band Friends Of Mine, Tim toured Australia, had successful sync’s
Outside of music Tim has reviewed movies for commercial radio, hosted multiple programs on community radio, been a voiceover artist, acted in independent films, performed Improv Comedy, been a scriptwriter, shot and edited corporate videos and copy-written for corporate campaigns.
Music Production Teacher
Tim Wild is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, educator and session guitarist/vocalist. He has being teaching guitar since the 80’s, after studying under the guidance of classical guitarist, Susan Ellis (Maton Guitars).
As the principle songwriter & member of TAXIRIDE (ARIA awarded, No. 1 debut album 1999, most played song on radio 2000), Tim spent a good part of 1999, recording at Ocean Way Studios (L.A.) with Jack Joseph Puig, and later writing and recording with Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Beck, Jellyfish), Graham Gouldman (10cc) & Jon Brion (Mac Miller, Fiona Apple).
After touring the world extensively in the 2000s, Tim has more recently focussed his time on recording (Pro Tools) & producing music incorporating his love of retro keyboards, acoustic instruments & world instruments plus plenty of vocal harmonies.
Music Production Lecturer
Sean Hutton is a multi-faceted creative arts industry professional. A highly capable performer, engineer and business consultant - Sean has worked and experienced almost all corners of the creative arts industry.
Sean has two decades of live performance experience; national/international touring, countless festivals and television. The last decade has been dedicated to audio engineering, producing and working in the tertiary education industry.
He has been awarded the "Musician of the Year" (NT), completed a Bachelor of Music and is currently completing his Masters of Business at RMIT.
Sean brings a wealth of professional and technical knowledge to any project he is involved with and is more than happy to be pulled aside for a chat, a laugh and to share some stories with anyone that will listen - especially with a caffeinated beverage in hand.
Head of Screen & Media
Sean Cousins - new Head of Screen and Media at Collarts - studied at Swinburne Film School (VCA), LaTrobe University and UCLA. He has accumulated almost 100 hours of broadcast credits over 20 years travelling and making films for Nat Geo, Animal Planet, BBC, ABC, SBS, Fox 8, History Channel, Network Ten and many others.
Sean has experience as a script editor, writer, director, producer and executive producer. His work has won numerous awards. Before moving into education full-time Sean ran a mentoring program called Filmmaker Abroad which took aspiring filmmakers to remote and exotic places to make films.
The opportunity to build a new degree in Screen and Media, attracted Sean from SAE where he supervised the Capstone (graduating) students and lectured in documentary for four years. In addition to filmmaking Sean plays music and is a keen cyclist and sailor.
Screen & Media Program Coordinator
Currently sound designer for the feature Ablaze for MIFF, Film Vic, Screen Aus and Jotz Productions premiering in August at the Melbourne International Film Festival ( I think we will do SIFF too).
Lots of credits to draw upon. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1881048/ AACTA award winner, ASSG award winner. Sound designer for Oscar, Emmy, AACTA award winning films. Work has screened at Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide film festivals, Venice Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, LA Shorts, Antenna Film Festival, Montreal Film Festival, St Kilda Film Festival. Work screened on all Australian television networks, BBC, ITV, National Geographic, PBS, Universal, ARTE, Aj Jazeera, Vice, CNA etc.
Lecturer
Screenwriter (and occasional director), soon to complete Masters by Research in Media & Communication at RMIT. He has written and directed three short films - The Body Watchers (2009), Mystic Eyes (2009) and Keeper (2011) - which have screened at local and international festivals. 2016 winner of the AWG’s Monte Miller and John Hinde awards for the dystopian sci-fi feature screenplay Mary, Mary (Co-Writer: Penelope Chai), developed with funding from Screen Australia. He wrote the short film We’re Not Here (2019), directed by Bonnie Moir, which premiered at LA Outfest Film Festival and MIFF, and was awarded Best Screenplay at the 2020 Mardi Gras Film Festival. His latest short screenplay, The Bends (2020), directed by Tom Campbell, will have its premiere screening at MIFF 2021. He is also adapting Anson Cameron's novel The Last Pulse into a feature for producer Trevor Blainey (Cut Snake, Noise).
Lecturer
Cameron Bruce Nelson is a filmmaker whose award-winning first feature, Some Beasts, was chosen to participate at the IFP Narrative Labs, the U.S. in Progress-Wroclaw, and received an Austin Film Society post-production grant. The film went on to screen at both national and international festivals and received a physical and streaming release via Turn Key Films. His most recent short films, Pillars and Comforter, World Premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2020 and 2021. Pillars won the jury award for Outstanding US Narrative Short at the DC Shorts festival. Cameron is a graduate of Black Factory Cinema's workshop in Cuba, where he was mentored by Abbas Kiarostami. He holds an MFA in Screenwriting/Directing from Columbia University's School of the Arts, where he was awarded a Janowsky Screenwriting Fellowship, the Katharina Otto-Bernstein Grant, and the Lisa Rubin Award for Screenwriting. He has served as the Technical Director for the Dallas International Film Festival, Lone Star Film Festival, Oak Cliff Film Festival, and as an Assistant Programmer for Videofest. More recently, Cameron was a Narrative Features Programmer for the 2021 edition of the Slamdance Film Festival and has served as a juror for the Slamdance Film Festival's Screenplay Competition for the 2021 and 2022 editions. At Columbia University, Cameron taught Non-Fiction Film, and served as a Teaching Assistant for Professor Richard Peña, Director Emeritus of the New York Film Festival, and Ronald Gregg, head programmer of Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Cameron is an alumni and mentor for The Gotham (formerly IFP) and serves on the Austin Film Society's Film Advisory Committee, where he mentors rising filmmakers.
Lecturer
Produced feature film ONE PUNCH about to submit to festivals, smartphone feature film, Work has screened worldwide at festivals and on ABC, BBC, Sundance Channel, Rotterdam Film Fest, Sydney Film Fest, Melb Film Fest, St Kilda Film Fest, Berlin Film Fest, London Int Film Fest, Flickerfest, Korea. Commencing PHD on Smartphone Filmmaking and Character Based Improvisation through Swinburne. Developing a number of feature projects and making a feature as part of my PhD study, using practice based research. Won Barcelona Cinephone film festival Best Feature film, Finalist in Mobile Motion Film Festival for Feature Fil, Finalist in SF3 Film festival for best feature film.
Lecturer
Worked in journalism and publicity for more than ten years across a range of platforms and mediums. Actively coordinates media campaigns for events, companies and organisations, including the handling of sensitive topics across mainstream news and production of supporting multiplatform media content.
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Lecturer
Hannah Moore is an award-winning filmmaker committed to social justice and inclusive storytelling. Her short films have been screened at national and international festivals as well as on SBS television. She holds a Masters from VCA and works in professional video production and photography. She has been mentored by Belá Tarr and the late Abbas Kiarostami, and recently undertook a director’s attachment through Film Victoria on Halifax: Retribution. She has worked extensively with marginalised young people, as well as in juvenile prisons, and her connections to the community greatly influence her work.
Lecturer
Writer and film critic who regularly reviews films for ABC Arts, and has contributed to Senses of Cinema, The Monthly, and Radio National's Screen Show, amongst other publications. Selected as one of eight mentors at the 2021 MIFF Critics Campus program. In 2020, I received a doctorate from the University of Sydney for my thesis on the directorial work of Crispin Glover.
Lecturer/Tutor
Emerging screenwriter/ director. Masters of Film & TV (Narrative) from Victorian College of the Arts. Shorts have screened at Academy Award Qualifying festivals, Palm Springs International ShortFest, St. Louis International Film Festival & St. Kilda Film Festival. Since graduating, worked as a freelance videographer, editor, television EPK director and festival programmer (with Lucie at DEFF). Currently writing debut feature screenplay and in pre-production for a short film shooting late 2021/ early 2022.
Lecturer
Lucie is a filmmaker, programmer and teacher based in Melbourne. Lucie co founded the Dead End Film Festival, and Too Much World. Lucie is passionate about cinema that employs experimental or lo-fi techniques that offer marginalised members of the community access and affordability to tell underrepresented stories. She is interested in the aesthetics that emerge, when care is central to the filmmaking process. Lucie is currently teaching in media and communications at RMIT, and Youthworx, and is working on a feature-length documentary, Things Will Be Different, in collaboration with the Save Public Housing Collective and RMIT’s Centre for Global and Urban Studies, about displacement and Victoria’s Public Housing Renewal Program. Lucie was recently selected as one of four Leading Lights participants to pitch at the Australian International Documentary Conference. Lucie had just completed 3 months work on Alena Lodkina's new feature film Petrol as a location scout and casting assistant.
Lecturer
Lecturer
Writer/ Producer of short films which have screened at international global film festivals and sold to Virgin Airlines and ABC. Short film A GREAT MAN won the Special Jury Prize at Hollyshorts FF. First feature script LEGENDS developed as apart of the Screen Australia funded Script Start initiative. Mentor for female filmmakers for the Future Creatives Initiative. Soon to complete Masters of Fine Arts Screenwriting at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles. Recently landed represention as a screenwriter with film and TV, literary agency Curtis Brown Ltd in London. Currently developing Western feature film STOLEN with director John Hillcoat.
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Head of Animation & VFX
Originally from the UK, Simon Ashford began his creative practice in the animation film Industry in London working for industry luminary Richard Williams (Roger Rabbit) on his Magnus Opus ‘The Thief and the Cobbler’ for Warner Brothers. ‘Thief’ is often referred to as the greatest movie never made and was the subject of the documentary ‘The Persistence of Vision’.
Simon’s other film credits include Steven Spielberg’s ‘Balto’, ‘The Tales of Beatrix Potter’ and ‘The Silver Brumby’ for Media World & Animation Works, as well as numerous animated commercials and projects in London. Simon was at the forefront animation applications in 3D games art with Beam Software / Infogrames (Atari), working on ‘Space Race’ for Warner Brothers amongst a number of other 3D game projects.
Simon is a former Program Manager for CATC design school and Senior Design lecturer for Billy Blue Design School, now part of Laureate Australia. He has a passion and deep working knowledge of typography, served on the state council for AGDA (Australian Graphic Design Association) for four years and has written on design education for industry journals.
Simon is a certified Strengths Coach, coaching emerging creative designers at Billy Blue College of Design. He holds a Bachelor degree with Honors in Graphic Design, (majoring in animation film-making) from De Montford University in the UK and a Diploma of Art & Design.
Lecturer
Mathew is a Melbourne-based 3D artist with a background in visual effects and compositing. He is well-versed in the latest technology and innovations, taking particular interest in software, animation and VFX developments.
With extensive teaching experience, Mathew has been lecturing at Collarts for two years as well as maintaining his role as a Modelling Foundations mentor for our education partners CG Spectrum.
Mathew brings an in-depth knowledge of multimedia and software to his classes, with expertise in industry-standard programs such as Maya, Substance Painter, CLO/Marvelous Designer as well as the latest in visual effects resources.
Recently he has applied his craft outside of the realm of animation, film and games; collaborating with fashion and interior design students.
An expert of Hard-Surface Modelling, Simulation, Motion Design, 2D compositing, VFX and Post/Virtual Mathew's dedication to his practice is a passion he hopes to pass on to every student who enters the classroom.
Lecturer
Mathieu Halley is a multidisciplinary designer with degrees covering game design and industrial design, and a masters covering the management of innovation and technology. Over his eight years teaching, Mat has taught a wide variety of topics related to game and software development. As a designer, he has a particular passion for building engaging and accessible experiences.
Lecturer
Tony White is an animation industry veteran who began his creative journey with Hanna-Barbera in Sydney in 1987 and has worked in and around the industry ever since.
He spent 19 years working in the animation industry both locally and overseas, working on feature films and TV series such as Balto for Universal Pictures (London) and The Silver Brumby for Media World/Animation works in Melbourne.
Tony was then employed in the games industry, working for Atari on titles such as Transformers Armada, Le Mans 24hrs, Grand Prix Challenge and Looney Tunes’ Space Race for Warner Bros.
Tony was employed by Film Victoria as Animation Project Officer and successfully launched and managed several programs including the much lauded 4 Minute Wonders initiative, which supported the production of animated music videos for JJJ unearthed artists, such as Sophie Koh and Sarah Blasko.
In 2005 Tony began a career in tertiary education and continued to work for 10 years as a senior animation lecturer and head of the animation department.
Tony is also an exhibiting fine artist since 1999 and has gained a master’s degree from Griffith University in Fine Arts in 2011.
Tony is also a passionate advocate of mental health in the creative industries and works part-time as a certified mental health support worker.
Head of Fashion & Sustainability
Sarah began her long career in fashion as a milliner and accidental lecturer and has continued to embrace the creativity of fashion to enhance her own creative output, nurture it in others and help them make fashion both their career and story.
Over the years Sarah has worked across many areas of the Australian Fashion Industry. After working internationally as both a fashion and theatrical milliner Sarah created a successful ethical fashion business with work featured in high calibre media outlets such as Vogue, The Australian and The Age. This business focused on the creation of handbags and accessories and embraced local manufacture and slow making. In 2009 Sarah was the recipient of the International Specialised Skills Institute (Veneto) Fellowship, this fellowship funded research into the Italian luxury leather goods industry.
Sarah has also managed and implemented national level projects catering to the needs of the Australian Fashion and Textiles Industries through bodies like the TFIA (now Australian Fashion Council) and the Textile & Fashion Hub. This included assisting small businesses and designers access learning, funding, technology and promotional opportunities.
Sarah has been with COLLARTS since 2019 and while juggling life between the city and the country with a bunch of pugs Sarah’s work now focuses on writing, making and creating an inspirational educational experience for the next generation of designers and business mavericks.
Lecturer
Meg Parry is a fashion designer, pattern maker and creator. Meg trained in Melbourne, before venturing abroad to pursue industry opportunities in London, UK. After working in London with a diverse range of fashion businesses from; artisan, luxury, to mass market manufacturing, Meg returned to Melbourne, establishing her business Meg Parry Studio. Inside the small scale apparel design and creation studio, she brings to life her own unique handcrafted pieces, along with other local and international designer visions. Drawn towards working with materials that challenge form, design and technique, Meg specifically enjoys experimenting with materials and processes that have a positive environmental change.
Lecturer
I founded the multi brand boutique Blonde Venus in Brisbane in 1990 and co-founded the lifestyle store The Outpost in 2006.
As a creative director and a progressive buyer I introduced many exciting international brands to Australia including Roksanda Ilincic, Richard Nicoll, Peter Pilotto Mary Katrantzou, BACK by Ann Sofie Back, Chalayan by Hussein Chalayan, LF Markey, Simone Rocha, Claire Barrow and Jacquemus.
Being passionate about new, local design I also championed many Australasian brands from their early collections including Akira, Zimmermann, Karen Walker, Lover, PAM, Toni Maticevski, Dress Up, Ellery, Alice McCall, Arnsdorf, Dion Lee, Christopher Esber, Gail Sorronda, Verner, Pageant and Holly Ryan.
My passion for the arts has led to a strong art and design cross pollination. Blonde Venus hosted art exhibitions, music and film events to encourage a nexus between the arts and fashion communities.
Head of Fashion Marketing
Debbie Pratt is the Head of Fashion Marketing at Collarts.
Debbie is a passionate fashion educator, with over 20 years experience working in the fashion industry and 10 years in fashion education. Her area of expertise is Brand and Product Management; however she is fascinated with the world of digital marketing as it is a constantly changing landscape.
After graduating with a Diploma in Fashion at RMIT, she commenced her career as a young designer and was then drawn to the business side of fashion, going on to study a Masters of Business (Marketing). The majority of her career was then spent working for International Sporting companies in the apparel division for both Nike and Diadora as a Brand/Product Manager.
More recently she held an Academic leadership role at Box Hill Institute as the Academic Course Manager for the Bachelor of Fashion and Bachelor of Fashion Merchandising programs.
Lecturer
Georgette is a passionate fashion professional and educator, with a background in global fashion design and business. Her fashion industry expertise has been gained over 25+ years working successfully in middle market, designer and haute couture sectors of the fashion industry in Melbourne, Sydney, London and Paris.
Georgette has worked as an educator for nine years designing and delivering curriculum in fashion design, business, and history. Her passion to inspire and mentor future generations of fashion industry professionals drives her ongoing commitment to her work and professional development. Georgette is currently undertaking postgraduate studies in teaching and learning practices in higher education for the 21st century, as she continues to develop and refine her abilities to support and promote fashion as a fulfilling career choice.
Lecturer
Melanie's love for fashion started through her experience as a vocalist and performer, constantly recreating her stage persona and learning how to communicate and story-tell through both sound and vision. Melanie believes there is something very powerful about standing on stage in front of a rock band and belting out songs, and that feeling of liberation will always be a part of her. It is her goal as a designer and stylist to use these
experiences to create art and imagery that champions storytelling, creativity and
authenticity.
Melanie’s career to date is multifaceted, working extensively in both the music and fashion industries for over 25 years. After returning from touring the globe, Melanie completed her Bachelor of Design and Master of Design in Melbourne, Australia. She continues to celebrate the parallels between music and fashion drawing on her passion for performance and love of fashion as a constant source of inspiration in her current working positions. A stylist, visual storyteller, image maker, personal stylist, fashion brand mentor, entrepreneur, fashion designer, and founder of fashion accessories brand Cirkl.
Lecturer
Penny Weber is a music business entrepreneur who has run businesses ranging from music industry recruitment agencies to artist management. Penny’s management business has looked after the careers of: True Live, The Raah Project, Paris Wells, Josh Abrahams, Describe Eliza, Quadraphonic, The Grand Silent System (Shock), The Sound Movement, Virtue, Offcutts (Rubber), Lindsay Gravina (producer at Birdland Studios), Irwin Thomas (Jack Jones) to name a few. She has also worked in music licensing and film.
Penny has created, facilitated and run local and national education programs, conferences, forums, workshops, masterclasses and online seminars on business practice within the music industry. She has worked as the Professional Development Manager of a Music Industry Advisory body and as the director of the Digital Entertainment Program Plug In Summit and recruitment agency Cover Your Artz.
Penny has contributed to the film, music, digital and education industries as an artist manager and arts administrator for the music business sector. Her roles have varied from working with film composers (Cezary Skubiszewski), record companies (Standard Records RCM International/Standard Music Publishing), industry associations, artists (Jam Packed Entertainment), Venue Bookers (Indie Initiative at Metro Nightclub) and music producers (Lindsay Gravina of Birdland Studios). Her experience in film has been as a producer/ music supervisor for independent production company, Truncated Pictures on the film Verite – taking it to Cannes Film Festival in 2007.
She has a Bachelor of Performing Arts from Monash University, Masters in Business Administration (Executive) and Masters of Commerce from RMIT.
Lecturer
Sam teaches a wide variety of design and marketing focused units across the
Fashion, Music Production and Digital & Social Media departments at Collarts.
Now a digital veteran, Sam initially trained as a drummer and high school
teacher and spent 10 years as a touring musician and tour manager.
During that time, he found himself increasingly drawn to technology and web
development, and in 2002, made the leap into what was then a brave new
digital world.
He has since worked with some of the biggest names in Australia and
overseas, including General Assembly, Qantas, Coles, News Limited, ANZ and
Accenture.
As well as creating great digital experiences for some seriously big (and
fantastic little) companies, Sam has fought the good fight for years when it
comes to making the complex easily understood and promoting harmony
across technical, marketing and design teams.
Through his teaching roles and work with Meeum, he has helped countless
startups and founders across Australia get to grips with the technology and
digital areas of their businesses, increasing their digital literacy - enabling new
businesses to start and existing businesses to flourish.
Recognised as an industry Expert-in-Residence by LaunchVic in 2019, Sam
and his company Meeum designed and delivered a unique upskill program for
non-technical Victorian entrepreneurs.
Outside of Collarts and Meeum, Sam is also a business mentor for The
Melbourne Innovation Centre as well as The Victorian Chamber of Commerce
and Industry. In 2021 he was appointed as Digital Strategist in Residence for
The Australia Council for the Arts.
Head of Interior Design
With over 15 years combined experience in design and design education, Bruno held a variety of positions in leading architectural and design firms where he predominantly focused on the application of design thinking, service design, experience design, sustainability and technology within built environments.
Over the last 5 years, he
Committed to seeking unique and innovative solutions geared towards high user-centered quality outcomes, he is excited about leading Interior Design at
Program Manager of Interior Design (VET)
Amy Cope is the Program Manager of Interior Design (VET). With over 10 years of experience in residential, custom joinery, and retail design, Amy is passionate about teaching and creating safe spaces in design that centre around people.
When not immersed in the world of interiors, she holds the secretary position on the committee for disability services organisation Ability Dignity Access Management, a grassroots organisation that supports high needs individuals to live the life of their choosing.
Program Coordinator
Jenni Woods is an interior designer, visual creative and educator with a long career in the creative industries. Establishing and running a successful building business, with her partner for over 30 years, Jenni has been immersed in all facets of the built environment. During this period she has also worked with interior design studios and headed her own Interior Design practice offering design/build services for a range of residential and commercial clients for over 15 years.
Completing her interior design studies at RMIT, Jenni has also completed a Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning at Swinburne University. Over the course of 8 years teaching interior design at RMIT Jenni was awarded two Teaching Awards, the SIDA Scholarship and VDC Fellowship, as well as leading two Study Tours to New York in collaboration with FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology). Joining Collarts in 2017 she has been active in the VET and Higher Education programs, currently supporting the Bachelor of Interior Design course as Coordinator and lecturer.
A strong connector within the interiors industry, Jenni has been involved in designing rooms for display at Villa Alba, the Lighthouse Foundation, Designex, Decor + Design and Grand Designs Australia, as well as presenting seminars and workshops. Membership on industry advisory committees both at RMIT and Collarts for many years, ensures the collaboration of industry in her teaching.
Lecturer
With a background in fine art and interiors, Carol has a passion for creativity and aesthetics. Since completing her Master’s in Fine Art in 2006, her painting practice has focused on ideas to do with abstraction, and she has exhibited throughout Melbourne and Canberra since 2003. Her work is represented in private collections locally and internationally and she has been short-listed for various prizes. Currently her work is exhibited through West End Art Space in Melbourne.
After completing studies in interior design, Carol has also worked as a freelance interior designer, collaborating and consulting on various projects. She has developed a selection of her paintings into digital wallpaper-like murals that have been installed in New York City and throughout Australia.
Since 2016, Carol has been involved in education teaching drawing, colour, conceptual and creative thinking subjects to interior design students.
Lecturer
Over 20 years of experience working in design and coaching sectors, with a Bachelor in Design and a double Masters in Coaching and Counselling. Focus areas: Industry Placement, Career Development, Personal & Professional Coaching, Counselling and Mentoring and Interior Decoration & Styling.
Lecturer
I’m an architect and graduated in 2000.
In practice, the most important thing for me is that the traditional role, responsibilities and mode of working of the designer is always questioned and challenged.
I am principal of an architectural and interior design practice, Margo Studio, have taught sessionally for over 10 years and run architectural walking tours as part of Melbourne Architours to ensure I don’t spend my life sitting at a computer.
I am passionate about all elements of our built, spatial and natural environments!
Lecturer
Since graduating from the University of Wellington in 2009, William has been practicing in architecture for over 12 years across a number of industries including commercial, multi-residential, education and hospitality where he has the opportunity to work on several major works projects throughout Melbourne.
While he enjoys the practical side of architecture of designing, documenting and contract administration, his passion is for BIM Management (Building Information Modelling). While working as a BIM consultant for archAssist, he designed and implemented BIM systems for architecture studios across Melbourne. William currently works at BSPN Architecture as a Senior Designer, IT Manager, and BIM Manager for their Melbourne office.
Head of Photography
Rikki spent more than a decade as a professional commercial advertising photographer, working for a variety of national and international clients, including as an automotive photographer for some of Australia’s leading advertising agencies and automotive companies.
Rikki’s first foray into education came about through a unique opportunity to train Southeast Asian police forces in 360-degree photography for crime scene investigation.
Following this, he made the permanent move into education. For the last seven years he has worked in a number of roles including Program Manager/Lecturer for CATC design school, now part of Laureate Australia, and Curriculum Designer/Senior Lecturer for SAE Institute. He has extensive leadership and educational experience across a wide range of creative disciplines including photography, film and design.
In addition to his photography and teaching roles, Rikki is a practicing fine artist. He works in a number of different mediums and his work is held in private collections throughout Australia. He holds a Bachelor degree in Photography from James Cook University and a Master of Fine Art with Distinction from RMIT Australia.
Head of Digital & Social Media and Entertainment Journalism
Kylie has a broad range of experience within photography, cultural heritage, and education. She has developed and implemented digitization strategies for museums and designed and facilitated educational programs for undergraduate students within the faculty Design. She has implemented a number of digitization projects for cultural preservation throughout her career. This has included establishing digital workflow systems for the Sydney University Museums and the State Library of NSW.
Kylie began lecturing in photography at RMIT in 2001 and has since lectured at Photography Studies College, Melbourne, and Light & Life Academy, India. She is committed to inspiring students through facilitating quality teaching programs that develop lasting critical thinking skills, ensuring that graduates are well-prepared to address complex contemporary challenges in any professional design setting.
Kylie is presently undertaking a Master of Philosophy at Sydney University. Her research areas include the impact of immersive media on participatory learning experiences in museology. Additional research areas for her Ph.D. program include developing cultural projects through virtual reality experiences and integrating 360-degree film and 3D simulation. This work explores and examines the role immersive visualization technologies play in cultural knowledge sharing.
Lecturer
Candy Hertz has been working in the creative media landscape across a variety of industries for nearly 15 years. She has a unique mix of creative content development, on and off camera experience and a passion for strategic storytelling.
Her job titles have included Copywriter, Head of Marketing, Digital Content Creator, breakfast and Drive Radio Announcer, Producer, Presenter and Educator.
She’s worked with Fox FM, Clemenger BBDO, Grey Worldwide, TEDxMelbourne, Cricket Australia, AFL, NBL and many others creating video, written, and live content.
On The List Melbourne is a business Candy started in 2016 and created hundreds of videos and pieces of content seen by over 15 thousand Melburnians each weekend across the Herald Sun Online, Channel 31 and a multitude of social sites.
She’s been passionately educating young minds at universities across Australia and is proud to have been teaching at Collarts since 2017.
Lecturer
Emma is a Naarm/Birrarunga-ga (Melb)-based visual communicator with over 10 years experience in the creative industry. Her illustration and design work is purposeful and provocative, with the intention to educate, inspire and empower.
Emma currently balances her time as a Digital Design and Social Media lecturer at Collarts with her other passions, volunteering at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and SAIL (Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning) in youth and tutoring programs. She has also been lead designer and unicorn for BE. Collective Culture for the past 3 years; designing and facilitating events, programs and resources with young creatives from a diverse range of backgrounds, creating culturally safe and empowering spaces and giving young people a platform to be seen and heard.
From her experiences as a woman of colour in the industry, Emma is passionate about making the field accessible to everyone through her teaching and is constantly seeking work and opportunities to help build a sustainable, inclusive community.
Lecturer
Hannah Moore is an award-winning filmmaker committed to social justice and inclusive storytelling. Her short films have been screened at national and international festivals as well as on SBS television. She holds a Masters from VCA and works in professional video production and photography. She has been mentored by Belá Tarr and the late Abbas Kiarostami, and recently undertook a director’s attachment through Film Victoria on Halifax: Retribution. She has worked extensively with marginalised young people, as well as in juvenile prisons, and her connections to community greatly influence her work.
Lecturer
Lucy Watson is an experienced marketer with over a decade working in the marketing, advertising and digital industries. She is currently running marketing and PR for Holgate Brewhouse, as well as freelance copywriting, marketing, social media, strategy and content work. Alongside teaching Content and Social Media Strategy at Collarts, and Story & Narrative and Written Comms at Macleay.
Lucy has also worked as a Brand Marketing Manager for Stomping Ground Brewing Co, creating content for multiple social media accounts and websites. She managed in-venue promotional material, activated pop-ups and festivals across Victoria, and launched beer brands and national promotional campaigns.
Before Stomping Ground, Lucy was the Customer Marketing Manager for The Age and AFR at Fairfax Media and executed digital, press, and social campaigns.
Lucy has worked agency-side on many significant clients, including Bulla Cream, MasterFoods, Vegemite, Origin Energy, Yellow Pages, Village Theme Parks, Schmackos, Stanley Black & Decker, Treasury Wine Estates and The Salvation Army. She has created large scale responsive websites, Facebook applications, mobile/tablet apps, banners, eDMs, blogs, and is working on fully integrated social campaigns.
Lecturer
Kate Arnott has been a freelance journalist, content creator, video producer, podcaster and photographer since 2014. She’s worked with Tennis Australia, the Melbourne Theatre Company, fashion house J’Aton Couture, distiller Cedar Fox and various video production companies. She presents, produces, researches, writes and edits ‘Leading Change: The Technology in Schools Podcast’.
During 18 years with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Kate worked as a video journalist, reporter, presenter, producer, researcher and vision & sound editor for high profile domestic and international radio and television news and current affairs programs. Kate has taught journalism at La Trobe University, RMIT and specialises in video & digital journalism and Fashion, Lifestyle Journalism at Collarts. Her passions include pub choir, hamburgers, art galleries and diving with sharks and rays.
Lecturer
Donna Demaio has extensive experience in writing, broadcasting and reporting. She's an arts and entertainment journalist, working as a freelance writer, editor, consultant, radio newsreader and presenter. Her passions include interviewing, communicating and generating fascinating stories about people and places. Her interests also include video journalism and social media.
She is a contributor to various publications and online sites including The Age, SMH, Domain Review, Traveller and Good Food.
She's interviewed the likes of Hugh Jackman, Will Smith and Sarah Silverman, sat on Melbourne International Comedy Festival judging panels, been an international correspondent, and represented Australia on the international film critics jury at Venice Film Festival.
She enjoys mentoring journalists and writers, eagerly sharing her experience, knowledge and insights.
Lecturer
Michael Dwyer is one of Australia’s most experienced and prolific feature writers and arts critics. He’s written mostly about music and the people who make it for 30 years and countless media, not least Rolling Stone, the Age, Fairfax Media and Melody Maker. He has worked on-air for Triple J, as a film script consultant and as an arts journalism lecturer at Monash University.
His lifelong passion for music has led him from the red heart of the Australian outback to the penthouses of Manhattan to interview myriad legends of rock, jazz and elsewhere: Lou Reed, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Ry Cooder, Sonny Rollins, Yoko Ono, Patti Smith and Steve Reich among them. In a simultaneous life, he sings, plays lead tenor ukulele and tours internationally with the world’s first ukulele-harmony David Bowie tribute phenomenon, the Thin White Ukes. He lives in Melbourne with too many records.
Academic Support Officer / Sessional Lecturer, Critical Series
As Academic Support Officer, Camille supports students in developing (or brushing up on) their academic skills – everything from essay writing, to research skills, organisation and planning, referencing and academic honesty, and preparing for exams.
As a Sessional Lecturer for the Critical Series of subjects with Alicia Brown, Camille helps students to develop their critical thinking skills, and apply them to their understanding of music and art, and issues pertaining to the creative industries.
Camille is an innovative sonic artist, composer, and researcher with a diverse creative practice. He makes music, sound art, and sound design, independently and to commission for clients in film, theatre, dance, and museums. His work is informed by classical, punk, jazz, pop, electronic and avant-garde musics, acoustic ecology, musique concrete, deep listening, and conceptual art.
Camille recently completed his PhD project Listening Art, in which he made sonic artworks that encourage people to think critically about the act of listening, and the effect that listeners’ own past experiences and assumptions ultimately have on art as perceived.
Academic Skills Manager
Originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, Chris moved to Melbourne in 2015 to experience a more vibrant city. After graduating University as a secondary teacher, Chris spent years teaching English, Classics, History and Mathematics in New Zealand. After moving to Melbourne he worked in the medical devices field before realising that education is the sector for him - Collarts, with its focus on student success and progress was the perfect fit.
Chris is passionate about ensuring students are meeting their goals at Collarts – succeeding and enjoying themselves while doing so. He wants to make sure that students feel supported while they study, so they can focus on leaving Collarts at their best. The Academic Skills team is available for all Collarts students, and helps with every study and academic related. The service is completely free, and can be used as a once-off or recurring system. Email academicskills@collarts.edu.au or jump on https://www.calendly.com/collartsacademicskills to book a session.
When he’s not at Collarts, you’ll find him at pub trivia (in the before-Covid times), killing all his plants, or arguing about esoteric NBA stats.
Future Student Team Leader for School of Entertainment
Alastair joined Collarts in 2021, after relocating to Melbourne from the UK, to help students find their dream career path within the Entertainment Industry. Alastair has worked extensively in customer service since graduating from Nottingham Trent University but has always had a passion for music. Making the most of the great Nottingham rock scene, Alastair gigged around the UK playing bass guitar and recorded several heavy metal albums before making the move Downunder.
Campus Supervisor
A Melbourne transplant from Albury, Alec is a 2016 Audio Production alumni, multi-genre record producer, audio engineer, and musician. Before returning to the Collarts family, he cut his teeth in the Museums Victoria Digital Multimedia team, where he designed, composed, and supported immersive interactive audio experiences for in-house and traveling exhibits. He continues to produce, engineer, and mix Melbourne’s rock scene and is known for his relaxed approach and collaborative focus. When he’s not mixing your forums and helping you sort your bookings across campuses, you can find him waxing poetic about “the old collarts days when we located in south Melbourne or working on the dark art of drum tuning.
Receptionist/Administrative Assistant
A lover of genre-bending music, Natalie Portman films and high fashion, Apollo is a Music Performance Alumni, graduating in 2019 as a Singer/Songwriter. Since graduating, Apollo has taken the Australian music industry by storm with their vibrant and enigmatic solo project: Apollo Blue. In 2020, their anthemic debut single “Moonchild” soared to #1 on the Triple J Unearthed Rock charts and reached a global audience across 80 countries. When not on stage or hunting for vintage fits in Fitzroy, you can find Apollo at our Wellington St Campus providing world-class customer service, assisting with student enquiries and providing administrative support across all sectors of Collarts.
Campus Supervisor
Ashlee is an alumna of the Collarts Audio Engineering degree. After completing her studies in 2021 she joined Collarts as a staff member, working with the Student Support team as a Campus Supervisor and Student Advisor. She currently runs a small audio business out of her home studio, doing both live sound and recording work whenever she can. In her spare time, she likes to play video games and watch movies.
Campus Coordinator (Equipment Loans and Room Bookings)
A graduate of the Collarts Audio Production Degree,Bea now finds themself back again in education, having previously worked for several schools and circus organisations throughout Victoria and NSW over the last 15 years, teaching to and performing for children of all ages.
A lover of the electronic, they have an intense relationship with his synthesizers, and spends their time either making sounds or talking about oscillators, filters and the joy of signal flow.
Wellbeing Service Practitioner
Betsy brings with her a great deal of enthusiasm and expertise as a Wellbeing Service Practitioner for the Collart student community.
In 2019-2021 Betsy worked at RMIT and was instrumental in developing implementing and delivering a very successful Student Wellbeing Advisor service. She has also worked in the RMIT student services team for Creative Industries (Interior Design and Visual Merchandising).
With 30 plus years of casework and counselling experience, she holds an Associate Diploma in Welfare Studies and has completed courses in Adolescent Counselling, Advanced Counselling skills, Grief, Bereavement and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing.
Betsy has worked in a wide range of settings and roles which include Centrelink Staff Counsellor, Housing Support Worker in crisis housing and assertive outreach with rough sleepers, Community Development worker in high rise public housing and a Case Worker in a community emergency relief agency
In her most recent previous position, she supported many Young Carers (under 25) mostly from CALD and socially disadvantaged backgrounds with a particular focus on their wellbeing and educational needs.
A great believer that kindness to self and others is one of the most important keys to our wellbeing .... with dogs also playing a key part to the wellbeing equation!!
VET Manager
Cherie is passionate about all things VET and has spent over 10 years in Vocational adult education starting as a Trainer then moving to a department coordinator then onto School pathway. Cherie joined the Collarts team in 2019 with a focus on strengthening our partnerships with schools around Australia and ensuring Collarts delivers the highest quality education to Secondary Students. Cherie has a strong interest in the compliance and quality side of VET and is driven to ensure Collarts is an Industry leader for Creative Arts courses throughout secondary schools.
Future Student Manager (Engagement)
Daniel is who you will meet out on the road at events and expos! Working closely with Careers Advisors, High School Teachers and incoming students, Daniel will prepare you for everything you need to know about the college and its courses.
Originally from Perth, Daniel has worked in Higher Education for over 5 years at various Creative Arts institutes. Outside of Collarts, Daniel also works as an actor, having trained and performed on stage and screen across Australia. He understands first-hand what it’s like to take the courageous first step to do what you love, and is passionate about inspiring the next generation to do the same.
Daniel is particularly passionate about supporting new Australian work and can generally be found at the theatre or cinema watching the latest productions. Aside from the performing arts, Daniel also loves interior design, fashion and is obsessed with all things Christmas decorations and coffee!
Campus Supervisor
Dany is a collarts alumnus, and since has played hundreds of shows and collaborated on domestic and international projects. Dabbling in the world of television, he received a roaring standing ovation for his rendition of ‘Feeling Good’ on the 2014 season of X Factor Australia, before spreading his wings to the City of Angels where he played originals around the Los Angeles live music scene. As well as being a talented musician Dany is also a successful businessman having founded and run Imagine Audio; a music composition service for film, TV, and gaming, whilst founding and managing Diamond Entertainment (Corporate Live Music). Dany is soulful, thoughtful, and genuine. He has a fascination with emotional psychology and understanding of the human thought process, which has opened personal world experiences and observations that he shares in his work.
Future Student Team Leader -School of Communications
Emily has been working in the Education industry for more than 10 years. She’s originally from South Korea where she studied a Bachelor of Tourism Management. She has recently completed a Diploma of Project Management and is currently studying an Advanced Diploma of Leadership Management. Always looking for new challenges, she loves travelling, meeting new people, and working with students to help them achieve their career and academic goals.
Partnerships Coordinator
Gabby has made a career working to promote opportunities and enhance student experiences. With previous experience working in universities, high schools, large and small organisations, Gabby has transitioned her love and knowledge in the world of events to creating amazing partnership opportunities and experiences for students. Working with a wide array of companies, including ACMI, AFL Players Association, Swinburne, Myer, Richmond Football Club, and Bendigo Bank, to name just a few, she thrives in bringing creative and passionate people together and fostering project coordination.
In her downtime, Gabby enjoys cooking up a storm in the kitchen, playing video games, and hunting for bargains in thrift stores.
Wellbeing Service Practitioner
Garrett holds a Graduate Diploma in Adolescent Health and Welfare, Certificate IV in Social Housing, Certificate IV in Workplace Training & Assessment, and extensive experience in Youth Work.
He is passionate about youth affairs and has a keen interest in civics, politics, and government policy. Garrett has extensive experience in supporting young people from a migrant or asylum seeker background as well as working with young people in education and employment.
Garrett helped develop the Community Youth Inclusion Project in Dandenong
Streamlining migration support for unaccompanied refugee minors and establishing YouthWorx social enterprise. He has given keynote speeches at Pride March Victoria.
Garrett also has over 25 years of Event Management experience providing Logistics support and worked as a Project Manager, Site Manager, Traffic Management, MEOC Liaison, Protocol Assistant and Safety Warden at a range of community events including: AFL Grand Final Parades, Australia Day events, The Melbourne Museum, Pride March Victoria, and Centenary of Federation Committees.
Campus Supervisor
Since graduating from Collarts’ Music Performance program, she has enjoyed working in numerous facets of the music industry from co-writing and collaborating with artists around the world (Canada/ Scotland/ Wales/ Taiwan), to teaching instrumental music lessons, facilitating interviews for radio (JOY FM), writing for print (Speaker TV) and assisting artists with releases (LANKS). She is the singer-songwriter of country project, Georgia State Line. They have performed at festivals across Australia, toured alongside international acts Eilen Jewell (USA) and Justin Townes Earle (USA), and most recently was shortlisted for Best Country Act as part of The Age Music Victoria Awards. Georgia is a passionate advocate for greater accessibility within the arts, and when she’s not writing or performing, she is completing a Diploma of Auslan.
Student Success Advisor
Gloria completed her degree here at Collarts in 2021 with a Music Performance Bachelor. After her degree she went on to teach music at highschool before coming to join us at collarts as our first Student Advisor! Gloria loves writing music and enjoys both attending and playing gigs. She fronts as the lead singer of her pop-soul band JOTHI. When she’s not writing songs, Gloria enjoys staying in during days off to catch up on shows, trying to discover new hiking trails and stealing snuggles from her housemates cat, Moki.
Brunswick St Campus Supervisor and Music Theory Tutor
Jack is an alumnus of the Collarts Music Performance degree, having graduated in 2014. He is a versatile multi-instrumentalist specialising in electric guitar.
Jack has been involved in the music industry for over 10 years, doing session work and playing with various acts in his hometown of Cairns, before making the move to Melbourne in 2012.
Now he coordinates his own corporate bands, providing high-end entertainment packages in Melbourne and surrounding areas. In addition to this, he works with various artists and also on his own original projects.
Content & Social Media Manager
Jen Park is a writer, storyteller, keyboard-tapper, pen-clicker, digital wizard, social media scroller, Photoshop nerd, and most of all, an arts lover. Convenient then, that she is the Content and Social Media Manager at Collarts, where all those passions intersect.
Since getting hitched with a Bachelor of Communications in Journalism at RMIT University, her work has been published with SBS Guide, Junkee, Noisey, Beat Magazine, and more. Also under her belt is content, copy, and comms for RMIT’s School of Design and Social Context, Antenna Award-winning show Half Hour, as well as a myriad of freelance clients, including finance companies, researchers, musicians, and even your regular Joe.
In her spare time, Jen is creating niche Spotify playlists and watching nonsensical TikToks.
Future Student Team Leader - School of Design
Jessica has been working in the education industry for the past three years. With a wide knowledge of education and its international relations, she assists and guides international students with their application process, making their study transition seamless.
Holding a Master of Information System and Bachelor of International Business and Commerce, Jessica finds joy in the different processes and strategies that can be used to build relationships globally.
Campus Supervisor
Jude is an alumnus of the Music Performance course, having graduated in 2021 with his
Bachelor's Degree. During his time of studying Jude was involved in numerous bands with other
students and would be playing and seeing as many gigs a week as possible. Outside of study,
Jude prides himself as a performer first and foremost, having shared the stage with the likes of
Dallas Frasca and Phil and Kate Ceberano. Armed with his saxophone and bass guitar Jude
looks to carve his way into the music industry where he can be found on stage primarily with
fellow Collarts graduates in the Nick Keogh band, and in the much more recently founded Tax
Evaders.
Student Administrator
Lina is an industrial engineer with extensive work experience in the higher education sector in Australia. She is also a cooking enthusiast and a huge fan of music and entertainment, such as tiny desk concerts and TV comedy. Lina is thrilled to have joined the Collarts family as interacting with students and colleagues from all different cultures and backgrounds is what she loves to do.
Reception/Administration Assistant
Originally from Sydney, but grew up in Tasmania.
After traveling Europe and graduating from ANU with a BA in Art History and Curatorship, made the move to Melbourne.
Lou Lou was working in school administration, hospitality, and childcare, when she made the decision to go back to study. She is currently in the middle of a Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice, graduating in 2022.
Some of her passions are coffee, wine, food, travelling, languages, and art.
Feel free to visit her at the front desk, she is always up for a chat!
VET Student Administrator
With an equal love of all things music and sport, Lucas is equally at home watching a Shihad gig at The Espy, or supporting his beloved Tigers at the G. Hailing from the Mornington Peninsula he also has a deep connection with the ocean and is an avid SCUBA diver, having travelled to many exotic countries to fulfil this passion. Having worked in various positions within the VET sector for over 15 years, he thrives in student support and helping those less fortunate succeed in fulfilling their own educational ambitions. His role in the VET Team encompasses student success/support, administrative assistance, liaising with Collarts VETDSS partners and issuing of student awards.
Events Coordinator
Matilda graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Business (Entertainment Management) from Collarts in 2019, finishing her final trimester in Philadelphia as a part of an exchange with Drexel University. She also has a variety of experience in publicity, music journalism, venue booking and community radio.
If you look hard enough (which she advises you don’t), you may find traces of her on the internet from Balcony TV Melbourne, SYN radio and television, RRR and Beat Magazine. Before stepping into Event Coordinator at Collarts Matilda also worked in music publicity, developing campaigns for local Australian artists such as Angie McMahon and Laura Imbruglia.
In her spare time, you’ll find Matilda struggling to keep up with her Goodreads reading challenge.
Student Success Coordinator
Matt is a Student Success Coordinator who can be found in the Student Support office at our Wellington St Campus. Here he can help you out with timetabling, enrolments, linking you to support services, and more. He comes to Collarts from Student Services departments at Victoria University and City Literary Institute (London).
Long time part of Melbourne’s music scene, Matt was drawn to Collarts from the connection to Music and the arts. He has spent the past releasing records and touring home and abroad with punk bands Kromosom and Power.
In his spare time, he likes to play with his son, get tortured by the Western Bulldogs, and work towards his Psych masters.
Student Success Manager
Recently Meg has been galavanting around the globe and has just returned from living in London for the past couple of years.
After seeing every possible band and attending every possible music festival she could overseas, Meg decided to head back to her hometown in Melbourne and she couldn’t be happier that she has joined the Collarts family.
Need help with your timetable? Special Consideration? Someone to talk to about the most recent Bachelor episode? Meg is ready and willing to help you with everything you need. Not sure who to ask? Meg probably has your answer.
Content & Social Media Coordinator
After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications, Nikki followed her love for words and found herself in a fling with copywriting and social media marketing. Her work has ventured across fashion, lifestyle, music, and beauty, with bylines in Fashion Journal, South Magazine, and After Work Drinks Podcast among others.
Nikki believes in nurturing creativity and is continuously inspired by seeing others flourish through pursuing their passion. Safe to say she feels incredibly fulfilled in her first foray into education – documenting life at Collarts as Content and Social Media Coordinator, which wonderfully blends her love for the arts and creative strategy to spotlight the next generation’s emerging talents.
She’s happiest at a post-gig ramen feed, nursing her indoor plants, or petting her Jack Russell.
Deputy Registrar
As Student Administrator at Collarts, Peiyi is extremely passionate about the provision of excellent student experience. Peiyi moved to Melbourne in 2012 and completed Master degree in International Finance at Deakin University in 2014. During her time at Deakin, she worked on the Mentor Program and endeavoured to deliver exceptional support to student services.
Prior to working at Collarts, she has been working in education consulting industry for 3 years. Peiyi dedicates herself to her work and couldn’t be happier to join the Collarts family.
Quality & Compliance Manager
Peter is responsible for managing Collarts’ compliance with various legislation in relation to the quality of higher education. This is done in conjunction with the national regulator, TEQSA.
Peter comes to Collarts with over 25 years experience in the tertiary education sector. His various roles have included Admissions Manager, Student Centre Manager, Research Data Manager, Student Success Project Co-ordinator, and Student Recruitment and Marketing Officer. He has a passion for supporting education in the creative arts and has completed degrees in Television and Film Production, Contemporary Music, Education, and Business Analytics.
Along with being an administrator, Peter has also been a professional musician for the past 30 years, playing bass in various rock bands along the NSW far north coast.
Campus Supervisor
Having followed his heart into the fields of both filmmaking and music along the way Ryan found another passion for education and the people involved. As one of our Student Success Advisors Ryan is able to help students throughout their time with us here at Collarts. "The dedication and passion to a craft I get to see in our staff and students is what makes my job so rewarding." Having graduated from the Music performance degree in 2019 Ryan continues to work in Melbourne's music scene, most notably as guitarist for Riley Catherall's band.
Wellbeing Support and Counsellor
Sarah Pant completed a Bachelor degree in music theatre at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2002. She worked as a voice over artist in Melbourne before moving to the UK where she devised theatre for young people, created and toured theatre projects and performed as part of a cabaret duo in London. Sarah has shared her theatre and musical skills through a variety of creative workshops within corporate groups, schools and youth justice services throughout Europe and Australia.
Sarah also works as a holistic psychotherapist, facilitator and trainer. Her key areas of expertise and interest lie in group facilitation, conflict work and the creative dynamics and process of change. She has worked with groups and individuals in private practice and within organisations supporting client’s capacity to conduct healthy and skilful conversations and engage positively with challenging situations.
Sarah is an experienced holistic psychotherapist and NLP practitioner and draws from her many years of involvement in the community sector within psychosocial rehabilitation and early intervention programs. As well as teaching at Collarts, Sarah works in private practice and as a Senior Consultant at CLE Consulting. She also teaches at The Metavision Institute, offering training and seminars to psychotherapists and is a trainer of the Teachers Empowered program, a professional development program for teachers and social workers.
VET Advisor
After graduating from the Collarts Music Performance Degree in 2017, Seán "Figgers" has established himself as a creative professional on, and off the stage. A musician, teacher, event driver, stage manager, actor, producer & live audio engineer, he has performed many roles that range from local gigs to world-class festivals. Coming from a background of dramatic and musical theatre, he has always approached music performance with a primary objective of connecting with an audience, and taking them on a journey. Whether it be fronting a blistering 45 minute band set or supporting a songwriter, the approach of "serving the song" has, and always will be the main focus. A multi-instrumentalist, he has performed alongside Jess Parker, Oliver Northam, Felix Thorne, Madi Leeds, The Indulgence Collective and in the MICF with comedy band Gravëy. In his time working at Collarts, he provides many contributions to the VETDSS courses, including delivering workshops & course guidance, focused always on accessibility and holistic delivery.
Future Student Advisor (Engagement)
Soli is part of our valued Future Student Engagement team working closely with high school students, career advisors and school teachers.
Since graduating, Soli has spent the last few years working in Higher Education at Monash University and Melbourne Polytechnic. Her experience in Student Recruitment and Engagement with both domestic and international students has been invaluable in building the skills she now prides herself on and brings to her role here at Collarts.
Soli is also heavily active in the Melbourne music scene as a singer-songwriter. She currently works closely with many credible Australian artists and producers and is busy gigging around Melbourne with her band, showcasing her original music. She brings this wealth of industry knowledge with her when engaging with students about careers in the Creative Industries.
Campus Supervisor/Student Success Advisor
Tom has spent the last decade as a performing musician and artist manager in the Melbourne area. Tom is passionate about growing and fostering a safe and enjoyable environment for students as a student advisor and campus supervisor. Tom has completed a double degree at Collarts, and has played in a multitude of bands in the Melbourne area, most notably his current songwriting project 'Tommy Dynamite & The Explosions' who you can catch playing in the northern suburbs.
Marketing Coordinator
Varsha Tewari a.k.a. VT is a super sleuth after watching crime dramas and is always on a lookout for an un-marked van to prevent a crime.
A lover of all things marketing, VT has managed a profile of Account Management, SEO/SCM executioner, social media specialist and enjoys being on her toes while executing events.
When not at work, she enjoys sweating it out in a Pilates class or spontaneously taking a dip in the sea, or doing Harry Potter re-runs.
Campus Supervisor
Will is an alumnus of the Audio Production course, graduating in 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree. During his time as a student Will was involved in various Collarts events and won competitions such as “2019 Mix of the Year”. He is also a certified ProTools user. Outside of Collarts, Will runs a freelance Audio business where he works with numerous artists to record, mix and master their works.
