Panel discussion

Genevieve Lang is well known to Australian audiences as a harpist and broadcaster. You might well have seen her on stage with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and she’s enjoyed a long association with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. She’s also a founding member of SHE (Seven Harp Ensemble) and has performed as soloist with several orchestras around the country and overseas.

A few years ago, Genevieve became interested in writing and speaking about music and the world of music administration. Since then, she’s taken on education projects for Musica Viva, given pre-concert talks to audiences in Sydney and Hobart, led tours for Hayllar Music Tours, and worked with Pinchgut Opera, Gondwana Choirs and the Australian Youth Orchestra.

These days you’re more likely to hear her voice than her harp, as a presenter on ABC Classic. And she occasionally pops up on your television screens for special classical music events on ABC TV and ABC iView. For Genevieve, broadcasting and media are the perfect way to share her passion for classical music with the biggest possible audience!

Brett Weymark is one of Australia’s leading choral conductors, leading the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs since 2003 and conducting various major symphony orchestras across Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. He has also collaborated with Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Brett studied at Sydney University and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, continuing his conducting education with renowned maestros like Simon Halsey and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

He was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in 2001 and the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2021 for his contributions to music. Passionate about the transformative power of music, Brett believes it should be accessible to all for the well-being of individuals and communities.

For over 30 years, Lyn has harnessed the incredible power of young voices through her world-renowned ensembles: the Sydney Children’s Choir, Gondwana Voices, the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir and Marliya. Her choirs have appeared with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors and at festivals including the BBC Proms and Polyfollia.  

Lyn has commissioned over 200 works from composers across Australia and around the world and her ability to forge innovative and meaningful collaborations is widely recognised. She continues to foster strong relationships with First Nations artists across Australia, bringing together cultural custodians and composers to create new works which preserve and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island languages and cultures. Lyn enjoys a long-standing collaboration with singer-songwriter Felix Riebl of the Cat Empire and the singers of Marliya, presenting the critically-acclaimed show Spinifex Gum, which has featured at almost every Australian arts festival since its premiere at the Adelaide Festival in 2018.  

In 2017, Lyn received the Australia Council for the Arts’ Don Banks Music Award for outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia, in recognition of her lifework as founder and director of Gondwana Choirs. 

Music in Me Summit presenter

Dr. Anita Collins is a neuromusical educator and leading authority on how learning music strengthens cognitive development and drives measurable improvements in learning performance. She translates the latest neuroscience into practical insights that show how music learning enhances multiple areas of brain development, including literacy, self regulation, academic achievement, and long term cognitive growth.

Anita is the author of The Music Advantage and the founder of Bigger Better Brains, a global initiative that helps educators, parents, and system leaders understand the cognitive benefits of music learning. Her work focuses on research translation that supports systems change at every level, helping schools, education systems, and countries design and sustain high quality music learning programs that reliably improve student outcomes.

Her work is recognised across Australia, the US, the UK, Canada, and Ireland. Known for her clear and engaging communication across television, writing, and speaking, including her TED Ed lesson, TEDx talk, and her role in ABC’s Don’t Stop the Music, Anita works internationally through consulting, coaching, presentations, and collaborative partnerships to equip educators and organisations with evidence based tools that strengthen learning and performance.

Music in Me Summit presenter

Rachel Scott is a professional cellist and a primary school music educator who has been teaching in classrooms for over 20 years. She is currently the Education Manager of the Australian Children’s Music Foundation, a job that finds her delivering music lessons to disadvantaged children in the state, generating teaching resources, and training generalist teachers to feel more confident teaching music to their classes when she’s not there.

Rachel has developed workshops in partnership with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Australian Navy Band and the School of the Air. She teaches in metropolitan, regional and remote schools and has also worked in behavioural schools and taught via video-link. For many years, Rachel travelled to Timor Leste, working with Mary McKillop International training local Timorese teachers to deliver music lessons for both pre-school-aged children and children in primary classes.

Since 2003 Hamish has held the position of Director/ CEO of the Riverina Conservatorium of Music, and presently serves as President of the Association of NSW Regional Conservatoriums.. Hamish holds Masters degrees in both Music and Business Administration. Hamish’s formative piano studies included extensive study in Australia and the UK.

After studying music in London in 1998, Hamish returned to Australia and has worked as a pianist, accompanist, piano teacher, and lecturer. He has held appointments in piano teaching, chamber music and accompaniment at the Tamworth Regional Conservatorium, Gunnedah Conservatorium, and the Riverina Conservatorium of Music in Wagga Wagga. Hamish is a teacher/ presenter at the annual Piano+ Autumn Piano School, Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference and the Riverina Piano Pedagogy Conference.

Since 2016 Hamish has been on the faculty of the Central Queensland University to teach Diploma and Bachelor level piano students at the RCM. He is passionate about the development of young teachers in music education.