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Instrumental Music Staff

Kevin Cameron

Director of Performing Arts


Kevin Cameron is an Australian music educator and conductor. He is Music Director of the New Zealand Youth Symphonic Winds and Director of Performing Arts at Gippsland Grammar School.

Dr Cameron has studied with some of the world’s most renowned conducting teachers and has appeared with the Sydney, Tasmanian, West Australian, and Darwin Symphony Orchestras, and many youth and community orchestras and bands throughout Australia. He was named the inaugural winner of the ABC’s Young Conductor of the Year competition and has subsequently held numerous posts in education, including the University of Newcastle, the Upper Hunter Conservatorium, Pembroke School, and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

Dr Cameron works as a guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician throughout Australia. He has served as President of the National Band Council of Australia, the South Australian Band Association, and the Victorian Bands’ League. Dr Cameron is a passionate advocate for conductor development and training and continues this work as Director – Professional Development and Education at Maestros With a Mission.

Katrina Chilcott

Woodwind (Garnsey and St Anne's Campus)

Katrina Chilcott is originally from Launceston, Tasmania. Katrina received her Bachelor of Contemporary Arts (Music) from the University of Tasmania. With the UTCMP (University of Tasmania Community Music Program) she continued her conducting experience working with beginner to advanced ensembles while playing first clarinet in the programmes premier ensemble, the Wind Orchestra. Although Katrina’s primary instrument is the clarinet, she also enjoys playing and teaching saxophone and has also taught flute.

Tamara Warden

Flute (Garnsey Campus)

Tamara Warden grew up in Gippsland, studying flute and piano with a number of local teachers. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the University of Melbourne in 1992, majoring in music education and in instrumental teaching and since has been delighted to be able to return home to teach in a variety of local schools. Tamara has performed as a soloist with local orchestras and has enjoyed being a member of many bands for local theatrical productions. Currently she is teaching flute at Gippsland Grammar and flute and piano at St Paul's Anglican Grammar School.

Bradley Cruickshank

Brass (Garnsey and St Anne's Campus)

Bradley Cruickshank has been with Gippsland Grammar since 2003. He teaches all brass and bass guitar from beginner to VCE level. Bradley's full time teaching career started in 2008 and he has been playing professionally since 1981 when he joined the Royal Australian Navy Band as a full time musician. Since then Bradley has played in bands and ensembles that have covered most if not all genres of music. However, his biggest professional opportunities have come from the Latin and Big Band scene in Melbourne and Gippsland. He continues to play locally and directs his own big band. Bradley has performed at most of Australia's big venues such as The Sydney Opera house, Crown Casinos, capital cities Arts Centres, plus a 4 month contract with ‘Celebrity Cruises’ in the Caribbean.

Karen Phelps

Piano (St Anne's Campus)

Karen Phelps grew up in Maffra, where she attended Maffra Primary School and Maffra Secondary College. Karen began piano lessons at the age of ten with a local teacher, Dulcie May, and at the age of fifteen knew she wanted to become a piano teacher. She continued private tuition and teacher training with Judy Hall of Newborough, who helped her achieve an A.Mus.A. (Associate In Music, Australia) Diploma at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne in 1987. Karen has over 30 years teaching experience, from prep children to adults.

Laura Evans

Violin (Garnsey and St Anne's Campus)

Laura Evans studied music at Gippsland Grammar before furthering her studies at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music. During her studies Laura held leadership positions with the Elder Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra and was a finalist in the Beta Sigma Phi Competition. She has also enjoyed positions with the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute. Laura studied with members of the Australian String Quartet and is passionate about chamber music. While in Adelaide, Laura was a founding member of the TriAd Piano Trio, worked with the Adelaide Art Orchestra and held a traineeship position with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Laura graduated from the Elder Conservatorium with a Bachelor of Music Performance with Honours and is currently completing her Master of Teaching with Deakin University.

Rosemary Iversen

Violoncello (Garnsey, St Anne's and Bairnsdale Campus)

Rosemary Iversen was born in Kenya and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Music and English and a Diploma in Education at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. Attained Grade 8 on Piano and Cello (with Distinction) and also an Advanced Certificate on Cello through the Royal Schools of Music. Other musical interests include choral singing, acoustic guitar, steel band playing (with Andrew Tracey in South Africa), Baroque cello with the ensemble ‘Mostly Baroque’ in Perth, conducting junior and senior string groups and quartet playing with ‘Simply Classical’. Rosemary enjoys playing the cello and more recently the bass in chamber and full orchestral ensembles and musicals. Highlights are a masterclass with Pierre Fournier when she was 14, singing in the Sydney Opera house and playing lead cello with the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra. Rosemary teaches cello, piano and double bass in various school in the area and enjoys teaching young children from the age of 4 upwards using the Suzuki method and mature age students.

Paul Van Eekelen

Percussion (Garnsey and St Anne's Campus)

Paul Van Eekelen received his first drum and drum lessons at the age of 11 and drum kit at age 12. He began playing in garage bands at the age of 15 and professionally by the age of 17, mostly at weddings, restaurants and bar-mitzvah’s. During this time he was also studying at Box Hill College of TAFE, which really opened up the world of music performance and musicianship for him. Paul went on to study at RMIT and Monash universities where he received his teaching degree. Paul has been teaching percussion, drum kit, class music and music technology for 32 years and has performed professionally in many ensembles during this time. These include Top 40 bands, original rock bands, percussion, experimental and small jazz ensembles. Paul has been a teacher at Gippsland Grammar since 1989.

Tanika Richards

Piano, Voice and Flute (Garnsey and St Anne's Campus)

Tanika is a highly skilled and accomplished musician who loves teaching. She has a wide range of experience as a classroom music teacher, instrumental music teacher, accompanist and vocal director across education, community and professional settings. Tanika was most recently Director of Performing Arts at Salesian College, Rupertswood, and Teacher of Piano and School Accompanist at Geelong Grammar School. Tanika holds a Bachelor of Music from the Elder Conservatorium, Graduate Diploma in Management (Arts and Cultural Management) and a Master of Education (Research) where she researched the Pedagogical Approaches that enhanced students’ musical creativity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tanika is also a gifted performer, having performed on piano as a concerto soloist and recitalist, and twice winning the Open Piccolo title at the Australian National Band Championships.

Lynette Biggs

Piano (Bairnsdale Campus)

Lynette Biggs grew up in Gippsland, studying piano and performing with both school and community bands. She has a Diploma of Teaching (Primary) and a Bachelor of Education, majoring in mathematics. Lynette taught year 7 - 12 mathematics for many years, before transitioning to classroom music and piano teaching. She currently enjoys teaching piano to both children and adults, working concurrently at Gippsland Grammar and Nagle College. Lynette has been privileged to teach piano at Gippsland Grammar since the opening of the Bairnsdale campus in 2006.

Danny Stain

Voice, Piano and Guitar (Garnsey, St Anne's and Bairnsdale Campus)

Danny Stain is a Chart topping artist originally from Melbourne, Victoria. Danny's expertise lies in a number of instruments such as: guitar, bass, piano and voice to mention but a few.

He has achieved international acclaim headlining cruise ships, theatre shows and festivals, as well as winning many awards for his work producing & arranging countless music Albums and for film and television.

His sound engineering skills has resulted in Danny being commissioned for both SBS and ABC.

Danny's passion for teaching has been inspired by past mentors who instilled in him the great pleasure that music gifts people. This mantra is the force behind what drives Danny to inspire students to achieve their full potential.

Cara Schaefer

Voice (St Anne's and Bairnsdale Campus & Bairnsdale Co-ordinator)

Cara was passionate about music from an early age. She started voice lessons at the age of 13 and throughout secondary school, was heavily involved in the Performing Arts program. She completed a Bachelor of Music, Jazz Performance in 2008 at Monash University, where she studied with some of Australia’s leading jazz musicians including Michelle Nicolle, Rob Burke, Stephen Magnusson and Tony Gould. She went on to complete a Masters of Teaching at The University of Melbourne, with focuses on secondary music classroom, instrumental teaching and conducting. In 2008, she started teaching voice in Melbourne, and has since worked with a range of singing students from young children to adults. For almost 20 years, she has performed professionally throughout Victoria, with highlights including performances at Hamer Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne and supporting Kate Cebrano at The Edge, Federation Square. Locally, she frequently performs at a range of events, is heavily involved with the Sale Theatre Company and has a Jazz group - The John Gibson Band.

Katie Germaine

(St Anne's Co-ordinator)

Lauren Bryant

Brass, Woodwind and Piano (Garnsey, St Anne's and Bairnsdale Campus)

Lauren has been playing piano since she was four years old. She started performing and playing in bands when she was five and has since continued to enjoy playing music in a variety of places and genres including classical, rock and reggae, and various settings including opportunities to support some of her favourite bands she loved listening to growing up. Lauren has been teaching instrumental music to children and adults since 2009 with her focus being piano, brass and woodwind but loves trying any instrument she can get her hands on!

In 2010 she completed her Bachelor of Applied Music Performance at Box Hill TAFE (Jazz/Popular) on trumpet and went on to complete her Master of Teaching (Primary School and Early Childhood) at Deakin in 2013.
Currently Lauren enjoys playing in different bands and teaching at Gippsland Grammar. She loves witnessing the delight of her students as they achieve their own musical successes.

Ally Orr

Violin and Viola (Garnsey, St Anne's and Bairnsdale)

Ally Orr is a violinist/violist based in Gippsland. She has taught violin/viola both in Gippsland and in Melbourne.

Ally began her studies at the University of Melbourne studying a Bachelor of Music (Interactive Composition). Whilst there, she has studied composition under Mark B. Buys, Dr. Anthony Lyons and Ade Vincent.

Whilst studying, Ally had the privilege of continuing her viola playing, learning under Simon Oswell. She has also performed with ensembles such as the Melbourne Opera and The University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and has performed at venues including Hamer Hall, Palais Theatre, Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne Town Hall and the Myer Music Bowl. She has also been part of the Australian Youth Orchestra's National Music Camp program, Melbourne Youth Orchestra and has tutored at Border Music Camp.

Currently, Ally is enjoying teaching at Gippsland Grammar and being involved in community music and other art forms. You may see her performing with the Gippsland Symphony Orchestra, or in chamber ensembles at various events around Gippsland. She also enjoys being involved in community theatre, both onstage, and behind-the-scenes.