Melissa Karakaltsas is the Coordinator of Junior School Music (P-6), Classroom Music Teacher and Choral Conductor at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School. Melissa has taught Classroom Music and conducted choirs in a number of school settings across Kindergarten to Year 6 for 15 years. As a student she was taught in a Kodály setting and this is where her passion for making music with others, and particularly choral music, began. Since the beginning of her career, Melissa has been a keen advocate of the Kodály Philosophy and Method and has been on the committee of the Victorian Branch of KMEIA for most of that time. She was awarded the Australian Kodaly Certificate (Primary) in 2021. Melissa’s most recent interests in education are in the Science of Learning and Explicit Instruction, informing her curriculum develemnt a solidifying her understanding of the successful elements of the Kodaly Method and developing her practice in other areas. 

Stefania Miller has taught classroom music for 12 years and is currently the Classroom Music Specialist (Prep- Year 6) and Choral Conductor at St. Cecilia’s Primary School in Glen Iris, Melbourne.

Stefania’s enthusiasm for Kodaly based music education comes from her love of singing and musical theatre. She completed the Australian Kodaly Certificate in 2018 and since then has been passionate about creating fun and exciting musical experiences for her students which are engaging and inclusive of all abilities.

Equally at home working with children, community groups and professionals, Juliana strives to create musical experiences that are both engaging for singers and memorable for audiences. A trained secondary school teacher and Kodaly-inspired educator, she has been conducting choirs and teaching in schools since 2016, while maintaining her own practice as a singer and award-winning composer. She is regularly commissioned to write new music for chamber choirs, amateur choirs and school choirs across Australia, and in 2024 was one of four finalists for the Australian Art Music Awards: Choral Work of the Year.

In 2018 she founded innovative chamber choir Choral Edge, which saw her regularly experimenting with multimedia performances and collaborations with comedians, visual artists and theatre directors. Outside of Australia, Juliana has led singing and musicianship workshops in Chile through the Global Leaders Institute, observed and learned from conductors in New Zealand, USA and Cuba, supported by the Sydney Symposium Choral Foundation Conducting Scholarship, and conducted Exaudi on tours to Scotland/Ireland, Italy/Spain and New Zealand.

Marion Stafford is a highly respected Kodály Music educator who has taught throughout all levels – from Preschool to Tertiary. She is a graduate of Melbourne University and the prestigious Holy Names Summer Institute in Oakland California.

Marion has made a significant contribution to the development of teacher training courses in Melbourne and served as President of the Victorian branch of Kodály Australia for many years. Marion is currently the Head of Music in the Junior School at the Wheelers Hill campus of Caulfield Grammar School and directs the Beginning Training Choir of Young Voices of Melbourne.

Elizabeth is a passionate music educator, conductor and choral performer. She has a decade of music teaching experience both within schools and in the wider community. Elizabeth is currently the Director of Training Choirs at Young Voices of Melbourne, teaches at Caulfield Grammar School, and is the founder of Very Young Voices of Melbourne, Kodály inspired music classes for children aged 0-5.

In 2019, Elizabeth was awarded the Sarolta Kodály Scholarship to study at the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Academy, where she completed an Advanced Diploma. She was awarded the Australian Kodály Certificate (AKC) in 2012 and is an accredited Kodály lecturer. She is an experienced workshop presenter and has taught musicianship and primary pedagogy as part of the AKC. Elizabeth performs regularly as a soprano and is currently a member of Alta Collective.

Renee Heron is a dynamic music educator and choral conductor who founded and serves as the Artistic Director of The Yarra Voices, recognised for its joyful and child-centred approach to choral education. She is also a choral and singing teacher at Camberwell Girls Grammar, runs Choir 3006 at the Melbourne Recital Centre, and regularly lectures at Monash University.

​​A leading practitioner of the Kodály music education philosophy in Melbourne, Renee has served as President of the Victorian Branch of the Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia. She attended the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Kecskemét, Hungary (2016–17), and received an award for excellence in Australian Kodály-inspired Music Education in 2022. She recently completed an Honours degree in Choral and Orchestral Conducting at the University of Adelaide under Dr. Carl Crossin and Dr. Luke Dollman and also holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Queensland & a Master of Teaching from the University of Melbourne.