ARTISTIC STAFF

AJ America, Artistic Director

AJ is a performer, conductor and creative producer. She is the conductor of Luminescence Children's Choir, a mezzo soprano was Luminescence Chamber Singers, and was the founding Chair of Luminescence Chamber Singers. AJ grew up in Sydney as a member of the Sydney Children’s Choir and Gondwana Voices and has toured nationally as well as across the USA, Canada, China and New Zealand. AJ has recorded for a number of Australian film soundtracks, including as a soloist for PJ Hogan’s Mental and Baz Luhrman’s Australia. In 2012, both her vocal performances and choral composition were nominated for Encore.

AJ appears regularly as a soloist and a consort singer in Sydney and Canberra, performing with the Luminescence Chamber Singers, the Choir of St James’ King St, Cantillation, Pinchgut Opera and Vox Plexus (Melbourne). She is a regular collaborator with pianist Ella Luhtasaari and a member of Ampleya, a multimedia collaboration with pianist and composer Rasa Daukis and visual artist Genevieve Swifte.

In recent years, AJ has also served as the Musical Director of Canberra Community Chorale, the ANU School of Music H-Course Vocal Ensemble, and Director of Choirs at Radford College.

In her spare time, AJ is a casual academic with strong ties to the Australian National University. In 2017, AJ completed her PhB with Honours in History. In 2018 and 2019 she taught 20^th Century European History at the ANU, and is a contributor to the forthcoming Cambridge University Press NSW Year 9-10 History Textbook.

Veronica Milroy, Associate Artistic Director

Soprano, pianist & chamber musician, Veronica grew up in regional NSW and studied at the Mitchell Conservatorium. She was a member of Gondwana Choirs from 2003 – 2017 and has toured both nationally and internationally across the UK & Europe, the USA, and New Zealand. In 2014, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Voice) from the ANU School of Music under the tutelage of Alan Hicks & Louise Page OAM.

An experienced consort singer, Veronica performs with the Luminescence Chamber Singers (Canberra), Coro (Canberra) and the Choir of St James’ King Street (Sydney). Veronica has been an educator for nearly a decade and has worked as a singing tutor, accompanist and director with many organisations across Canberra & Central Western NSW, as well as the Rhapsody Rotorua Festival (New Zealand) . In addition to performing with the Chamber Singers, Veronica is the pianist for Luminescence Children's Choir and was a founding member of the Luminescence Board of Directors.

In her free time Veronica is training as a yoga instructor, and has a keen interest in how yogic principles can be applied to the performing musicians’ life.

Dan Walker, Associate Artistic Director

Composer, conductor and performer Dan Walker is one of Australia’s most in-demand choral specialists. He has had works commissioned by the Sydney Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Gondwana Choirs and Halcyon. As a performer, Dan is a principal artist at both Luminescence Chamber Singers and the Song Company. He sings regularly with Cantillation and Pinchgut Opera, and has been a member of the professional vocal ensemble The Consort of Melbourne and was a founding member of early music ensemble, The Parson’s Affayre. He is a keenly sought-after conductor, appearing as chorus master for the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Choruses, and is currently the Artistic Director of Canberra Choral Society, Canberra Community Chorale and Oriana Chorale, as well as Associate Artistic Director of Luminescence Chamber Singers.

Elsa Huber, Sight-Singing Tutor

Elsa is a young composer, vocalist, violinist, chorister, organist and teacher, studying a Double Degree of Arts and Music (Composition) at the Australian National University. Her first commissioned original work was premiered in Melbourne in February. In 2018, Elsa’s choral music was workshopped by the renowned Estonian E STuudio Youth Choir, and she wrote and contributed to the performances of six pieces for the 2018 Canberra International Music Festival. Elsa is learning violin with Tor Fromhyr and classical voice with Cheryl Barker. She is a soprano with Kompactus Youth Choir and the Canberra Bach Ensemble, and the principal second violinist of the Canberra Youth Orchestra. Elsa has also performed with the National Capital Orchestra, the ANU Chamber Choir, the MacKillop A Capella Choir, and played handbells with the Australian War Memorial Orchestra in the Australian premiere of The Diggers’ Requiem. Elsa was the recipient of the 2013 Audrey Fagan Young Women’s Enrichment Grant, the 2015 ADF Long Tan Youth Leadership & Teamwork Award, the 2017 St Mary MacKillop College Creative Arts Award, the 2018 ANZCA Composition Prize (First Year), and an organ scholarship from the ACT Organ School and the Wesley Music Centre in 2017 and 2018. Elsa is also the Developing Musicians Program Theory and Aural Skills Tutor
at the Open School at ANU School of Music.

Patrick Baker, Sight-Singing Tutor

Patrick Baker graduated with a Master of Music Studies (Composition) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2017, where he studied under Carl Vine. His music has been performed both nationally and internationally, and he has participated in workshops with some of Australia’s leading composers including Paul Stanhope and Stephen Leek. As a singer he has performed with Luminescence Chamber Singers, Cantillation, Choir of St James’ King St, as well as been a participant in SongCo Lab.

Leanne McKean, Sight-Singing Tutor

Leanne McKean graduated with a Bachelor of Music, majoring in Vocal Studies at the Canberra School of Music, ANU in 2003 and a Graduate Diploma of Education at University of Canberra in 2005. She has taught in primary and secondary schools in Australia, Scotland and England, in both the public and private sectors, She was appointed Head of Music at St Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls, London and then returned to Canberra to take up the position of Head of Music and Director of Choirs at Radford College, Canberra. She has been a member of many choirs, most notably Chandos Chamber Choir, London where she regularly toured England leading evensong services in places such as Lincoln Cathedral and Ely Cathedral. She also has a passion for community singing and is currently the Musical Director of Canberra Mens’ Choir.