Georgia Crowe – Soprano
Georgia Crowe is a UWA Music graduate and choral music enthusiast. She graduated from UWA in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Studies and Music Specialist studies, where she studied classical voice under the tuition of Dr Andrew Foote. Her love of choral music began in Perth Modern School’s chamber music ensembles and lead to her joining Voyces in 2019 to get more experience performing contemporary choral music. Outside of The Choral Collective, she currently sings in UWA’s vocal ensembles, The Winthrop Singers and St Mary’s Cathedral Vocal Ensemble. She is also the Vice President of The Winthrop Singers and a UWA Music Students’ Society committee member.
Kira O’Dell – Soprano
Kira O’Dell is a musician with a passion for singing and education. She is in the last semester of her undergraduate degree in classical voice under Sara Macliver at UWA, and has performed with many choirs in WA, including the St George’s College Chapel Choir and Consort and the Winthrop Singers. Last year, Kira was the President of the UWA Music Students’ Society, as well as a Clough Scholar at St George’s College.
Kira is an active teacher of music, piano and singing, and hopes to continue her study in musical pedagogy, as well as continue to develop her love for choral singing and modern music in the Choral Collective. In the meantime, she also enjoys a spot of yoga and a weekly bubble tea.
Lydia Gardiner – Mezzo Soprano
(Consort Coordinator)
Lydia Gardiner is a composer, singer and teacher born and raised in Perth. She is currently completing her honours in music composition at the University of Western Australia.
Lydia has been singing in choirs since she was six years old and has performed with groups such as the West Australian Young Voices, Gondwana Choirs, St George’s Cathedral Consort, St George’s College Consort and Chapel Choir, the Giovanni Consort and Voyces.
She is also undergoing her training in Suzuki violin teaching, and teaches violin, theory and composition, as well as conducting the Fremantle Women’s Choir.
As a composer, Lydia won the Ransom Prize for composition at UWA in 2019, participated in the 2020 and 2022 WASO composition projects and has been commissioned by groups including the West Australian Young Voices, the UWA Con Cantorum, the Giovanni Consort, St George’s Cathedral, the Perth Orchestra Project, Tura New Music, the Anglican Schools Commission and the Perth Orchestra Project .
In her spare time, Lydia enjoys playing video games (on easy mode) and lifting heavy weights at the gym.
Gabrielle Scheggia – Alto
Gabrielle is a freelance singer based in Perth, and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Western Australia’s Conservatorium of Music.
Specialising in Baroque and Contemporary performance, Gab appears regularly with many of Perth’s leading ensembles including: The Irwin St Collective, The St George’s Cathedral Choir and Consort, The Giovanni Consort and The National Youth Choir of Australia.
She is also a core teaching artist for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Crescendo’ program, the artistic director of the Fremantle Women’s Choir and the founding director of ‘Side Note Choir’ which launched in April 2021 to much acclaim. In September, Gab will be travelling to Hungary to pursue further studies in conducting and music pedagogy, at the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Ferenc Academy in Kecskemét.
In her spare time Gab studies as a sommelier and when she’s not busy conducting, she’s practicing conducting in a mirror. Gab also believes the only thing better than four part harmony is 1 part Aperol, 2 parts Prosecco and a splash of soda over ice.
Maduvanthi Venkatesan – Alto
Maduvanthi is a keen performer and musician, who has been heavily involved in singing and theatre from a young age. She has been studying classical voice since primary school and joined the Choral Collective with Voyces in 2018. She has sung in choirs since she was 9 years old and is happiest when she is singing with others. Over the past few years, she has relished developing her musicianship and craft and hopes to continue to explore and perform choral works from an array of rich musical traditions.
Maduvanthi is also active in the climate justice movement; particularly as a member of Climate Justice Union, where she currently works and volunteers as a Climate Justice and Health organiser. Her work centres building power and capacity in our communities and institutions to collectively organise towards reaching net negative emissions as soon as possible, ensuring we’re equipped to adapt and cope with the impacts of climate damage, and realising a just transition across every sector and community, with no one left behind.
Kieran Lynch – Tenor
Kieran Lynch graduated with an honours degree in vocal performance from the University of Western Australia in 2018, where he was a resident Clough Scholar at St. George’s College and a founding member of the College Consort and Chapel Choir. His choral experience includes work with Voyces, the Giovanni Consort, and two seasons with the National Youth Choir of Australia.
Kieran has performed with Lost and Found Opera, Playwright Productions, and is a two-time Leo Award winner with Midnite Youth Theatre Company. He has also appeared in numerous Perth Fringe Festival productions, including a one man cabaret, Small Talk, in the 2021 Festival. In his spare time, Kieran enjoys gaming, baking, and is an avid fan of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Stefan Pugliese – Tenor
Stefan is a singer, composer and arranger, and tenor in Vanguard. He is a founding member of Voyces and is passionate about building the profile of new Australian choral music locally and beyond. He has performed interstate and internationally with various ensembles and is a two-time champion in both the Barbershop Harmony Australia National Quartet and Chorus Competitions.
Stefan holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition from the University of Western Australia, having studied under Christopher Tonkin and James Ledger. During this time, he achieved success in several competitions, including the 2011 Dorothy Ellen Ransom Prize in Musical Composition and the inaugural Voyces: Aspire composition competition in 2012. He also participated in the 2012 WASO Composition Project.
Outside of music, Stefan enjoys creating ice cream and sorbet of various flavours.
Alex Wheeler – Baritone
Alex has sung in choirs since his aunt embarrassed him by starting one at his primary school, and he’s loved it ever since. A graduate of the University of Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he studied piano under Dr Bernadette Harvey, Alex used to consider himself a pianist first and foremost. Touring internationally to the likes of Westminster and Notre Dame with the Chamber Choir made it clear that pursuing singing would be vital in future, and he has been singing with Voyces since 2015. He has since studied Psychology at UWA, where he is currently about halfway (but who knows?) through his PhD.
Curtis Novacsek – Baritone
Curtis has been performing in Voyces for almost 10 years and has always been enamoured by modern choral music. He has performed in operas through Lost and Found Opera and OperaBox and has studied solo classical voice under Linda Barcan and Joan Hind.
Curtis also has a fascination with learning and understanding and enjoys incorporating a creative aspect in his lessons with his students.
When Curtis isn’t working or studying, you may find him playing Ultimate Frisbee or dabbling in voice acting, 3D modelling or programming.
Jack Kay – Bass
Jack has been singing with The Choral Collective for 6 years, debuting with Voyces for ‘Odyssey’ in 2015. A serial undergraduate, he has been studying at UWA for the same length of time, first majoring in engineering, then chemistry, before finally settling on linguistics. He was also involved for a time with the UWA Vocal Consort, singing in the ensemble in 2015 and 16. When not singing or studying, Jack is an avid fan of tabletop roleplaying games, and can usually be found either playing or writing them.