​THE
CITY OF SHOALHAVEN
EISTEDDFOD

Rosalynne is a stage dancing examiner (British Dancing Association) in classical, tap, modern and jazz ballet and hip hop with life membership of the BDA. She is a former professional dancer on stage and television who regularly conducts and attends dance seminars for the BDA and Australian Dance Adjudicators Association. She is experienced in all facets of stage craft. As Foundation member, Life member and Past President of the Australian Dance Adjudicators Association, Rosalynne designed and implemented the adjudicators training course and mentored many of today’s adjudicators. She has conducted successful dancing schools in Shellharbour, Wollongong, Kiama and Gerringong and is currently teaching for the WEA and U3A. She has travelled to Hong Kong and conducted guest classes at several leading dance schools and also taught adult jazz ballet and tap dancing on cruise ships. With 36 years of dance and education experience as a performer, teacher, mentor and choreographer Rosalynne is well placed to provide encouragement and sound advice to eisteddfod performers.

Clemens has performed with the six Australian symphony orchestras and played at venues in Spain, the UK, Singapore, New Zealand, the US, Thailand, Hungary and China. He has appeared regularly with the Australian String Quartet, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Offspring, the Moscow Virtuosi and at the Bang on a Can and Focus! festivals of new music in New York City. For his London Royal Festival Hall debut Leske performed Rachmaninov’s 1st Piano Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Four CDs of solo piano works ranging from Chopin and Schumann to Kurtag and Duckworth were released in 2022. He very much enjoys his work in teaching and research at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music as well the opportunity to perform chamber music.

Merryl learned speech and drama from an early age and grew to love creativity, literature and performance. She is passionate about teaching and imparting knowledge and confidence to those interested in improving communication skills. She has an Associate, and Licentiate Diploma through the Australian Guild of Music and Speech, is an accredited Examiner for the IMEB and a director of the board. She also has a Fellowship through the IMEB for contributing to Speech and Drama throughout her career as a teacher. Merryl has taught in private schools and conducts a private studio in North West Sydney. Through her teaching years, she has seen many pupils graduate with high-performance levels and teaching diplomas through the IMEB. Merryl believes it is a privilege to inspire and encourage others into the art of creatively communicating. Merryl has  adjudicated many eisteddfods and festivals throughout Australia and Internationally during her career. She has also established the examining board of the IMEB in Sri Lanka to assist children in learning English. She loves to encourage participants and help them realise their potential in performing. She has  extensive experience as a teacher, examiner, workshop presenter and adjudicator and has also directed and performed in many creative productions. Her passion is encouraging and seeing the next generations flourish to their full strengths.

Jacqueline is a multiple Helpmann and Green Room Award winning singer,
whose career encompasses opera, musical theatre, cabaret and concert. Her
performances include Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music, Fricka in Der Ring
des Nibelungen, title role in Carmen, title role in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima
Donna for Adelaide Festival, Amneris in Aida, Anna Karenina and Murphy for The
Australian Ballet, Tom Wait’s Black Rider for Malthouse Theatre and Victorian
Opera and Paul Mac’s The Rise and Fall of St George for Sydney Festival. In 2019, Jacqueline donned her dual hats as a musician and physicist to join MSO
in chairing a discussion panel on music and physics, with esteemed physicist
Brian Cox. She was a principal artist with Opera Australia for two decades and has appeared with companies including Vienna State Opera, Opera Hong Kong, Pinchgut Opera, Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, WA and NZ Symphony Orchestras, MONA and Sydney Philharmonia.

David was born and educated in Brisbane. He studied piano privately, and later undertook tertiary level Vocal and Opera studies at Queensland Conservatorium of Music. Early choral activities were with the St. Cecilia Chorale, Queensland University Chorale and Early Music Society of Brisbane. Professionally he then worked as a minor principal and in the chorus of Opera Queensland before relocating to Sydney in 1984. He worked with The Song Company and then the Australian Opera for a period of 24 years, after which he left the company to establish himself on the South Coast. He now works as a vocal coach, accompanist, concert organiser and presenter. He has previously adjudicated choral sections of the Shoalhaven Eisteddfod, been guest soloist for The
Lydian Singers and Music Shoalhaven, and in the cast of Nowra Players and Albatross Musical Theatre Co. David also plays organ at Berry Uniting Church.