SINGING WORKSHOPS
SING WITH AUSTRALIA’S BEST MUSICAL DIRECTORS
During the day we have a variety of singing workshops, with different styles, genres, and different leaders. The sessions have an emphasis on beautiful harmony, spine-tingling moments, and heart-warming connection.
A feast for the ears, a fizz for the brain, and a tonic for the soul!
DETAILS
The 2026 Winter Mountain Fest is an investment in mind, body and spirit. It’s a commitment to deep connection with yourself, your community and the beautiful surrounding nature. Stay home and scroll through Netflix again, or come up the mountain and discover what your soul really needs.
This is a great chance to reconnect with your voice, your heart and your community after a tough couple of years.
WHAT: Feed your soul some fabulous music, meet some other local singers, and enjoy the clean Mt Evelyn air.
WHEN: Friday 19 – Sunday 21 June 2026
WHERE: Mt Evelyn Recreation Camp
TICKET INCLUDES:
ACCOMMODATION (2 nights), ALL MEALS, PRESENTERS and ACTIVITIES!
VENUE LOCATION
* Make sure you take the path to your right, just before you enter the football oval *
A weekend singing camp with music trivia, singing workshops and an awesome fire pit singalong. There are also some other activities including morning yoga and drumming circles. It is the perfect weekend if you love singing and music!
FIREPIT SINGALONGS
CONTRIBUTE A SONG TO THE FIREPIT ORCHESTRA!
Rug up, grab your guitar, and come join the cacophony of musical delights at our under-cover, all-weather firepit. Contribue a solo, join in on a well-known chorus, shake a tambourine, or just bask in the glow of the wonderful atmosphere.
The Winter Mountain Fest was two days of pure joy! Singing was always important to me, but this event showed me how long such a joyful experience could last – it was quite eye opening.
TEAM MUSIC TRIVIA
MEET SOME AWESOME PEOPLE!
Friday night starts with a light dinner, a casual drink, and some team music trivia. Whether you are a trivia buff, or merely contribute a question or two, music trivia ensures you get to meet some terrific people, spark some great stories, and make some life-long connections.
A safe and welcoming environment for all levels of singer, a great variety of talented presenters, with the added bonus of a music trivia quiz and firepit singalongs in the evenings.
DRUM CIRCLES
TAKE OUT ALL YOUR FRUSTRATION ON A DRUM!
Feel the power of three dozen city folk bashing out their year’s angsts on some animal skins in the name of art! It’s an incredible feeling to say the least!
The Mountain Fest feeds your soul by making music, meeting great people and having lots of fun. Very inclusive. The afterglow lasts longer than the smoke in your clothes!
To sing with a group of people from all walks of life in a safe and comfortable environment was terrific. The beautiful harmonies that each instructor teased out of the group brought goosebumps upon goosebumps. The happiness instilled in me through this experience has lingered for weeks.
My life was changed forever at Mountain Fest; I stumbled upon it looking to sing with others and found gold. This weekend at the very least will expand your horizons both musically and socially and might just change your life; do it!
A great opportunity to share singing and moving in harmony. A opportunity to learn a variety of different vocal styles A great place to meet like- minded people.
A great balance of singing, learning, playing and getting to know other music lovers. Chris and the team were professional in their approach and made sure everyone was included and had a good time. Thanks so much for a fantastic event.
SHELLY BROWN
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SHELLY BROWN is a force of nature. Subtle, but powerful like the tides. Be sure to experience her overwhelm, at least once in your life. Shelly’s band features horns, harmonies, rhythm and groove. The set will build, from intimate and poetic, to a powerfully heartfelt alchemy of soul music.
No matter the ensemble, the set will build, from intimate and poetic, to a powerfully heartfelt alchemy of soul music. Shelly Brown has been a performing singer, songwriter and singing teacher for over a decade on the North Coast of NSW, and has performed around the world in various line-ups including a jazz duo and her own original soul band.
She has independently produced albums and EP’s, and when she’s not promoting them, she’s the PR manager for her family business, (which, incidentally, manufactures Australia’s safest light sport ultralight aircraft, the Australian LightWing).
Shelly leads a vocal workshop like a wander through a playground. Vocal exploration through songs, harmony, body work and fun. Music is about percussion, breathing, dance and shedding your worry for how things should sound, and leaning into how things feel that day, in this way, there is no right or wrong, just sing. Shelly has studied Contemporary vocals, (Certificate, Bachelor, Honours), toured with various bands near and far (Red Bantoo, CBD Dub Project, Cass Eager), Supported some world class legends (Jon Cleary, Dionne Warwick, The Badloves), and created a number of albums (Under “Shelly Brown” (nee “Hughes”).
Using a mixture of music and textures with a focus on Australian; Female; Original; Gospel; Maori; Brazilian and African ingredients- a cake will be made with the moment in time of that days workshop. Different every time, creating this golden orb of sustenance for the soul.
KYM DILLON
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Kym Dillon is a composer; arranger; orchestrator, pianist and conductor, who is currently based in Melbourne and Geelong. Starting out her career as a jazz pianist, Kym’s interest soon turned to composition, and her work now regularly spans multiple genres and areas of musical practice.
She completed a Bachelor of Music Performance Honours in composition at the Victorian College of the Arts, studying under such teachers as Anthony Lyons, Mark Pollard, and John McCaughey. She was awarded the ‘Beleura Sir George Tallis Award’ from the ‘Friends of the VCA’ for her work in the course in 2009; and the ‘Beleura John Tallis Award’ in 2010. She composed and performed two original jazz works for the VCA Improvisation Series in 2009, for which her ensemble won the ‘Athanaeum Prize’.
Kym has had original works commissioned by such groups as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Astra Chamber Music Society, and Musica Viva; and her music has been performed in Canada, the U.K., North America, Canada, Romania and Italy. Her work is often inspired by reflections on the nature of imagination and creation — what it means to create and what our creative compulsion says about us.
Kym has frequently collaborated with the choreographer and artist Jude Walton, including performing solo piano compositions for her show Heide (2014) and Heide II (2015) at the Heide Museum of Contemporary art; conducting compositions for brass quartet for her show The Drill Hall Project (2017); and performing a collection of serial and improvised piano works for her show Nadja-Léona (2018).
In 2017 Kym was commissioned by St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Box Hill to compose a cantata for chamber orchestra, choir and soloists celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Lutheran reformation, with the work being given a repeat performance in 2018. 2019 saw Kym collaborate with BK Opera to transform the intense orchestral score of Béla Bartók’s opera Bluebeard’s Castle into the radically different style of synthesiser-laden 80’s electronica, with her work on the project described by the review site whatdidshethink.com as ‘great genius’. In 2021 she was commissioned by the City of Greater Geelong to compose a work for the Sonus Ensemble which responded to iconic sites of the local area, a project which incorporated a variety of media and which was premiered at the Geelong Art Gallery.
As a pianist she often performs in her own chamber works, such as her Sonata for Piano (2019), and Sonata for Flute and Piano (2021), but also regularly in jazz/contemporary contexts. She also frequently enjoys playing as an accompanist to vocalists, such as in 2015 where she performed on piano as part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival show, Larry Paradiseo and the Fabulous Dame Farrar. She also regularly performs on piano with the Georgia Brooks Swingtet, a group that specialises in revitalising classic swing-era jazz tunes.
Kym is also a conductor for the charity Creativity Australia’s ‘With One Voice’ program, which seeks to connect people from different walks of life through community singing. As part of this role she conducts two choirs (Geelong and Ashburton) each week, having led them to perform at venues such as the Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, and the Monash carols in Jells Park.
Residing in Geelong, Kym now juggles work as a composer, arranger, theory/compositon teacher, tutor, performer, conductor and writer, and is currently studying a Masters of Composition at Melbourne University under the supervision of Elliot Gyger and Melody Eötvös.
CHOIROKE
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The amazing team from Choiroke will be joining us at 2025 Winter Mountain Fest! Annemarie and Tenille are amazing choir directors, and together they run Choiroke – a pop-up choir where you can learn how to sing an 80s/90s RnB hit in three-part harmony. They’ll be running a session for us after dinner on Saturday night – it’s going to be an absolute hoot!
GEOFFREY WILLIAMS
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Geoffrey Williams – voice, guitar, percussion, loop pedal, improv, audience participation, nonsense! Career highlights – from writing for Michael Jackson & Dusty Springfield to local hits like the Begonia Festival (Ballarat) Bendigo Blues & Roots and Clunes Booktown! Think ’70s soul vocals, harmonies and beat box grooves!
Originally from the UK, Geoffrey is now based in Buninyong and Melbourne, and runs The October Choir on a Tuesday night in the CBD!
CHRIS BLAIN
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Chris has been writing, producing, managing and performing in the music industry for over fifteen years, and has a wealth of knowledge of the artistic, technical and business sides of the industry.
Chris’ a cappella man-band SUADE performed for nearly twenty years, touring extensively, both locally and internationally. They produced four albums – the latest self-produced by Chris and his brother Loz.
Chris works with MusoMagic, running youth leadership and development programs throughout indigenous communities in Australia, and runs music programs for Red Dust Roel Models. He’s also the musical director of “Men In Suits”, runs Melbourne’s “With One Voice” choir, and was a co-founder and director of Vocal Australia – Australia’s a cappella singing hub.
He’s also the director of Melbourne Singing Events, and Keynotes Team Singing – ventures aimed at bringing communities together through song – and a registered civil marriage celebrant to round things off!
JOANNA BROOKE
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Joanna Brooke is a choral conductor and soprano based in Melbourne. She has over 10 years of experience leading choirs, including as the Artistic Director of the Jubilate Singers from 2015-2022 and a regular conductor with Gondwana Choirs and River City Voices. Joanna’s singing performance highlights have included soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with The Good Friday Messiah in 2023, and soprano soloist in Faure’s Requiem with Strathfield Symphony Orchestra in 2022. In Sydney, she performed regularly with The Cooperative and in Melbourne with Polyphonic Voices. Currently Joanna is the Musical Director of the Monash University Choral Society.
With training in social work, Joanna’s practice sits at the intersection of music and trauma-informed care. She regularly leads research and training in creative arts wellbeing interventions. In 2023, she designed and convened a professional development short course on creative approaches to dealing with trauma and mental health and in 2024, she led the closing plenary session at the international conference ‘Big Trauma/Big Change: Building Tomorrow Today’ at the University of New South Wales. In 2025, Joanna is commencing a PhD at the University of Melbourne through the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music with her project “singing as collective care”.
Joanna leads singing workshops across Australia using original compositions and vocal activities to co-create choral soundscapes. Her workshops invite participants to disentangle singing from notions of skill and perfection, and instead, to enter into playful musical conversation with the sounds around you.
EMILY WALTER
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EMILY WALTER has over 15 years of experience in facilitating small and large groups of young and old through retreats, camps and leadership training days. Her passion for percussion was born when she discovered and joined a drumming group in Balnarring and was blown away by its ability to draw people out and lift up a group of relative strangers; she witnessed a higher connection built through rhythm in the moment and the transformative experience of self expression both on a personal and community level.
Emily eventually found herself on a drumming tour in West Africa where she and a group of other enthusiastic percussionists were trained by drumming and dance masters and lead to a place of complete awe and appreciation of the incredible power of rhythm in community.
TREVOR JONES
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Trevor Jones is an award-winning conductor and musical director working across opera, musical theatre, cabaret and orchestral pop music around Australia and internationally.
Based in Melbourne (Naarm), Trevor is in high demand as an MD, orchestrator and arranger for musicals and opera. He works with leading producers and companies to create unique musical spectaculars for festivals and events. As an academic and tertiary educator, Trevor’s area of interest is cross-genre performance, completing his PhD research in 2022.
He is a staunch advocate for music education and a champion for the development of new Australian musical theatre works. Trevor is an internationally renowned piano bar and cabaret entertainer with a repertoire that spans a truly incredible range of genres and styles.
JANE YORK
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Jane is a multi-skilled community music facilitator with over 15 years experience leading singing and instrumental sessions for people of all abilities aged 9-90 with a focus on sharing her love of pop and indie. She is well known for her accessible arrangements of contemporary music as well as composing her own original material for a variety of singing groups.
She is the founder of contemporary community choir Just Holler, Big Feminist Sing and Strumming Singers. Her previous music leadership roles include Big Sing Thing (RMIT), Sing NoW, With One Voice Footscray, Nillumbik Youth Theatre, Outer Urban Projects, music sessions for MIND and Mill Park Community House. She is also a regular guest conductor for Beyond The Bathroom Choir, Kensingers, Woodend Warblers, Keynote Singers. Choirs in the With One Voice program.
An experienced festival and workshop facilitator, Jane has led pop-up singing events in Regional and metro Victoria, regional Qld and all over the world online during Melbourne’s lockdowns with her Lunchtime Live sing-alongs. She has a long history of lending her voice to social justice campaigns, having lead singing at protests and fundraisers including the #Sing4Equality project, Extinction Rebellion, Reclaim The Night, International Women’s Day events, Mum’s For Palestine,16 Days Of Activism and as part of the Climate Choir + collective.
As a performer Jane has sung with Sue Johnson’s Prana Mob, madrigal ensemble Tierce De Picardie and a capella trio The Northern Belles
SCHEDULE
- Please note: This schedule may change slightly in the lead-up to the event. We will keep you informed as quickly as possible.
FRIDAY 19 JUNE
From 17:00: Arrive, registration
18:00: Light meal
18:30: Welcome, introduction, team MUSIC TRIVIA
21:00: Firepit Sing-a-long
SATURDAY 20 JUNE
07:30: Breakfast
09:00: WELCOME & WARM UP: CHRIS BLAIN
09:30: WORKSHOP 1:
10:30: Morning Tea
11:00: WORKSHOP 2:
12:30: Lunch
13:30: WORKSHOP 3:
15:00: Afternoon Tea / Jam Session / Free Time
16:00: WORKSHOP 4:
17:30: Early Dinner
19:00: WORKSHOP 5:
20:30: Firepit Sing-a-long
21:30: Wood-fired Pizzas
SUNDAY 21 JUNE
07:30: Breakfast
09:00: WORKSHOP 6:
10:30: Morning Tea
11:00: WORKSHOP 7:
12:30: Lunch
13:30: WORKSHOP 8:
15:00: CLOSING CEREMONY (CHRIS BLAIN)
15:30: Afternoon Tea / Pack up
16:00: Event Close (boooo!)
ACCOMMODATION
The accommodation provided onsite is camp style living – 3 to 4 people per room, most of them large rooms that could take 6 to 10 people. You must provide your own bedding and bring a towel. There is a communal bathroom located on each floor.
If you prefer something a little more luxurious, here are some other options for accommodation within 10km of the site:
York on Lilydale Retreat
(~$190 per night)
Econolodge Lilydale
(~$171 per night)
If you like singing in a friendly environment, this is the event to come to. Great teachers, great group, a fun weekend!
I can’t think of a better way to discover how much fun singing is – even if you’ve never sung before. If you think you can’t sing but wish you could, this is the perfect place to start exploring.
A fabulous weekend for those who love to sing in company with others. Simple but perfectly adequate accommodation, sessions presented by top choir leaders, the chance to sing around the fire pit into the wee small hours, lots of good company.
It was a challenging and fun exploration of so many different types of music – it was so amazing what we were able to achieve and it really fired up my passion to do more.
