Dr. Árpád Tóth is a worldwide sought-after music educator, choral conductor, artistic director of several festivals, and a community leader. He believes passionately in the strength of human diversity, the power of music making, and in art education. He is well-known in Hungary because he is the founding leader of Hungary’s largest community choir, Csíkszerda, and the internationally well-known festival franchise, Night of Choirs. He leads the most successful educational program, “Hangadó” in the Hungarian Music House and currently teaches music educational subjects in a Hungarian minority University in Oradea, Romania (Partium). His international career has led him on a yearly basis for more than 15 countries in four continents: Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America. Some of his public speeches went viral, as he speaks about his firm belief: Singing belongs to everyone.

Lucinda Geoghegan graduated in Music from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, later completing a postgraduate teaching qualification at Moray House College of Education and an Advanced Diploma in Musicianship from the Kodály Institute of Britain. After teaching secondary music in Edinburgh, she specialised in Primary and Early Years Music Education. Her experience includes 16 years with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus, eight years as Director of the NYCOS West Lothian Choir, and 18 years teaching at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Currently, she is Creative Learning Director for the National Youth Choir of Scotland, a tutor for the Benedetti Foundation, and Chair of the Education Planning Board for the British Kodály Academy. Elected to the Board of the International Kodály Society in 2017, Lucinda is a leading advocate for Kodály-based music education, delivering workshops and training across Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and Australia.

Naomi Crellin (alto, musical director The Idea of North) graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Voice from the Elder Conservatorium – University of Adelaide after beginning on classical piano. She has been a member of many choirs, orchestras and ensembles throughout her career. In addition, Naomi has studied a broad range of musical instruments including piano, cello and oboe.

She won the Young Australian Composer of the Year Award (1996) and Best Undergraduate Vocalist Award (2001) from the Elder Conservatorium of Music. Naomi has also studied classical, jazz and contemporary voice, conducting, piano and jazz ballet, and has taught piano, vocal, and choral students for many years. Educating vocalists of all ages and ability levels in the niche art of small group ensemble singing is her specialty and her passion.

After joining The Idea of North in early 2002, Naomi quickly became a significant contributor to the group’s repertoire through her writing and arranging and has also utilised her extensive choral training and experience in taking a major responsibility for managing the group’s musical affairs and educational activities.

During the Covid years Naomi obtained a Graduate Diploma of Counselling and now happily divides her time between counselling, singing, directing choirs, and writing. In 2024 Naomi started Nexus NDV, a high level harmony singing group for neurodivergent young adults. When she is not doing one of these many activities, Naomi can be found hiking, playing netball, attempting to keep her children off screens, or with a cat in her lap and her nose buried in a good novel.

Dr Jason Goopy is a Senior Lecturer in Music Education at Edith Cowan University and Fulbright Scholar. He lectures and coordinates secondary and instrumental music education for the School of Education and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Jason draws upon two decades of teaching music, including substantial experience in Australian combined primary and secondary schools as a Highly Accomplished Teacher and Head of The Arts. He is nationally recognised for creating flourishing music learning programs.

Jason’s research examines how music education positively transforms lives at the intersection of music, education, and psychology using arts-based and mixed-method approaches. He focuses on how music engagement and learning shape and support individual and community identities and wellbeing. He received the Australian Society for Music Education Callaway Doctoral Award, and his monograph, Teenage Boys, Musical Identities and Music Education: An Australian Narrative Inquiry, is published by Routledge. As a 2025-26 Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar hosted by Teachers College, Columbia University, Jason is investigating how school and community music education in New York City enhances the wellbeing of young people. He serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Music Education, the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, and the Australian Journal of Music Education.

Jason has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to supporting educators and has substantial national leadership experience. He is the Immediate Past President of the Australian Society for Music Education and Kodály Australia, a member of the National Advocates for Arts Education, and an Advisory Group Member for the national initiatives, Music Education: Right from the Start and Music in Me.