2024 Judges - Gold Coast
MUSICALITY CATEGORY
Will Lynch has been singing barbershop since 2015 and is based in Ĺtautahi (Christchurch), Aotearoa (New Zealand). He won awards as a quartet performer with Promenade, the 2022 BHNZ men's quartet champions and 2023 6th place finalist in the international BHS Next Generation quartet contest. In 2021, he became the director of Quantum Acoustics, a young person's ensemble that became the 2023 Pan Pacific silver medalist chorus. He also serves as co-director for Quantum Acoustics, assistant director for The Plainsmen (2023 BHNZ men's chorus champion), and arranges music for groups worldwide.
An accomplished composer, arranger and choral director Alex Morris is in demand around the
world as a vocal coach with regular appearance on faculty at Harmony University and is also a
certified as a Musicality Judge with the Barbershop Harmony Society. Alex is the former Music
Director of Vocal Evolution, leading them to three Barbershop Harmony Australia gold medals.
In 2022 Alex was inducted into the Barbershop Harmony Australia Hall of Fame. He has a
passion for education and loves nothing more than to share the joy of music.
Ian Mulholland has been a BHA member for 37 years and has arranged over fifty barbershop songs. He is a four-time BHA national quartet gold medallist, five-time chorus gold medallist, and has won numerous silver and bronze medals at the national level. Ian is also a Pan Pac quartet and chorus gold medallist and has represented BHA at the International Contest many times. He helped form the Australasian Guild of Barbershop Judges (AGBJ) and has been a qualified AGBJ Musicality Judge for 20 years. He served as BHA President for four years and was made a BHA Life Member and Hall of Fame Legend in 2009.
PERFORMANCE CATEGORY
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Jen Howson has been a Barbershopper since 1998 and has sung both Bass and Lead in quartet and chorus. She has been to multiple international conventions as both a competitor in chorus and quartet as well as a coach and spectator. Jen is co-founder, Music and Artistic Director of Vocalescence Chorus in Queensland who are proud members of both Sweet Adelines International and Barbershop Harmony Australia, and she serves as Education Faculty for both organisations. She lives in Queensland with her partner, has three beautiful grown children, a wonderful daughter-in-law and the MOST BEAUTIFUL granddaughter! Jen is the administration department for a mining consultancy company and spends a lot of time coaching voice and performance.
Dan Millgate is a national and international award-winning performer with over 30 years experience in singing and performing and is a highly experienced coach and trainer in singing and the art of performance for adults and children.
He is an active and innovative manager of national educational campaigns and strategies specifically designed to increase music awareness, singing and performance skills, music education and group management skills.
Dan is a certified Performance Category Judge, and was past Singing Category Specialist from 2004-2015, which has seen him in the judging pit at multiple International Contests.
Dan is a four-time National Champion and multiple Pan-Pacific Champion barbershop quartet singer and four-time Australian representative at International Contest.
Mike Warner and his wife Faybianne (an Australian from Sydney) are both barbershoppers with 40+ years singing experience.
Mike has sung in many choruses and quartets around the UK. He has sung in BABS Gold Medallist Quartets “The Works” and “iQ” – both quartets also won European Silver Medals – The Works also got to compete at BHS International. He has directed both BABS and LABBS choruses and is a BABS Performance Judge.
He is currently Performance Category Director for BABS, a position he has held twice before and is a past chairman of the BABS Contest and Judging team. Mike has completed level 1 Estill Voice Craft singing training and enjoys being used for coaching and judging across Europe.
SINGING CATEGORY
Bec Hewitt is an award-winning singer and a sought-after vocal coach who has been involved in music performance for over 25 years as a soloist, band vocalist, choral singer, Quartet Singer, Musical Director and Voice Teacher. Bec’s training is in classical voice, and she has since gone on to study Vocal Production and Vocal Pedagogy. She is a Singing Judge in the Australasian Guild of Barbershop Judges, an International Education Faculty Member for Sweet Adelines International and a Regional Education Faculty Member for SAI and BHA. Bec is the current Region 34 Education Coordinator and director of Vocal Mix Chorus in Perth.
Rob Sequeira’s music background includes drums, percussion, piano, guitar, voice, and jazz. Growing up in Sydney, Australia, he played drums in a big band called "Group Therapy" and sang lead vocals in a jazz quintet. Rob's vocal stylings have been compared to Nat "King" Cole and Harry Connick Jr. His love for teaching began with drums and guitar, leading to coaching a cappella groups in various barbershop organizations. He founded Vox Canvas, Sydney’s premier a cappella chorus, and led them to win the Pan Pacific Gold Medal in 2023. Rob is a certified Singing judge for Australia and New Zealand.
Kelly Shepard has been singing barbershop since 1982. This fascination with harmony led to a 30-year career as a music teacher and to a lifetime of singing in barbershop quartets and choruses. Kelly was lucky enough to find himself singing with the Masters of Harmony and has two international chorus gold medals with them. He also managed to trick Metropolis into choosing him to sing baritone and won two international quartet bronze medals and the opportunity to travel the world entertaining audiences. Since moving to Australia eight years ago, Kelly has won the Australian open quartet medal and the Pan Pacific men’s quartet gold with The Collective, and directs Mixed Vocal Project, an Australian medalist chorus from the Gold Coast. He is humbled and excited to be a relatively new Singing Judge.
ADMINISTRATION CATEGORY
Aaron Hewitt has over 20 years’ experience in Sports and Event administration including 12 years as President of Special Olympics WA, before becoming involved with the Barbershop artform. Aaron supported in the pit at the BHA Nationals in 2015 and Pan Pacs in 2017, certifying as an ADM judge for AGBJ in the same year. Since certifying, Aaron has been one of the ADM judges for the 2023 Pan Pacs, 2022 and 2018 Nationals as well as several regional contests.
Linda Vinall was first introduced to Barbershop in 2008 in a mixed quartet, singing with her husband.
Expanding her involvement, she became a founding member of a Sweet Adeline Chorus in Adelaide. Linda has competed in quartets and chorus contests nearly every year since so has the perspective of contestant as well as sitting in the pit. She served as the Events Coordinator for Sweet Adeline’s Australia (21-23)
She currently is singing with Gospo Collective which completed a major season in the 2024 Adelaide Fringe and will be performing in their first interstate tour “A Night at the Barracks” in Sydney in September.
Linda first qualified as a Contest Administrator Judge in 2011. She continues in the role of category lead.
Richard Wadick has been a BHA member since 1992 and has served in various roles at Club, Regional (Eastern) and National levels over that time. He is currently Vice President (Events) on BHA National Council.
In 2023, Richard became certified as an Administrative (ADM) Judge.
MUSICALITY CATEGORY
Will Lynch has been singing barbershop since 2015 and is based in Ĺtautahi (Christchurch), Aotearoa (New Zealand). He won awards as a quartet performer with Promenade, the 2022 BHNZ men's quartet champions and 2023 6th place finalist in the international BHS Next Generation quartet contest. In 2021, he became the director of Quantum Acoustics, a young person's ensemble that became the 2023 Pan Pacific silver medalist chorus. He also serves as co-director for Quantum Acoustics, assistant director for The Plainsmen (2023 BHNZ men's chorus champion), and arranges music for groups worldwide.
An accomplished composer, arranger and choral director Alex Morris is in demand around the
world as a vocal coach with regular appearance on faculty at Harmony University and is also a
certified as a Musicality Judge with the Barbershop Harmony Society. Alex is the former Music
Director of Vocal Evolution, leading them to three Barbershop Harmony Australia gold medals.
In 2022 Alex was inducted into the Barbershop Harmony Australia Hall of Fame. He has a
passion for education and loves nothing more than to share the joy of music.
Ian Mulholland has been a BHA member for 37 years and has arranged over fifty barbershop songs. He is a four-time BHA national quartet gold medallist, five-time chorus gold medallist, and has won numerous silver and bronze medals at the national level. Ian is also a Pan Pac quartet and chorus gold medallist and has represented BHA at the International Contest many times. He helped form the Australasian Guild of Barbershop Judges (AGBJ) and has been a qualified AGBJ Musicality Judge for 20 years. He served as BHA President for four years and was made a BHA Life Member and Hall of Fame Legend in 2009.
PERFORMANCE CATEGORY
Jen Howson has been a Barbershopper since 1998 and has sung both Bass and Lead in quartet and chorus. She has been to multiple international conventions as both a competitor in chorus and quartet as well as a coach and spectator. Jen is co-founder, Music and Artistic Director of Vocalescence Chorus in Queensland who are proud members of both Sweet Adelines International and Barbershop Harmony Australia, and she serves as Education Faculty for both organisations. She lives in Queensland with her partner, has three beautiful grown children, a wonderful daughter-in-law and the MOST BEAUTIFUL granddaughter! Jen is the administration department for a mining consultancy company and spends a lot of time coaching voice and performance.
Dan Millgate is a national and international award-winning performer with over 30 years experience in singing and performing and is a highly experienced coach and trainer in singing and the art of performance for adults and children.
He is an active and innovative manager of national educational campaigns and strategies specifically designed to increase music awareness, singing and performance skills, music education and group management skills.
Dan is a certified Performance Category Judge, and was past Singing Category Specialist from 2004-2015, which has seen him in the judging pit at multiple International Contests.
Dan is a four-time National Champion and multiple Pan-Pacific Champion barbershop quartet singer and four-time Australian representative at International Contest.
Mike Warner and his wife Faybianne (an Australian from Sydney) are both barbershoppers with 40+ years singing experience.
Mike has sung in many choruses and quartets around the UK. He has sung in BABS Gold Medallist Quartets “The Works” and “iQ” – both quartets also won European Silver Medals – The Works also got to compete at BHS International. He has directed both BABS and LABBS choruses and is a BABS Performance Judge.
He is currently Performance Category Director for BABS, a position he has held twice before and is a past chairman of the BABS Contest and Judging team. Mike has completed level 1 Estill Voice Craft singing training and enjoys being used for coaching and judging across Europe.
SINGING CATEGORY
Bec Hewitt is an award-winning singer and a sought-after vocal coach who has been involved in music performance for over 25 years as a soloist, band vocalist, choral singer, Quartet Singer, Musical Director and Voice Teacher. Bec’s training is in classical voice, and she has since gone on to study Vocal Production and Vocal Pedagogy. She is a Singing Judge in the Australasian Guild of Barbershop Judges, an International Education Faculty Member for Sweet Adelines International and a Regional Education Faculty Member for SAI and BHA. Bec is the current Region 34 Education Coordinator and director of Vocal Mix Chorus in Perth.
Rob Sequeira’s music background includes drums, percussion, piano, guitar, voice, and jazz. Growing up in Sydney, Australia, he played drums in a big band called "Group Therapy" and sang lead vocals in a jazz quintet. Rob's vocal stylings have been compared to Nat "King" Cole and Harry Connick Jr. His love for teaching began with drums and guitar, leading to coaching a cappella groups in various barbershop organizations. He founded Vox Canvas, Sydney’s premier a cappella chorus, and led them to win the Pan Pacific Gold Medal in 2023. Rob is a certified Singing judge for Australia and New Zealand.
Kelly Shepard has been singing barbershop since 1982. This fascination with harmony led to a 30-year career as a music teacher and to a lifetime of singing in barbershop quartets and choruses. Kelly was lucky enough to find himself singing with the Masters of Harmony and has two international chorus gold medals with them. He also managed to trick Metropolis into choosing him to sing baritone and won two international quartet bronze medals and the opportunity to travel the world entertaining audiences. Since moving to Australia eight years ago, Kelly has won the Australian open quartet medal and the Pan Pacific men’s quartet gold with The Collective, and directs Mixed Vocal Project, an Australian medalist chorus from the Gold Coast. He is humbled and excited to be a relatively new Singing Judge.
ADMINISTRATION CATEGORY
Aaron Hewitt has over 20 years’ experience in Sports and Event administration including 12 years as President of Special Olympics WA, before becoming involved with the Barbershop artform. Aaron supported in the pit at the BHA Nationals in 2015 and Pan Pacs in 2017, certifying as an ADM judge for AGBJ in the same year. Since certifying, Aaron has been one of the ADM judges for the 2023 Pan Pacs, 2022 and 2018 Nationals as well as several regional contests.
Linda Vinall was first introduced to Barbershop in 2008 in a mixed quartet, singing with her husband.
Expanding her involvement, she became a founding member of a Sweet Adeline Chorus in Adelaide. Linda has competed in quartets and chorus contests nearly every year since so has the perspective of contestant as well as sitting in the pit. She served as the Events Coordinator for Sweet Adeline’s Australia (21-23)
She currently is singing with Gospo Collective which completed a major season in the 2024 Adelaide Fringe and will be performing in their first interstate tour “A Night at the Barracks” in Sydney in September.
Linda first qualified as a Contest Administrator Judge in 2011. She continues in the role of category lead.
Richard Wadick has been a BHA member since 1992 and has served in various roles at Club, Regional (Eastern) and National levels over that time. He is currently Vice President (Events) on BHA National Council.
In 2023, Richard became certified as an Administrative (ADM) Judge.
