What do you teach at the Con?
I’m a registered music therapist, and my practice involves creating music-centred experiences where the people I work with can safely explore and build pathways toward positive change. I also teach Beatboxing!
What genres do you teach?
I am originally trained in composition and music production, with a focus on composing for film and video games. As a Registered Music Therapist, however, I work across a wide range of musical genres depending on the interests, goals, and needs of the people I work with.
I also have a background in beatboxing and was the 2019 Australian Beatbox Champion, which has led to facilitating beatboxing workshops across Australia and New Zealand. This experience often informs my work around rhythm, communication, creativity, and accessible music-making.
Please share a particular career highlight and why it’s special to you.
Picking a single career highlight is difficult, but one moment that has always stayed with me was meeting local beatboxers while travelling in Japan. Despite not speaking the same language, we were able to communicate, improvise, laugh, and express ourselves entirely through beatboxing. I remember feeling deeply connected and understood without the need for words at all.
That experience has remained special to me because it reinforced something I continue to witness in music therapy sessions every day, which is that music can create alternative pathways for communication, expression, and connection where words may struggle or fail. Whether through rhythm, improvisation, songwriting, or simply shared musical moments, I’ve seen music help people feel heard, understood, and connected in ways that are incredibly moving and powerful.
Also becoming the 2019 Australian Beatbox Champion is definitely one of my proudest musical achievements. Competitive beatboxing pushed me to develop not only technical ability, but my own musical identity and approach to performance.
Beatboxing has since become an important part of my broader career as a musician and Registered Music Therapist. I’ve been able to take something I began doing because I simply loved making sounds and explore how it can be used in education, performance and therapeutic practise. Bringing those different parts of my musical life together is something I’m incredibly proud of.
What’s one piece of music you recommend people listen to, and why is it special to you?
I’d recommend people to listen to: Gene Shinozaki / Home – N.Y. Series on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC-_ix2bN_M
I remember hearing it for the first time and thinking, “I didn’t know that was possible to do with just your mouth.” It was one of the first moments where I realised beatboxing wasn’t just a novelty or imitation, it could be just as expressive, emotional, and musical as any other genre. This performance completely changed the way I understood the voice as an instrument.
