Meet The Adjudicators
Adam Lopez - Choral
Adam Lopez is a two-time Guinness World Record holder for singing the highest vocal note by a male (C sharp in the eighth octave). This achievement led to an international performing career across television, radio and live stages.
A graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Adam has worked professionally as a vocalist for over 25 years across Classical, Jazz, Latin, Pop and Musical Theatre. He has performed as a cast vocalist with Princess Cruises, where he was appointed Vocal Captain and Vocal Director. Adam has also provided backing vocals for Mariah Carey and Keith Urban. He has featured in Generations in Jazz and performed with James Morrison, Kate Ceberano, Emma Pask and The Idea of North. Adam is an AMEB examiner, voice specialist, choral arranger and conductor.
John Rotar - Brass, Woodwind, Piano
John Rotar is Conductor and Artistic Director of The Australian Voices. Described by Limelight as a ‘talented and innovative composer’, John has already begun to make a name for himself as one of the leading Australian composers of his generation having had over 130 works performed by many leading arts organisations across Australia, Europe and North America. As a conductor John is a passionate advocate of new music and he has to date conducted over 40 world premieres. John is also an active performer as an organist, trombonist, bass, and piano accompanist and holds the organist chair at the historic All Saints Church in the CBD of Brisbane.
Darcy Brown - Speech & Drama
Darcy is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). Select theatre credits include Calamity Jane (Queensland Theatre Company), Frankenstein, The Twits, and the national tour of Animal Farm (Shake & Stir), the one-person play Peddling (Melbourne Theatre Company), Henry V (Bell Shakespeare national tour), Ghost Stories (Realscape), Oil (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre), the national tour of The Play That Goes Wrong and the international tour of Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Mischief Theatre/Lunchbox), The Merchant of Venice (Sport for Jove), The Mystery of the Valkyrie (Woodward Productions), A Czar is Born (Sydney Fringe), Fireface (Stories Like These/ATYP), We Are the Ghosts of the Future (The Rocks Bizarre Festival), and The Uncanny Valley (Griffin Theatre). Television includes Deadloch (Amazon), Why Are You Like This? (ABC/Netflix), Romper Stomper (Stan), and Glitch (Netflix). His film credits include Ice Road: Vengeance (Amazon), and the shorts SELF-tape, Real Estate, and Q & T. Darcy has received a Matilda Award, a Green Room Award, and the Mike Walsh Fellowship.
Jeff Jarrott - Percussion & Drum Kit
Jeff is the percussion director at Brisbane State High School and The Gap State High School. He services both North and South Brisbane Metropolitan Regions as a Percussion Curriculum Project Officer. Jeff’s percussion ensembles are 7-time Australian national champions and have been awarded the Erica Brindley Trophy at Queensland’s biannual music festival Fanfare on 2 occasions. In addition to his role as an educator, Jeff enjoys composing and arranging percussion ensemble music for Rhythmscape and Prepared Sounds. Jeff is the drummer in Brisbane-based jazz group, The Green Street Band, but has also worked with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra as a classical percussionist.
Jason Barry-Smith - Vocal
Jason Barry-Smith’s study in Brisbane, Munich, London and Rome led him to a career on the Australian stage, where he’s equally in demand as a performer, teacher, conductor, arranger, director, compère, and adjudicator. Over the past three decades Jason’s performed in or directed many of Opera Queensland’s most successful productions and programs, and since 2019, he’s been the regular host of the company’s popular Sing Sing Sing events. He’s also performed for the Brisbane Biennial, Opera Australia, Tokyo Arts Foundation, State Opera South Australia, New Zealand Opera, Brisbane Festival, and Essgee Entertainment; creating major roles in Siemiginowski’s Mimma, Conyngham’s Electric Lenin, and Richie’s Quartet. Jason has thirty-five years’ experience as a voice teacher, including ten years teaching at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University; he is a regular conductor of choirs as part of Young Conservatorium’s SHEP and AHEP programs; and a sought after adjudicator for regional Eisteddfods and vocal competitions..
Alex Prendeckij - Guitar, Rock Bands
Alex Prendeckij is an Australian music educator, conductor, and arts leader with extensive experience in instrumental music, ensemble direction, and arts program development within Catholic education. As Head of Arts at St Joseph’s Primary School Kangaroo Point, Alex oversees a thriving cocurricular arts program encompassing instrumental music, speech and drama, and dance, with student participation growing significantly under his leadership.
Passionate about creating inclusive and engaging musical opportunities for young people, Alex has played a key role in developing ensemble-based music education models that foster collaboration, performance excellence, and lifelong musicianship. He is also actively involved in the Catholic Music Director’s Network and is currently contributing to the development of the Queensland Catholic Instrumental Music Curriculum to support a unified and contemporary approach to music education across schools.
As a performer, Alex has played in the bands A Place In Prague and Electric Zebra, performing at music festivals and venues across Australia. His performance career has also included international touring throughout the United States and United Kingdom, providing opportunities to perform for diverse audiences across a wide range of live music settings. These experiences continue to inform his approach to music direction, performance, and arts education, combining contemporary industry experience with a strong passion for collaborative musicianship and live performance culture. Alongside his work in education and performance, Alex is dedicated to cultivating vibrant performance cultures, mentoring young musicians, and building strong partnerships with local school and arts communities. His work reflects a deep commitment to accessible, high-quality arts education and the transformative power of music.
Louise King - Strings
Louise King is an award-winning, internationally trained cellist based in Eudlo, Sunshine Coast Hinterland, on Gubbi Gubbi Country. A crossover contemporary artist, she moves fluidly between new music, experimental improvisation, classical, jazz, early music, and global folk traditions. She is Artistic Director of Cello Dreaming and Long Listen Festival, and a tutor for the Australian Youth Orchestra. A graduate of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music in London and Manchester, Louise’s creative practice spans performance, education, recording, festival direction, and event production. Her orchestral career included appointments with the BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, and Hong Kong Philharmonic, performing throughout Europe and Asia. Louise has recorded seventeen albums and is a founding member and Principal Artist of Muses Trio. A highly regarded educator and mentor, she designs community programs and professional development for musicians at all stages of their careers. Described by The Australian as ‘exuding a vigorous artistry that appeals to a younger generation of music lovers’, she has collaborated with many leading Australian artists.
Vaughan Fleischfresser - Ensembles
Vaughan Fleischfresser is an internationally recognised music educator who has worked at every age and stage of Music Education. His career has seen him work throughout Australia, the United Kingdom, and North America, in a broad and diverse range of roles spanning Primary through to University, Instrumental through to Community Music, and everywhere in between.
Vaughan studied both Music and Education at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane (Australia), where he studied under Dr Ralph Hultgren. This was then followed by a Master of Music Education, majoring in Instrumental and Vocal Education, at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago (USA), where he studied under Dr Charles Menghini and Dr Robert Sinclair.
Vaughan has worked in roles such as Head of Music (UK), Teaching Fellow of Music Education (UK), Teacher of Music (AUS and UK), Primary Music Specialist (UK), and Director of Bands and Woodwind (AUS). He is currently the Head of Instrumental Music at Trinity Lutheran College on the Gold Coast, where he teaches both classroom and instrumental music, having returned to Australia following 15 years living and working in the United Kingdom. In addition to this, Vaughan is in great demand as a conductor, clinician, and composer.
He is the Musical Director of the Gold Coast City Wind Orchestra, and has previously conducted ensembles including the Queensland Conservatorium Wind Orchestra, the Young Conservatorium Wind Orchestra, the VanderCook College of Music (USA) Graduate Symphonic Band, the Wind Band Association (UK) Festival Band, the Edinburgh University (UK) Female Voice Choir, the Peebles (UK) Concert Band, and the Peebles (UK) Silver Band.
Vaughan has also been a regular adjudicator for the Scottish Concert Band Festival, The Queensland Catholic Schools & Colleges Music Festival, and various other music festivals throughout Scotland. He also has music for Beginner Concert Band published through Brolga Music Publishing. Away from the classroom and podium, Vaughan is in great demand as an educational speaker and advocate for Music Education.
He has more than 60,000 followers across his professional social media accounts, and has spoken extensively at conferences throughout Australia, Scotland, England, South Africa, and Canada.