The VEV team
Birute Greenhalgh
Chairperson
Birute retired from a 20 year career in senior management roles in not for profit organisations in Perth where she developed skills in strategic development, operational planning, marketing and fundraising. A highlight was achieving a Masters in Futures degree from Curtin University Business School which enabled her to advance her career. Since retirement she has supported the Citizens Advice Bureau in Perth as Admin Volunteer. Apart from her art practice Birute has always loved singing and theatre and previously been involved in choirs in the UK and Perth. She joined Voiceworks in 2018 and became a Board Member in 2021.
Kristin Monaghan
VEV Board member and Treasurer
Kristin is a proud parent of one of the VoiceworksPLUS participants, Elizabeth. Having volunteered for the VoiceworksPLUS shows since her daughter joined Voiceworks+, Kristin was requested in 2022 to join the Board to give VoiceworkPLUS representation on the Board, and subsequently took on the Role as Treasurer.
An accomplished and energetic professional with experience in Cost Control, Accounting, Financial Management, Office Management, and Administration gained from more than thirty years of professional experience in the Oil & Gas, Recruitment, Manufacturing & Hospitality sectors.
Whilst Kristin can not sing or dance, she does enjoy volunteering for VoiceworkPLUS.
Anke Woodland
VEV Board Member and Secretary
As a mother to three school-aged children in a busy household, Voiceworks gives Anke an opportunity to share her voice and skills with like-minded individuals. She has recently joined the VEV Board as a way to help give back to an organisation that gives her much joy. Anke’s interests are singing, cooking and exercise. She enjoys expressing her creativity through sewing and crochet. Anke studied as a scientist and her work background is in biological science. She has an interest in sustainability and regeneration.
Colin Arthur
Fundraising Director
Colin is a retired geologist with career highlights including public company senior management and consulting roles in exploration, mining, and geoscientific software development. A downturn in the mining industry in his early career led to high school teaching qualifications and teaching experience in London and in Perth. This experience included specialist classes for deaf children and for refugees.
Active in community service, Colin was Rotary West Perth club President in 2015 _16 and is a Rotary Paul Harris fellow. He remains active in a Rotary project which is recycling used medical equipment to overseas countries, and has been fundraising director since 2019 of VoiceworksPLUS (VW+)
He is married to Tina, who is also active in Rotary and a VEV member. He has one adult son who lives in Perth.
Phil Sykes
VEV General Board Member, Show coordinator, Information Technology and Membership
Phil is a retired Human Resources professional who held management roles in various public sector agencies for more than 20 years. His areas of special interest included learning and organisational development, information technology, workforce planning and policy development.
Phil started singing with Voiceworks in 2019 and joined the VEV Board in 2020
Tina Arthur
VEV General Board Member, City of Subiaco Liaison Officer, Social Media
Tina is a former architect, recently retired after 40 years in both the private and public sector. She volunteers for the Town of Cottesloe in design reviews and is the coordinator for Work Women Wisdom, a group which supports female architects. Active in community service, Tina was Rotary West Perth club President in 2009-10 and is the coordinator for their ongoing medical equipment recycling project. She enjoys jazz ballet, running, singing and playing with her grandchildren.
Alan Cryer
VEV General Board Member
Alan is a part-time GP in Perth. He had practiced in the rural sector (Pilbara and Southwest) for 20 years before moving to Perth in 2016. His children from an early age all enjoyed music encouraged by their very talented mother and performed on a variety of instruments and some still do.
Alan, not so artistically inclined wanted to try something quite different in 2024 but also as a means to contribute to the local community therefore decided to join the Voiceworks community choir after a hiatus of some years from singing. He has always been tinkering with IT at home and also in his work environment and continues to do so. He hopes to provide constructive input to the Voiceworks Board.
Jackson Griggs
Musical Director Voiceworks
Contact: admin@jacksonharpergriggs.com
Jackson Griggs is a Perth-based composer and music director, specialising in musical theatre and choral music. He graduated from WAAPA in 2015 with a Bachelor of Music (Composition and Music Technology) and Certificate II in Musical Theatre. He is currently under the employ of St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls and John Curtin College of the Arts as their production musical director, and directs and accompanies a number of high school and community choirs. He was the assistant music director for The Boy From Oz (Crown Perth 2021), and was recently employed as a keyboardist for Legally Blonde (Crown Perth 2021) and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (Crown Perth 2022). As a composer, he has scored several short films and original musicals, including Time Capsule (2022), One Heart, One Voice (2019), Fairybread (2017), Viva La Restoration (2016) and How We Ruined MacArthur's Markers (2015).
Joanna Worthington
Artistic Director VoiceworksPLUS
Joanna Worthington has clocked up 30 years as a professional fairy (children’s entertainer), performer, Mistress of Ceremonies, Stand-up Comedian and community artist and is a strong advocate for Healing with Humour. Joanna has also dabbled in journalism, politics and hospitality. After working for 10 years as a Peer Support Worker and Peer Mentor in mental health recovery and Lived Experience Coordinator for Suicide Prevention, Joanna created Fairy Inspirational. Joanna utilises her expertise and engaging manner as a performer, to deliver creative interactive workshops with a Mental Vitality and Suicide Prevention focus.
Back in the eighties, Joanna successfully auditioned for specialist theatre arts and dance at (what was then known as) John Curtin Senior High School (now College of the Arts). This high school experience ignited Joanna’s love of all thing’s performance, and her passion for artistic endeavours carried through in many and varied productions over a 30 years period. Joanna’s highlights include playing Tzeital in Fiddler on the Roof, Pippa in Hotel Sorrento, The Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz and producing, writing, directing and performing in multiple original works of her own.
Joanna identifies as Community Cultural Development Artist and, as such, works collaboratively with communities for the purpose of social change/empowerment through art and culture. These communities have included: culturally and linguistically diverse, indigenous, seniors, youth at risk, people with disabilities and people with mental illness.
Joanna is very excited to work with Voiceworks+ and debuted with A Rainbow of Emotions in June 2023.
Marie O’Dwyer
Musical Director VoiceworksPLUS
Marie O’Dwyer is a music teacher and composer/ performer located in WA.
Living, working and performing in WA, Melbourne and the south of France her career highlights include; live band performances at festivals and venues including Perth Concert Hall to the Ellington, recording music in fabulous studios, leading community choirs and every student she has guided to learn or write and perform a new song.
David Wheeler
Rehearsal and Performance Assistant VoiceworksPLUS
For over forty years, David Wheeler has been composing, recording, and performing music across three continents. In recent times, David’s own creative pursuits have been balanced with an interest in music as a tool for growth and identity. He offers informal support and mentorship for novice songwriters, performers and students. These collaborations demonstrate the empowering benefits of creative expression and exploration.
David is currently training to be a Disability Support Worker and is delighted to combine these skills to support the aims of VoiceworksPLUS and share the group’s joyful and creative dynamic.
Greta Rule
Program Coordinator VoiceworksPLUS
Greta has just begun a job as a disability support worker, which she is hoping will help her support the participants of VoiceworksPLUS to achieve their goals and create some amazing shows.
Miarka Rogers
Rehearsal and Performance Assistant VoiceworksPLUS
Miarka Rogers is an actor based in Perth, Western Australia.
After graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies from Curtin University, Miarka has been working in theatre, film and television across the globe. Having worked with industry giants such as Universal Studios, Warner Bros, and Paramount Pictures, Miarka is excited to have returned home to use her love of the arts to create safe spaces within her local community.
Miarka is a qualified Consent Forward Artist and is undergoing training to become an Intimacy Coordinator, through which she aims to assist in telling stories that are often ignored in mainstream media. It is a special interest of hers to continue to educate herself on how better to advocate for and support the expression of art for all people.
Miarka is thrilled to have joined VoiceworksPLUS and to be a part of the group’s creativity, passion, and above all, joy.
Kim Addison
Guest artist VoiceworksPLUS
Kim joined VEV in 2006 and was the choreographer until this year, and is now a guest artist for VoiceworksPLUS. She started dance lessons at three and a half and has studied and performed a range of styles including highland, theatrical, tap, jazz, ballet and ballroom. Kim regularly did competitions and was a State Highland Dance Champion. She studied Music Theatre at WAAPA, and had over 20 years of vocal tuition from the late Gloria Wilson, competing in eisteddfods and winning several sections at the North of Perth Music Festival. Kim now has over forty years’ experience with a wide variety of theatre companies and vocal groups. Favourites of Kim’s many roles include; Mavis from ‘Stepping Out’ and the title role of ‘Iolanthe’ for G & S. She has performed, as both a singer and dancer, in a range of musicals including ‘Guys and Dolls’, ‘Cabaret’ and ‘Oklahoma’. Kim has also choreographed and co-directed for different productions, such as Heritage Theatre’s ‘Pirates of Penzance’ and ‘The Mikado’, where she also played the role of Pitti-Sing.
Kim currently works at a Primary School, teaching a range of subjects, including music. Over the years, she has choreographed several school productions including some she has written and directed. Kim is also a Feldenkrais Practitioner with a strong interest in how to improve self-use in ‘The Arts’.
Elfrida Rossi
Volunteer VoiceworkPLUS
Elfrida has always loved singing in choirs. In Rome she belonged to the Church Choir of Santa Susanna and sang for Pope John Paul II on the reopening of the church after extensive renovations. She worked in the Special Ed Department of Christ Church Grammar School 2000 and 2001. During that time, she obtained a TAFE Certificate III TA course for Children with Special Needs. Elfrida is active in the Italian community of Perth and enjoys cooking Italian food.
Elfrida joined Voiceworks in 2000 and VoiceworksPLUS as a volunteer in 2022, both choirs bring her much satisfaction and enjoyment.
Nathan Newman
Volunteer VoiceworksPLUS
Nathan grew up in South Africa, surrounded by wonderful music. He loves all types of music, especially jazz, blues and pop music. His favourite artists are Stevie Wonder and The Beatles.
Nathan is another wonderful VoiceworksPLUS bus driver who decided to stay and sing. We love having him as our Tom Jones impersonator, keeping the lads in tune.
