Suzann is a singer, teacher, songwriter and arranger. She was born in Sweden, by Hungarian parents and was brought up in a musically multicultural environment of Swedish folk, pop and rock, as well as Hungarian gypsy music.

Having had her mind set on the clarinet and a classical path, it changed unexpectedly, to singing and jazz, once she started studying music at the Conservatorium of Music in Malmoe, Sweden. There she discovered her voice and the great joys of singing, harmonising and improvising. Apart from studying singing and piano, the training consisted of everything from conducting, theory and rhythm studies, improvisation, the double bass and more. During her time in Malmoe, Suzann performed with an all female singing and drumming group, singing anything from Barbershop, classical, world music and jazz. She also toured parts of northern Sweden, performing a mixed vocal program.

Every aspect of her training proved to be of value when Suzann moved to Australia. She quickly started teaching singing, privately and in schools, as well A Cappella singing at the Selby and Olinda Community Houses. Since then Suzann has been actively writing and arranging songs, according to the settings of the for various groups. A majority of her songs are composed together with a Swedish lyricist and are published on line, but a few have been published and some can be found in the CMV and ABC Songbook as well as and also in songbooks published in Germany.

Suzann has performed at the Canberra National Festival, with Bobby McGee’s band at the Merimbula Jazz Festival and the Victorian Jazz Fest as well as at many local festivals in the Emerald area. She also performs songs accompanied by her didge playing husband, Paul. Suzann has run many singing workshops, in Victoria through the CMV; locally in the Emerald area, as well as interstate workshops.

For the last ten years, Suzann has concentrated on teaching singing and piano privately and her students range between the ages of 10 and 80. Suzann is the musical director for Skutan, a Swedish choir, which regularly performs at Swedish cultural celebrations throughout the year. Suzann believes that everyone can sing – as long as you can yawn and laugh!

Emily Walter has over 15 years of experience in facilitating small and large groups of young and old through retreats, camps and leadership training days. Her passion for percussion was born when she discovered and joined a drumming group in Balnarring and was blown away by its ability to draw people out and lift up a group of relative strangers; she witnessed a higher connection built through rhythm in the moment and the transformative experience of self expression both on a personal and community level.

Emily eventually found herself on a drumming tour in West Africa where she and a group of other enthusiastic percussionists were trained by drumming and dance masters and lead to a place of complete awe and appreciation of the incredible power of rhythm in community.