We have a true passion for music.

 

Since 2007, NYCA has been overseen by a Board of Directors including several past NYCA conductors, all of whom have matched rhetoric with action through the provision of substantial financial and personal support.

In late 2014 a new Board and structure was approved which operates under a strategic business plan to expand NYCA’s impact, presence and value in the Australian choral community.  From a high-level perspective, the Board is focused on the following strategic goals:

  1. Examine and develop NYCA’s structure, policies and procedures so that the organisation is best placed to achieve its goals.

  2. Increase NYCA’s capacity as an artistically vibrant organisation to achieve its vision and mission in as many ways as possible.

  3. Promote the name, reputation and standards of NYCA on an ongoing basis to an ever-growing broader audience.

  4. Ensure NYCA’s continued viability and sustainability.

The General Manager is responsible for the day to day operations of the NYCA annual season and fundraising events.

We welcome receiving expressions of interest from NYCA alumni to assist and support management at National or State level.  For further details, please contact us.

 

Noel Ancell OAM (appointed 2014)

Artistic Director

Noel is well known throughout Australia as a conductor, composer and teacher. Highly regarded as clinician and adjudicator, he has over forty years’ experience in helping musicians to achieve excellence, conducting and teaching conducting at undergraduate and graduate level. In addition to three seasons as Guest Conductor of NYCA (National Youth Choir of Australia) he has twice conducted the Victorian Secondary Student Honour Choir, and guest-conducted the combined choirs of the World Alliance Festival of Singing for men and boys in the US and the Czech Republic. A former Artistic Director of the Australian Boys Choral Institute, Noel conducted the Australian Boys Choir, the Kelly Gang and The Vocal Consort, with whom he toured internationally eleven times. Noel is an honours graduate in Music, and holds Bachelor’s degrees in both Arts and Education, a Master’s degree in Musicology and Fellowship of Trinity College, London. He is an Honorary Life Member of the Australian National Choral Association (of which he served two terms as National President) and a member of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Jaye Chin-Dusting (appointed 2025)

Chair

Jaye Chin-Dusting is the current owner of the Mary Martin Bookshops located on Wurundjeri country in Southgate, Port Melbourne and the Queen Victoria Market. Mary Martin won ABIA bookshop of the year in 2019, is a 2023 Lord Mayors Small Business of the Year finalist, and home to the Children’s Bookseller of the Year in 2024. Jaye is Vice-President of the Australian Booksellers Association, co-hosts The Booksellers Podcast and is a former Professor of Medical Research, a past-President of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia, founding Chair of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance and former Chair of the Australian Boys Choir. She reads voraciously and is passionate about excellence, education and community. 

James Fox (appointed 2018)

Director / Treasurer

James is the Head of Finance Business Partnering at Griffith University in Brisbane. He has more than 10 years experience in business partnering, financial management, business analysis and taxation administration across the Higher Education, Government and Private sectors. James holds degrees in Business Management and Commerce from the University of Queensland and is a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA). In addition to his financial career, James also has a strong background in choral music. He was a boy chorister and lay clerk at John's Cathedral Brisbane under the directorship of Dr Robert Boughen, and a member of the St. Stephen's Cathedral Schola under the directorship of Dr Ralph Morton. He is a proud former member of NYCA, having participated in five fantastic seasons across Australia. During a three-year stint in the UK, James had the pleasure of singing in the choirs of St George's Chapel Windsor Castle, Truro Cathedral and Winchester Cathedral, realising a long-held dream of experiencing the great English choral tradition.

Warren Trevelyan-Jones (appointed 2019)

Director

Warren Trevelyan-Jones is regarded as one of the leading choral conductors and choir trainers in Australia. Appointed Chorus Master of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in September 2017, and of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in March 2024, he is also Head of Music at St James’, King Street, Sydney, a position he has held since relocating to Australia in 2008. Under his leadership, The Choir of St James’ has gained a high profile international reputation through its regular choral services, orchestral masses, concert series and a regular programme of recording and both interstate and international touring and is well-known for its commissioning of new works. Warren has had an extensive singing career as a soloist and ensemble singer in Europe, including nine years in the Choir of Westminster Abbey, and regular work with the Gabrieli Consort, Collegium Vocale (Ghent), the Taverner Consort, The Kings Consort, Dunedin Consort, The Sixteen and the Tallis Scholars. He has appeared on over 60 CD recordings, numerous television and radio broadcasts, and in many of the worlds’ leading music festivals and concert halls.

Joanna Hughes (appointed 2019)

Director

Joanna has more than more than 30 years of experience in the Energy sector in various commercial and technical roles. She is currently the Head of Commercialisation for Gane Energy, which is commercialising a clean, renewable replacement for diesel fuel for industrial applications. Her career has provided the opportunity to live and work in many different parts of the world, including London, Caracas, Manila, The Hague, Dubai and now Melbourne. Joanna’s love of music and choral music in particular has been a constant throughout these many and varied locations. Having watched her two now adult children benefit so much from the enrichment derived through rigorous and high quality music education and performance, Joanna is delighted to be able to contribute to NYCA’s goal of expanding its impact, presence and value in the Australian choral community through her role on the Board. Joanna has an Honours degree in Physics from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a PhD from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh.

Anish Nair (appointed 2022)

Manager

Anish Nair’s love for music began as a chorister with the Australian Boys Choir, whilst studying piano and later tuba/jazz trombone. After his 1st of six seasons with the National Youth Choir of Australia, he further dove into the choral scene, and is currently a freelance tenor having performed and toured regularly with numerous amateur and professional choirs around Australia, including the Australian Chamber Choir, Consort of Melbourne, and Adelaide Chamber Singers. He has also had the opportunity to work closely with artists and conductors such as David Hill, A.R. Rahman, Joe Hisaishi, and John Rutter. He is a founding member and manager of choral quartet Fiore who have toured and commissioned over 12 works from 9 Australian composers, and currently manages the National Youth Choir of Australia in addition to his day job as a secondary math and science teacher. Having learned so much about the choral industry through his time at NYCA and the many opportunities that arose from them, Anish is proud to be able to give back and help guide new generations of NYCAns.