🎶🎶 Meet the 2026 Adjudicators 🎶🎶

With nearly 40 years of teaching experience, Benjamin has helped many students achieve vocal freedom. His teachers include Eduardo Asquez, Andrew Field and Vernon Mackie, a pupil of Edgar Herbert-Caesari, the author of many books on singing.    Benjamin’s students have achieved numerous exam, scholarship and competition successes, including recording contracts, West End musicals, entry into tertiary institutions, professional work with opera companies, musical theatre and film credits.
He taught at The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London and also had a private studio in London.  After overseeing The Australian Singing Competition, he wrote the  eBook SINGTO WIN that outlines all the aspects of winning a singing competition. 

Benjamin had the privilege of giving Violette from Nambucca Heads the Junior Championship prize at the 2024 Coffs Harbour Eisteddfod, and she was invited to sing at The Sydney Opera House. She performed at NSW School Spectacular in November 2024.

Previously he has adjudicated for the Bathurst, Coffs Harbour, Gladstone, Kempsey, Lower Clarence Valley, Mildura, The National Eisteddfod, Northern Beaches, Ryde, Taree and Wollongong Eisteddfodau.  In 2026 I adjudicate the Hobart, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and The National Eisteddfodau.

Melissa's versatility as an entertainer is highlighted by her unique performances in cabaret, music theatre and on the concert platform.  Her theatre appearances include; JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Harry M Miller), LES MISERABLES (Cameron Macintosh), THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE (Esgee), EUROBEAT, STRANGE BEDFELLOWS, WE WILL ROCK YOU (Killer Queen) in Japan, THE THREEPENNY OPERA, INTO THE WOODS (Jack’s Mother) & HOW TO KILL YOUR HUSBAND (Angel) (Malthouse Theatre/The Victorian Opera) and CITY OF ANGELS (Angel City Four) (Lifelike Touring). In 2025, she performed the role of The Housewife for the Sydney season of Menopause the Musical (SK Entertainment).

For Melbourne’s wonderful Production Company, Melissa was delighted to perform in many productions including CAROUSEL (Nettie Fowler), 42ND STREET (Maggie Jones), DAMN YANKEES (Gloria Thorpe), FOLLIES (Stella Deems), CRAZY FOR YOU (Patricia Fodor), SUGAR (Sweet Sue) & CURTAINS (Carmen Bernstein).

Outside of the musical theatre world, Melissa is renowned for devising and performing her own live performance and cabaret shows alongside her husband and Musical Director, Mark Jones.  Over a 20 year period, they have created over 40 shows.  These shows have been presented at venues locally and internationally including; Don’t Tell Mama’s in New York, The Sugar Club in Dublin, Downstairs at The Maj in Perth, The Adelaide and Melbourne Cabaret Festivals, The Sydney Cabaret Convention, The Auckland Festival, The Melbourne Midsumma Festival, Chapel off Chapel and The Famous Spiegeltent at the Melbourne Festival.  During this time, Melissa and Mark won The Sydney Cabaret Convention, and have been awarded numerous Green Room Awards for Cabaret

In concert, Melissa has appeared with The Aussie Pops Orchestra, Musical Melodies (Stonnington Council), Hamer Hall Christmas Carols, The Rob Guest Endowment, Side by Side by Sondheim (In Concert) and is a regular soloist each year at Hats Off and Twisted Broadway.  She was a regular soloist on Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton and has also appeared on Denise, Hey Hey It’s Saturday and The Midday Show.

She is a member of the popular girl group The Fabulous Singlettes, and has performed with the group regularly since 1998 at many events in Australia including The Sydney Olympics, The Australian Grand Prix, The Adelaide Cabaret Festival and The Melbourne Comedy Festival. The group is in constant demand in venues across Europe and perform every year in Berlin.  They have also toured Germany, Italy and Austria. 

Melissa has enjoyed workshopping many new Australian musicals including Strange Bedfellows (John Foreman/Jon Stevens), How To Kill Your Husband (The Victorian Opera) (Alan John/Tim Daly/Kathy Lette), After the Beep (Craig Christie/Mark Jones), The Black Widow (Gary Young/Paul Keelan), Halo (Marty Fields), Life’s A Circus (Anthony Costanzo), Sideshow Alley (Gary Young/Paul Keelan), and Cinderella (Anthony Costanzo/John Foreman).

BMus, AMus, LMus, FTCL, MAM 

Cheryl Oxley is the Founder of the StandOut Music Studio, a wonderful dynamic musical community, a hub of creative inspiration and top-quality training for musicians and singers of all ages and abilities. She teaches voice, brass and piano; coaches and accompanies performers; and conduct s and oversees shows.

With over 3 decades of experience, Cheryl started in music simply because singing and playing music made her happy. She started learning the piano at age 8, and it wasn’t long before she joined her brothers playing in the brass band her father conducted. Cheryl even became an Aussie champion on tenor horn before majoring in French Horn and Voice at Sydney Uni, leading to a full-time position with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra at age 21, while guesting with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and working commercially as a musician. This invaluable experience in the music profession is something she is privileged to pass on to every student.

It was in year 12 at school that Cheryl had discovered her voice and the stage, landing the lead in My Fair Lady despite no formal vocal training. Her teacher Jennifer King was inspirational and created a musical learning environment at school that still impacts her to this day.  Cheryl studied singing and worked through the exam system - even won some big competitions. This lead her from Sydney to New York [Metropolitan Opera] and London, to marriage and children - balancing a flourishing Music Studio, a family and performing. 

Coming home to Australia after 13+ years, she was conducting 6 bands; training teachers and choirs; adjudicating Eisteddfods, accompanying and coaching everywhere - for Festivals at the Opera House and Town Hall, at National Band Competitions, Recitals and Exams; running Showcase Events - and the Music Studio. 

Sounds crazy, but music was and still is - her exciting, happy place. After 30+ years of teaching and performing internationally, Cheryl wanted to find a way to give people of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to experience the life-changing power of music, and to enrich music and the Arts in Australia. In search of answers, she dove into some further high-powered education and completed a master’s in arts management, and so was birthed GoBravo Music [their original instrumental arm] and now StandOut Music Studio. Cheryl’s reward is the magic that happens in the Studio and on the Stage, where sparks of creativity and talent fuse with each person’s unique expressive qualities to bring us all wonderful performances, happiness and lifetime friendships.

Glenn Riddle studied piano at the University of Melbourne with Ronald Farren-Price before undertaking post-graduate studies at the Royal College of Music, London with Peter Wallfisch and at the University for Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna with Paul Badura-Skoda. During this time he was the recipient of two Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Scholarships, an Ian Potter Foundation Scholarship, the Clark Scholarship, and a prestigious Horlock Scholarship. He was also winner of the National Kawai and Yamaha competitions. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Keyboard at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Australia), a Research Associate at the University of Waikato, (New Zealand) and Visiting Professor at the Nanjing University of Arts (China).
Glenn Riddle is an Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) Federal Examiner, a member of the AMEB International Examining Panel, Senior Music Critic for leading online cultural magazine Classic Melbourne, a member of the National Committee of the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference, and a Board Director of the Victorian Music Teachers Association. He is also Vice-President and Artistic Advisor to the Camberwell Music Society.
One of Australia’s leading piano pedagogues, his students have been prize-winners in international competitions throughout Europe, Asia and the USA. They have also been major prizewinners in every significant competition in Australia, including winning both first and second prizes in the 2022 Lev Vlassenko Competition in Brisbane. His students have performed concertos with the Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria, and internationally with the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, Les Solistes de Neuchâtel (Switzerland), the Helsinki Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, the Morocco Philharmonic, Thailand Philharmonic, Hanoi Philharmonic and Jakarta Concert Orchestras.
Glenn has worked extensively throughout China, South-East Asia, USA, Australia and New Zealand presenting recitals, pedagogy workshops, masterclasses, examining and adjudicating. He has also been a member of international competition juries in the United States, Greece, Israel, Indonesia, New Zealand and Thailand.
Glenn Riddle’s publications are numerous and include 8 volumes of piano music for the AMEB as well as co-editing 4 volumes of Baroque Keyboard works for the AMEB. He is about to embark on editing a series of piano publications with Australian music publisher Mondschein Studio Publications. Glenn has also been General Editor for IPPEC in Taiwan, selecting over 200 works for publication and use in their national piano examinations. Published articles include Improving Sight-reading Skills in Advanced Pianists; a hybrid approach; (Psychology of Music), co-authored with Katie Zhukov. He has also contributed articles to Hoardings: Exceptional, exotic and commonplace (Grainger Museum), to Australian Pianists: a cross-section of performers offers insights into aspects of pianism; (Australian Scholarly Publishing), Clavier Magazine (The AMEB in Australia), and the Piano Teacher (on Teaching Gifted Students). He has also had numerous papers published in the proceedings of the Australian Piano Pedagogy Conference – the most recent being on the Music of Percy Grainger for Children.
Glenn has recorded 15 CDs for labels such as ABC Classics, Move Records, Tall Poppies and Hal Leonard, and is also featured on the internationally acclaimed DVD Classical Destinations III performing the works of Percy Grainger on the composer’s own piano held at the Grainger Museum. His latest CD features the chamber music for piano and strings by Australian composer Christine McCombe. Glenn continues to perform as both chamber musician, concerto soloist and in recital.