Firbank Grammar School Brighton top 20 students of all time
A record-breaking Everest climber, the Family Court of Australia’s first female Chief Justice and an acclaimed wildlife filmmaker are among the many diverse leaders Firbank Grammar has produced in its 111 years. Here’s 20 of its top graduates.
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From trailblazing scientists and judges, to fashion designers, actors, sports stars and social justice crusaders, Firbank Grammar School has produced leaders in every field.
To launch a new series highlighting successful alumni from schools across Melbourne and Victoria, here’s our top 20 most outstanding graduates the Brighton school has produced in its 111-year history.
1. IDA LEA OSBORNE, CLASS OF 1934
Ida Lea Osborne graduated from Firbank in 1934.
While at school, she cultivated acting and drama connections through extra-curricular studies in elocution.
In the 1934 Melbourne Elocutionary Championships, she was spotted by the ABC and invited to act in radio plays.
Over the next two years, she played most of Shakespeare’s younger women characters.
She continued her contract with the ABC and worked on the radio’s Argonauts Club program from 1939, capturing the minds and hearts of children and adults throughout Australia.
In 1946, she was awarded an Imperial Relations Scholarship, which gave her almost a year in the United Kingdom, extending her experience in broadcasting and production.
Upon her return to Australia, she pursued acting and starred in several Shakespearean and other plays.
Ida went on to be part of the ABC’s Women’s Session radio program in the 1950s, covering issues constraining the lives of women.
In 1954, she was selected as the only female national broadcaster to cover the Queen’s first tour of Australia.
Throughout her life she was devoted to children through voluntary work for the Save the Children Fund and was responsible for its establishment.
During her presidency, 13 preschools were formed in NSW, many in remote rural areas.
In 1977, Ida was awarded a Member of the British Empire, presented by the Queen for her contribution to radio and the arts.
2. JUDY JOY DAVIES, CLASS OF 1940
Judy graduated from Firbank in 1943.
She taught herself to swim in the sea opposite her Brighton home.
Her parents decided Judy should be taught properly and enrolled her with former European swim champion, Gus Froelich, who took swim classes for Firbank students at the Middle Brighton Baths.
She had her first taste of success when she won the 25-yard Freestyle Under 9 for her Firbank House, Crowther, and several months later won the Victorian 9 and Under 25-yard freestyle and broke the state record by nine seconds.
At the age of 12, she was Victorian Open Freestyle Champion and at 13 won her first Australian 110-yard Junior Freestyle title.
After World War II, she was one of four female swimmers selected for the Australian Olympic team to compete in the 1948 London Olympics.
She won her heat of the 100m backstroke and broke the Olympic record and won the bronze medal in the final.
At the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, she won three gold medals.
She also competed in 1952 at the Helsinki Olympics.
Two years later, Judy joined The Argus newspaper as a journalist specialising in sport where she covered the next nine Olympic Games – first with The Argus at the 1956 Olympic Games and the next eight Olympics with the Sun News Pictorial.
In 1996, she agreed to become the patron of the newly established Firbank Aquastars.
In 2011 she was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
3. DR PAT PHAIR OAM, CLASS OF 1949
Pat matriculated from Firbank and was Dux of the School and Head Prefect in 1949.
She was awarded a full residential scholarship at Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne and also won a Senior Government Scholarship.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in 1953.
During her time at university, she won numerous scholarships, including the Wyselaskie Scholarship in Natural Sciences.
In 1954, she received the Dunlop Research Scholarship and the Kernot Scholarship, which enabled her to complete her Masters of Science at the University of Melbourne in 1955.
From 1956 to 1958, she studied at the University of London, where she completed her Doctorate in the Department of Chemical Pathology at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington in 1959.
From 1951 to 1968, Pat undertook clinical research at the Royal Children’s Hospital and also completed a postdoctoral study in the Department of Physiology at Cambridge University. She was principally involved in the study of cystic fibrosis.
In 1969, she was appointed assistant professor in Biochemistry in the Division of Human Genetics, Department of Medicine, at Cornell Medical School in New York.
Following her marriage and the birth of her three children, Pat returned to the Royal Children’s Hospital in 1985 to continue her research and retired in 1995.
4. DR DIANE LANGMORE AM, CLASS OF 1958
After graduating in 1958, Diane undertook a Bachelor of Arts with Honours at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1963, and a Diploma in Education from the University of Melbourne in 1964.
She then moved to Papua New Guinea where she taught at Port Moresby High School and, after its foundation, at the University of Papua New Guinea.
She completed her Masters Degree in 1972 on a 19th Century Scottish missionary, which was published by Melbourne University Press in 1974.
Diane returned to Australia in 1976 and settled in Canberra where she completed her PhD on a group biography of all the missionaries who served in Papua before World War I, which was later published in 1988 by University of Hawaii Press.
In 1982, Diane joined the staff of the Australian Dictionary of Biography and was soon made research editor for the Victorian desk, a post she held until 1977 when she was appointed deputy general editor.
During that period, her third and fourth books were published.
She has been published in several scholarly journals and has contributed 44 articles for the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB).
In 2002, Diane was awarded an Australian National University medal for General Staff Excellence and in 2004, she was appointed general editor of the Australian Dictionary of Biography and oversaw the creation of ADB Online which was launched in 2006.
Upon her retirement in 2008, she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia.
5. JOAN TREWEEKE OAM, CLASS OF 1959
Joan matriculated in 1960 as Captain of Tyson House and a School Prefect.
She started a Law Degree at the University of Melbourne in 1961.
After completing her articles, Joan moved to NSW.
With the arrival of children and the necessity for School of the Air lessons at home, she became a home tutor for the next 21 years.
This led to involvement with the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA), becoming NSW vice-president and being heavily involved in curriculum development for Distance Education students, and the implementation of the Country Areas Programme (CAP) in the northwest of NSW.
She served three terms on the Walgett Shire Council from 1992 to 2004.
In 1996, she was elected to the board of the Royal Flying Doctor Service South East Section where she still serves, having been president and a member on the Australia Council of the RFDS.
Joan is a ministerial appointment to the Western NSW Local Health District Board – the rural health district with the most health facilities in Australia covering 250,000 sqkm, equal in size to Great Britain.
This was followed in 2014 by her appointment as a director of the Royal Far West Board and she was elected Chair in 2017.
The RFW provides essential developmental health and other services to children living in rural and remote areas across Australia.
She has spent her life advocating and fighting for greater equity in education and health services in rural and remote Australia.
6. PRUE ACTON OBE, CLASS OF 1960
Prue started learning at Firbank in 1953 and her flair for art and design was apparent from an early age. In 1963 she graduated from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Textile and Design. She established a business as a fashion designer in Flinders Lane, Melbourne, which began a career that saw her become a central figure in the Australian fashion industry for 30 years. Prue travelled the world to promote her fashion and cosmetic ranges.
Her designs were made under licence in the USA, Japan and Germany.
She was described in 1970 as “Australia’s young darling of dress design” and as someone who “effortlessly created fashion in the Australian vernacular”.
Prue has won numerous awards including the Australian Wool Board Wool Fashion Awards in 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970 and 1971; The David Jones Award for Fashion Excellence, 1971, 1972 and 1978; Fashion Industry of Australia Lyrebird Awards 1971, 1973 (when she was inducted into the Hall of Fame), 1978 and 1980.
Prue was also awarded the OBE in 1982 for her service to the fashion industry.
Prue was chosen to design the Australian Olympic uniforms for the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1978, the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
Since the early 1990s, Prue has turned her attention to full-time painting and working for conservation causes.
In 2007, she was awarded a Doctor of Arts Honoris Causa by RMIT University.
7. DR JAN SMITH, CLASS OF 1962
Jan completed all of her schooling at Firbank, as did her mother and two sisters.
Jan was a Probationer Prefect and matriculated with a scholarship to the University of Melbourne in 1961.
She completed a five-year honours psychology double major and Diploma of Social Work and graduated with a Full Blue in Women’s Foil in 1966.
Moving to London for five years, she had two of her three children, worked as a psychiatric social worker and trained as a child psychotherapist at the Tavistock Institute.
Returning to Australia, Jan worked as a clinical psychologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital for 10 years, completing a research Masters in Psychology at the University of Melbourne.
In 1978, she became Head of Child Psychology at Monash Medical Centre which she held for 18 years, completed a PhD at La Trobe University entitled ‘Stress Resilience in Children’, and published two international journal articles on group work.
Jan began mountaineering at age 58.
Mt Everest caught her eye and 10 years later she climbed on her 68th birthday.
This was her third attempt, becoming the oldest Australian and western women to do so.
In total Jan, has climbed six of the Seven Summits.
This year, Jan upgraded a bush sanctuary at Rosebud to a Trust for Nature covenant, protecting it for future generations.
8. HON DIANA BRYANT, CLASS OF 1964
Diana entered Firbank in 1953 and matriculated in 1964.
She attended the University of Melbourne where she graduated with a Bachelor of Law in 1969 and was admitted to practice in 1970.
In 1977, Diana moved to Perth where she became a partner with Lavan and Walsh and subsequently a partner with Phillips Fox.
Diana was a commissioner of the Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia and president of the Family Law Practitioners of Western Australia.
She was also a board member of the Royal Perth Hospital 1984-1989 and a director of Australian Airlines 1984-1989.
In 1990, Diana returned to Melbourne.
She entered practice at the Victorian Bar and served on the Victorian Bar Council from 1995-1997. Diana was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1997.
Diana has been a member of the Executive of The Family Law section of the Law Council, vice-chair of the Family Law Bar Association and a board member of Victoria Legal Aid.
In 1999, Diana graduated with a Masters of Law from Monash University and in 2000 she was appointed Chief Federal Magistrate of the newly created Federal Magistrates’ Court.
In 2004, Diana became the first female Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia.
In 2012, Diana was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for services to the law and the advancement of women in the law.
She retired as Chief Justice of the Family Court in October 2017 and serves on the board of many non-profit organisations.
9. PROF ANN MONOTTI, CLASS OF 1966
Ann was Head Prefect and matriculated from Firbank in 1966.
She graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) in 1971 and a Master of Laws in 1991.
Her PhD, ‘Universities and Intellectual Property: Ownership and Exploitation’ was conferred by Monash University in 2004.
Ann was a partner in the legal firm F R Monotti & Co from 1973 to 1992 and joined the Faculty of Law at Monash University in 1991 where she has been a Professor since 2007.
Ann has held many administrative positions, including inaugural director of the Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies 2014-17 and the current academic director of the Juris Doctor.
Ann’s principal area of expertise is intellectual property law and its intersection with employment law and innovation.
She has numerous publications and co-authored books which have been cited widely, including by the Federal Court and the High Court of Australia.
In addition to her academic pursuits, Ann was a member of the Firbank Grammar School Council 1981-1987, the founding president of Diabetes Youth Foundation (Melb) 1985-1989 and national vice-president of Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (JDF).
Ann was the legal member of the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Cancer Council of Victoria between 1988 and 2004.
10. KAYE MCNAUGHT, CLASS OF 1970
Kaye graduated from Firbank in 1970.
From 1980 to 1995, Kaye was employed at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, and between 1985 and 1995 she was the AIDS and haemophilia counsellor and clinical nurse consultant.
During her time at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Kaye started an Arts degree at The University of Melbourne in 1987 and completed majors in psychology and criminology.
From 1993 until 1995, Kaye was a member of the board of management of the Mordialloc Cheltenham Community Hospital.
Kaye began her law degree at The University of Melbourne in 1995, prior to leaving the Royal Children’s Hospital at the end of that year.
Prior to coming to the Bar in 2001, Kaye worked as a lawyer at McBain & Associates, Family Lawyers.
Since coming to the Bar, Kaye has volunteered with the Family Law Assistance Programme at the Dandenong Family Court, the Southport Community Legal Centre, and the Intervention Order Support Scheme at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court.
Kaye is currently a member of the Law Institute of Victoria’s Children and Youth Issues Committee.
Kaye is also an accredited Advocacy Coach, a member of the Victorian Bar Health and Wellbeing Committee, and she practises mainly in the areas of family law, child protection, and cases involving family violence.
Since July 2014, Kaye has been a board director of Alfred Health where she is a member of the Audit Committee, and Chair of the Occupational Health Safety & Welfare Committee.
11. DR JAN ALDENHOVEN, CLASS OF 1971
From an early age, Jan was fascinated by the natural world and studied science at Firbank.
She graduated from Firbank in 1971 and went on to gain an Honours Degree in botany and zoology at Monash University.
She then completed her Doctorate at Macquarie University, basing her thesis research at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
In 1985, Jan formed Green Cape Wildlife Films.
Their first project was filming for the ABC’s Nature of Australia series and was followed by work with the BBC on such series as David Attenborough’s Trials of Life, The Life of Birds and The Life of Mammals.
Their work appears in films by Oxford Scientific Films, National Geographic and Discovery. Other projects have taken them to China, Indonesia, the Soviet Union, the Himalayas and the Pacific.
Jan’s roles include producer, writer, researcher, sound recordist and stills photographer.
The partnership has also produced its own films.
Kingdom of the Crabs received critical acclaim worldwide and has won numerous awards. Kangaroos – Faces in the Mob received more than 20 awards including an Emmy, an Australian Film Institute Award and a Logie. It has been shown in more than 70 countries.
The partnership is also working on a long-running project about bottlenose dolphins.
Jan continues her interest in education, the environment and conservation.
She is a regular guest lecturer in ecology, water studies and animal behaviour.
Living on North Stradbroke Island has brought opportunities to work with the local traditional owners and help document the island’s natural values.
12. ASSOC PROF CHRISTINE RODDA, CLASS OF 1972
Christine entered Firbank at kindergarten in 1959 and graduated in 1972.
Upon successfully completing her HSC, she studied medicine at the University of Melbourne.
Following her medical degree, Christine went on to study in paediatrics and in 1982 travelled to Oxford where she trained in paediatric endocrinology.
Upon returning to Melbourne in 1986, she embarked on a PhD at the University of Melbourne in calcium metabolism, and in 1989 she undertook Post-Doctoral work at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In 1991, Christine worked as a paediatric endocrinologist at Monash Medical Centre and subsequently became head of paediatric endocrinology and diabetes.
In 2008, she was appointed as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine at Monash University.
In 2012, she took up an academic post at Sunshine Hospital with the University of Melbourne. Her role implemented the child and adolescent health component of the new University of Melbourne post graduate medical course (MD) at the Sunshine Hospital site.
Since then, Christine established a paediatric endocrinology service with another Firbank Old Grammarian, Dr Danielle Longmore, and founded the Young Adult Diabetes Service at Sunshine Hospital.
She is a visiting paediatric endocrinologist to Ballarat Base Hospital.
13. DEBORAH COX, CLASS OF 1975
Deborah graduated from Firbank in 1975.
She discovered her passion for writing and editing while being on the School Yearbook committee.
In the 1980s, she began writing and editing for television at Crawford Productions in Melbourne.
Her early freelance career included a stint as a project officer for the Australian Film Commission and as head of drama for artist services, where she developed a range of feature film and television projects, including the ABC miniseries Simone de Beauvoir’s Babies (creator/ writer/ co-producer) which was based on her friendships made at Firbank and was partly filmed at the school, and the feature film Dead Letter Office (writer/ co-producer).
As part of CoxKnight Productions with Andrew Knight and Andrea Denholm, she co-created and co-wrote three series of the highly acclaimed ABC drama, SeaChange, Network 10 series CrashBurn and story-produced the children’s series Worst Best Friends.
In 2009, she formed Every Cloud Productions with Fiona Eagger to co-executive produce and become head writer on three series of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, the indigenous drama The Gods of Wheat Street and teen online drama Deadlock — all for the ABC — and Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries for the Seven Network.
She is currently executive producer and head writer on the reimagining of SeaChange 20 years on, for the Nine Network.
14. JENNIFER NASON, CLASS OF 1977
Jennifer graduated from Firbank in 1977.
She completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours at the University of Melbourne.
Following university, Jennifer spent three years with the Department of Management and Budget in Australia as a project analyst for large infrastructure projects, including the National Tennis Centre and the Government-sponsored Alcoa Aluminium Smelter.
Jennifer joined JP Morgan’s Melbourne office in 1986.
She later relocated to New York, where she spent six years specialising in mergers and acquisitions and project finance for multinational natural resource companies.
In 1994, Jennifer joined the coverage team responsible for JP Morgan’s largest clients across various industry sectors.
She was the senior member of the client teams for clients including Ford Motor Company and Wal-Mart Inc.
Jennifer then joined JP Morgan’s Technology Media and Telecom Group within Investment Banking as head of the telecommunications practice with a focus on debt and equity financing.
Currently she is the global head of JP Morgan’s TMT investment banking practice and is responsible for clients across all three industry subsectors.
As well as her major telecommunications relationships, she is responsible for other US clients including News Corp and Xerox.
Jennifer is recognised as one of the leading businesswomen on Wall Street and has managed to combine her career with having four children.
15. JENNIFER FLETCHER, CLASS OF 1982
Jennifer entered the school in 1974 as a third-generation Firbank student.
In her final year, she was captain of Cameron House and a Prefect.
Jennifer went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne majoring in English literature and criminology.
Journalism was always Jennifer’s passion and this interest was sparked by her involvement as editor of The Log in her final year at Firbank.
While at university, Jennifer wrote for the Southern Cross Newspaper and the Sunday Observer.
In 1985, Jennifer joined Channel 10 News and in 1994, she moved to current affairs on Channel 10’s Alan Jones Live.
In January 1996, she was appointed to the role of co-presenter of Ten News, presenting the weekly 5pm news, a position she held until 2006.
Since leaving Channel 10, Jennifer performs as MC at major charity and corporate events and has pursued a career in acting in stage and film.
She also formed her own business called Uber Savvy, ideas for living.
In 2008, she returned to the media industry for the Olympics, reading the news for the ABC Australia.
Jennifer also completed a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT University. During the course she worked on her first novel, Making Headlines, which she published as an e-book with Harper Collins in 2016.
Jennifer now works in radio at Smooth 91.5 alongside Mike Perso on the More Music Breakfast show, where she reads the news and chats about all things Melbourne.
16. KATHRYN GREY, CLASS OF 1987
Kathryn started in Turner House in 1978 and graduated from Firbank in 1987.
In her final year, she was a Prefect and House Captain.
She completed a Commerce and Arts (majoring in French) degree at the University of Melbourne, but she decided to pursue her passion through a career in singing.
Kathryn became a member of the Opera Studio at the Victorian College of the Arts and studied acting at the Australian National Academy of Music.
She joined the Victorian State Opera in 1995.
Kathryn is also an accomplished pianist and a lover of languages.
She has worked extensively with all the major opera companies in Melbourne, including Opera Australia and Victorian Opera, singing principal roles, covers and chorus.
Career highlights include the title role in Carmen for Melbourne Opera and creating the character Athena in the world premiere of The Children’s Bach, developed from the novel by Helen Garner, for Chamber Made Opera.
Kathryn later moved into the soprano repertoire, with appearances including Sharon Graham in Masterclass (Williamstown Little Theatre), the Maria Callas Story (Melbourne Lyric Opera), and as the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem and Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs for Soprano and orchestra (Noteworthy Classics).
Most recently, Kathryn has been involved in the creation of a new opera company, Millennium Opera, and has performed in and directed several operas.
Kathryn is also the founding director of the Melbourne-based opera entertainment group, Opera Power, specialising in opera performance where you least expect it.
17. MELISSA MADDEN GREY, CLASS OF 1987
Melissa trained in classical ballet while at Firbank and was a soloist with the Young Dancers Theatre Victoria for six years.
This encouraged her early love of performance.
She graduated from Firbank in 1987 and went on to complete an Honours degree in Law and Arts from the University of Melbourne and received the Bruce Munro Scholarship while living at Trinity College at the university.
Melissa also attended the Freie University, Berlin, where she gained First-Class Honours in German and Fine Arts and is also a graduate of WAPA where she gained a Bachelor of Arts (Music Theatre).
Melissa has gone on to carve out an impressive stage career in Australia and overseas.
From main stage theatre and film to contemporary opera, “kamikaze cabaret” and solo multimedia performance, Melissa has performed in places as diverse as Berlin, Paris, New York, Moscow and Tokyo.
She has premiered various music and dance-theatre pieces worldwide and worked with the legendary Pina Bausch and various other artists across the globe.
In Australia, she’s worked with groups including the Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company, plus major arts and music festivals.
Her creation of the character Meow Meow has seen her wreak havoc from Vegas to Berlin. She has been named top 10 Best of Cabaret by Time Out, New York.
She has won numerous Australian Green Room Awards and the New York Franklin Furnace Performance Art Award.
Meow Meow was curated by David Bowie for his New York High Line Festival.
18. NATALIE WALDIE, CLASS OF 1995
Natalie was a Prefect and Dux of the School in 1995.
She completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Melbourne. She became a strong advocate of women in engineering.
In 1998, she was awarded the Telstra Undergraduate Fellowship and was also the winner of the Invergowrie McPherson Family Scholarship for Women in Engineering in 1999.
Further awards followed and she gained the University of Melbourne Computer Science Prize in 2000 and the Rotary Club of Melbourne Young Achiever Award in Science and Technology in 2001.
Upon completing her university studies, Natalie accepted a job as an eBusiness Analyst with the Boston Consulting Group.
After two years she became an aerospace engineer with British Aerospace (now BAE Systems) and for seven years was the design engineer on the NULKA hovering rocket decoy, a system that currently protects the Australian, US and Canadian navies for anti-ship missiles. In this role, she has developed and tested new flight-control algorithms.
In 2009, Natalie was selected for a two-year secondment to Lockheed Martin near Boston where she progressed from design engineer, to engineering management to project management via two rounds of maternity leave.
Natalie was selected for the international BAE Systems Emerging Global Leaders Program in 2016 and promoted to deputy general manager in 2018.
19. AMIE KAUFMAN, CLASS OF 1998
Amie enrolled in three-year-old kinder at Firbank Sandringham in 1984 and was a Firbank student until her completion of Year 12 in 1998.
During her time at the school she co-founded the sailing team, participated in debating and Duke of Ed, and received scholarships for academic and general excellence.
Amie went on to gain degrees in Arts and Law as well as a Masters in Conflict Resolution, travelling as often as she could during her time at university.
She is currently undertaking a PhD in Creative Writing.
After university she became a mediator, building and leading the mediation program at a national not-for-profit, as well as teaching mediation.
Amie’s always written and told stories, and so in the evenings after work and on weekends, she chipped away at her first novel, which was published in 2013.
Amie now works full-time as an author, writing science fiction and fantasy for children and teens.
Her books have featured many times on the New York Times, USA Today, Sunday Times and Australian bestseller lists, as well as winning multiple awards, including the Australian Book Industry Award, and short-listing for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award.
Amie’s work has been published in more than 35 countries and is in development for film and TV. Her latest book, Aurora Burning, just debuted as the No 1 best-selling young adult book in Australia, and onto the New York Times bestseller list at No 3.
Amie tours internationally each year for her work, but her base remains in Melbourne, where she lives with her husband and daughter.
20. JACQUELINE PORTER, CLASS OF 2000
Jacqueline, a past music captain of the school, graduated in 2000.
She completed a Bachelor of Arts (Italian) and a Bachelor of Music (Performance) with First-Class Honours at the University of Melbourne, where she received a full residential choral scholarship to Trinity College.
Jacqueline made her debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2005, when she was selected as a promising young singer by Chief Conductor, Oleg Caetani.
Upon finishing her degree, Jacqueline was selected by the late Richard Gill to become a developing artist with Victorian Opera and went on to become a principal artist for the company.
In 2010, she was awarded the prestigious Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust Scholarship.
At home on the operatic stage and concert platform, Jacqueline now appears regularly with Australia’s major symphony orchestras and opera companies.
She has worked with celebrated conductors including Sir Neville Marriner, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Sir Andrew Davis and her recitals and concerts are frequently broadcast on ABC Classic FM.
Her performance of Prokofiev’s The Ugly Duckling with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was recorded for international CD release.
Jacqueline regularly uses her in-depth understanding of linguistics, in particular phonetics and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), to perform in a variety of languages (Italian, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Czech, Norwegian and Portuguese) and is passionate about passing these skills on to her students.