Toni Childs is an Emmy Winner and three-time Grammy nominated American recording artist. The celebrated singer-songwriter is known for her powerful voice, inspiring independent spirit and crafted storytelling.

With fans in over 50 countries around the world, Toni has produced a list of international hits such as: Don’t Walk Away, Stop Your Fussin’, Walk and Talk Like Angels, Many Rivers to Cross, to name a few. Over Toni’s illustrious career she has opened for Bob Dylan and performed duets with greats such as Al Green and Peter Gabriel. She has toured the world over gaining a much loved fan base.

In 1997, Toni was diagnosed with Graves Disease, a hyper-thyroid condition that pulled her away from touring and music making. It was 19 years in between albums and by then the industry and the world had changed. Living on Kauai in Hawaii, it became crystal clear to Toni that she wanted to create innovative new works with more engagement and play that supports life and shines a light on environmental solutions in ways that inspire action.

Adding environmental activist, artistic director and installation artist to her bow, Toni has been bringing together the disciplines of music, film, 3D mapping, animation, lighting, set design and interactive components to three new works including an underwater concert, Reef 360.

Toni is currently on her Retrospective 2022/2023 tour, a special two-hour performance celebrating her life’s musical works.

“Vika & Linda Bull have enchanted Australian music fans for the past three decades with their effervescent performance and effortless harmonies.” – Kathy McCabe, The Daily Telegraph

You can’t beat siblings singing together, Paul Kelly observed when Vika & Linda released their 2020 anthology, ‘Akilotoa. “They make the air beat in sync.”

It comes naturally to Melbourne’s Bull sisters – they’ve been singing together their entire lives, starting in church with their mother, Siniva, who came to Australia as a nursing student in 1959. “Tongans by nature are fun, always laughing, always eating, always singing and always praying,” Vika explains.

“We learned to sing at church,” Linda adds. “Our mother was our teacher and we loved listening to the Tongans singing. It was joyous.”

From church to the charts, Vika & Linda have enjoyed a remarkable musical journey. A snapshot of the highlights: After three classic albums with The Black Sorrows, Vika & Linda have released eight studio albums, two live albums and a chart-topping anthology. They have also sung on number one albums by Paul Kelly, Kasey Chambers and John Farnham, done gigs for the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and the King of Tonga, and been nominated for six ARIA Awards.

In 2022, Vika & Linda were awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, for their service to the performing arts. The sisters were humbled by the award. “I’m so rapt, I am going to wear it down the shops,” Linda said. The OAM was recognition of more than three decades of making music. “When you set out to be a singer, you sing because you love it, it’s your passion,” Linda noted. “But when you’re recognised by your country for it, for your service to it, that’s a whole other level.”

Vika & Linda made their own history in 2020 when their career anthology, ‘Akilotoa, entered the Australian charts at number one – their first chart-topping album and the first number one album by an Australian female duo. Three months later, Vika & Linda’s gospel collection, Sunday (The Gospel According To Iso), debuted at number two.

Mark Sholtez is an ARIA nominated and APRA award winning songwriter and recordings artist. He was the first Australian artist to record for the legendary Verve record label in New York, and his career to date has included collaborations with music industry icons including Tommy LiPuma (Barbra Streisand, George Benson, Miles Davis), Grammy Lifetime Achievement recipient and noted veteran engineer Al Schmitt (Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson), multiple Grammy winning producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Tracy Chapman), as well as internationally renowned artists and songwriters including Don Walker (Cold Chisel), The Veronicas, Iain Archer (Snow Patrol), Troy Cassar-Daley, and Wendy Mathews.

Currently signed to EMI Music Publishing Australia, in addition to his own major label releases, Mark’s music has appeared in numerous international film and television productions including, Private Practice, Pretty Little Liars, Teen Wolf, Grim, and Packed to the Rafters.

Mark also lectures in Songwriting and Music Production at the University of Southern Queensland, and teaches at the prestigious Berklee College of Music as part of their internationally renowned online music program.

Whitsunday Songwriter Festival and Residency Co-Founder

Francesca has spent her life finding the elemental magic of song writing and then empowering others to find that within themselves. Through her visionary work as founder of the online song writing club, I Heart Songwriting Club, and in her podcast “The Magic of Songwriting” Francesca is revolutionising the song writing space, helping birth 25,000 songs and changing the lives of thousands of songwriters worldwide.

Francesca is also a prolific and award-winning Australian songwriter with a catalogue of over 500 songs. She has been published by Songwriting Magazine UK, has taught songwriting and music at prestigious music universities, and has facilitated workshops worldwide in partnership with APRA AMCOS, Irish Music Rights Organisation, and Folk Alliance International.

Some of her career highlights include supporting Jimmy Webb, writing 460 songs in 460 weeks (non-stop), playing at Folk Alliance New Orleans 2020, winning a Los Angeles Music Award, playing a concert in Paris in French, and teaching hundreds of beginner songwriters how to write songs!!

Whitsunday Songwriter Festival and Residency Co-founder

In a late 1970’s living room in Mackay, seven-year-old Karen Jacobsen saw Olivia Newton-John on television and knew she was meant to become a professional singer in America. Arriving in New York City with only a suitcase and her golden voice, she became an award-winning Singer and Songwriter, as well as the speaking voice in a billion GPS and smartphone devices worldwide.

Karen’s musical career highlights include sharing the stage with Norah Jones, Neil Sedaka, Jon English, Christopher Cross and Cyndi Lauper, national anthem performances at major sporting events - Madison Square Garden, Fenway Park, Dodger Stadium, Giants Stadium (80,000 in the crowd) and at Suncorp Stadium in Queensland for TriNations Rugby and State of Origin events. Karen’s timeless, cinematic, piano-driven songs have been licensed to US network television including Passions and Dawson’s Creek and she was called “hypnotic” by Harry Connick Jnr on his talk show.

Returning to Australia In 2020 and based in the glorious Whitsundays, Karen has recorded her 12th album, and composed and premiered the Misogyny Opus with Queensland Symphony Orchestra musicians at the MECC to acclaim. The pop orchestral work is the setting of former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech to music word for word.