Meet the Team

Denise Rothall is a graduate of Flinders Street School of Music and Adelaide College of the Arts, where she gained her Bachelor of Education in Music and Drama. She also holds an A.Mus.A. in piano.

As Music Coordinator at Marymount College, her passion for choral music grew. Denise was accepted to further her studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, USA where she completed a Master of Music degree, majoring in choral conducting under the tutelage of Constantina Tsolainou, and orchestral conducting with Dr David Milnes.

Denise has been invited to present workshops and work with choirs in both Adelaide and interstate as a guest conductor. She is also Music Director of Cantabile Singers.

After completing a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance in South Australia, Sam relocated to Victoria for 11 years. She has enjoyed teaching, directing small ensembles, tutoring at music camps and freelancing in SA and Victoria for over 25 years.

She undertook a Graduate Diploma in Arts & Entertainment Management through Deakin University and gained a number of Arts Administration roles in Victoria prior to returning to South Australia for family. Sam sought to continue her passion in music education and for eight years taught Kindermusik music & movement classes to children aged birth-7yrs; a rewarding and life-skill experience she greatly values.

Enjoying large scale youth music events, Sam has been managing the SA State Music Camp since 2013. She continues to perform with a variety of ensembles including the Adelaide Wind Orchestra, Adelaide Summer Orchestra, Metropolitan Male Choir events and other freelance opportunities.

Her role at the Catholic Schools Music Festival sees her running the operations of this event; fulfilling her commitment to providing performance opportunities for young people to experience and enjoy.

James Musci is the Leader of Learning for Music at St Michael’s College, Henley Beach. He has been at the forefront of revitalising the music curriculum at St Michael's over the past 16 years, focusing on building greater student involvement via Music Technology.

James has been actively involved in the Adelaide music scene for many years as a lead singer and guitarist and studied Jazz Voice at the Elder Conservatorium of Music.

James is passionate about students pursuing their creativity and believes innovative curriculum initiatives are the key. He has been part of the Catholic Schools Music Festival team as the Support Acts Coordinator since 2019.

Michelle is the Assistant Principal Learning Diversity at St Francis of Assisi, Newton and is also the school’s choir trainer.

Michelle has been a member of the Catholic Schools Music Festival since 2022 and coordinates the incredible team of volunteers that offer their support each year during performance week.

Having performed at the Catholic Schools Music Festival as a student herself, Michelle is a passionate advocate of the festival and the opportunities it creates for students in Catholic Education in South Australia.

Meredith Wilson holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Adelaide, an Advanced Certificate in Accompaniment (TAFE School of Music), and an AMusA in piano. She has taught piano at many schools in Adelaide and is currently employed at Pulteney Grammar School as a piano teacher and accompanist.

 Meredith accompanies a wide variety of genres from school Musicals through to Conservatorium recitals, Cabaret and classical concerts, and is also the accompanist for Cantabile Singers.

She is pleased to be associated with CSMF again this year.

Adam Slater is currently the Principal of St Joseph's Memorial School in Norwood and Kensington. He has completed a Bachelor of Education (UniSA), a Master of Educational Leadership (ACU), a Graduate Certificate in Religious Education (UniSA), and is currently completing a PhD (University of Adelaide) researching the link between teacher wellbeing practices and the impact of student achievement. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator, an accredited AITSL Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher Assessor, he volunteers for the Dernancourt St Vincent DePaul Society conference, is on the Norwood Parish Pastoral Council, and is the current chair of the Catholic Schools Music Festival.

Adam has presented at a range of educational conferences, including the uLead Educational Leadership Summit in Banff, Canada, undertaken an educational study tour of Finland, and shared learning at the Apple Distinguished Schools Summit in Chicago, USA.

Adam has developed skills to play a range of musical instruments, starting at the age of twelve years old, and has played in bands that have toured around Australia. He is deeply passionate about providing students with opportunities to develop and showcase their talents through music and performance.

Daniel developed his love of choral singing as a student at Marryatville High School’s Special Interest Music Centre. He completed a Bachelor of Education with specialisation in Music from the University of South Australia in 2009 and is currently the Music Teacher and Digital Technologies Support at All Saints Catholic Primary School, Seaford.

He is an established vocalist and keen performer and has a long history of performing sold-out and award-winning shows at the Adelaide Fringe as a member of The Con Artists, Voice of Transition, and Enharmonics.  In 2019, he competed in AusACA’s National Acapella Championships with The Tabor Tones, placing second in the open division.

Daniel is passionate about composing and arranging music for choirs, with his arrangements recently featuring in Enharmonics’ Adelaide Fringe run of Zero to Hero: A Call to Adventure. His arrangement of Game of Who was awarded Best Original Performance at the SupaNova Pop Culture Convention and his transcription of the popular Pentatonix cover of Mary, Did You Know has been downloaded almost 200,000 times on the social sheet music website Musescore.

In addition to his teaching and musical pursuits, Daniel volunteered from 2005-2024 with charity Toc H SA as the board chairperson and the director of the GLOW Kids Camp, providing respite and recreation camps for more than a thousand disadvantaged South Australian children over twenty years.

Recently completing his Graduate Certificate in Catholic Education, Daniel is an aspiring Lead Teacher and is passionate about the use of Digital Technologies in education, particularly when it comes to integrating STEM and The Arts. He regularly provides professional development for teachers in the area of Digital Technologies, both within Catholic Education and as a member of the global education community.  He is a Microsoft Certified Educator Trainer, SeeSaw Certified Educator, and member of the Vivi Education Council.

Lisa has been the music specialist at Our Lady of the Visitation School for 27 years and has been a committee member of the Catholic Schools’ Music Festival for almost as long. She estimates that during this time she has been a choir trainer for over 400 students and has taught more than 200 different songs for performance in the Festival.

Before her teaching career Lisa completed a degree in piano performance at Elder Conservatorium and discovered at university the joys of choral singing. This interest has led her over the years to many groups in Adelaide, including St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral Choir, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and the State Opera of South Australia.

When her travelling took her out of Adelaide, Lisa always found a choir to join; fond memories include singing for Pope John Paul II in the Vatican, singing with the choir of The Church of St Thomas More in London, and sight-reading her way through a performance of Handel’s Messiah with the Darwin Chorale Society. For the last 12 years she has been a member of Adelaide Philharmonia Chorus.

Lisa stretches her musical boundaries by occasionally acting as Musical Director for various Adelaide theatre companies. Her one foray into rock music was during the Adelaide Fringe providing keyboards and vocals for Tubular Bells live.

Lisa keeps changing her mind about her Favourite-Song-of-All-Time, but it’s certain whatever it is, it will be a Christmas Carol.

My name is Karla Sparapani and I am a System Coach at the Catholic Education Office. I am originally from California, where I was a High School Teacher in Alternative Education before moving to Adelaide in 2006. My work has brought me to various roles in CESA Primary and Secondary Schools such as Classroom Teacher, Leader of Learning and APRIM.  I have a real passion for music and performing arts in schools stemming from my theatre background, and I value the confidence and learning that Performing Arts can bring to all students.