Tue, August 31, 2021
The 2021 Arts Academy Awards Vocal Nominees recently had the opportunity to attend a vocal workshop run by Professor Paul Sabey, Head of Performing Arts and Program Director for the Bachelor of Musical Theatre at Griffith University. 

As this year’s Arts Academy Awards Vocal Industry Expert, Professor Sabey had previously also had the opportunity to view and score the Nominees’ Voting Panel performances, to help determine who will receive the coveted trophies on the night. 

With years of experience in Musical Theatre, Conducting and Vocal Coaching, Paul’s work has taken him around the world, working with singers and musicians, as an academic and artistic programme advisor, and as a Musical Director in Thailand, America, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Amsterdam, Singapore, France, Germany, Malaysia, Italy and Russia. He has directed and vocally arranged over 60 London West End Showcases, countless shows and produced and conducted eight annual Christmas Concerts at St. Pauls, Covent Garden, London.  

Needless to say, this workshop presented an incredible opportunity for students and teachers alike.  Whilst they found responding to Paul’s exacting direction challenging, the students were clearly able to see the positive impact of his advice on each other’s performances.  For Year 12 student, Sophie Moman, Paul’s challenge that “scary is actually exciting” was a revelation in terms of her own performance, and she was very thankful for the workshop opportunity, ahead of her upcoming tertiary auditions. 

Head of Faculty, The Arts, and Music Extension Teacher, Ms Julianne Moore, voted it to be “the best professional development I have done this year”. “Paul had our students thinking deeply about the choices they had made in relation to their performances, and challenged them to own their decisions.” “For me, the final takeaway was a lovely reminder of reframing the feelings we can get as performers. We can view it as scary and nerve-wracking, or we can view it as exciting and use this to energise the performance.” 

Thank you for coming to Sheldon College to work with our students Paul.  You were an inspiration to all and such fun to work with.  We would love to welcome you back to Sheldon College again in the future.