Today on the podcast, I’m joined by two remarkable musicians, educators, and collaborators — Jen Teh and Kate Schirmer. Jen and Kate both live deeply in the world of music education. They teach, mentor, conduct, and inspire musicians at many levels. At the same time, they continue to create and perform their own music, bringing years of experience from classrooms, rehearsal rooms, and stages into the work they do today. Kate Schirmer is a Lecturer in Music and Singing at the Queensland Academy of Excellence in Musical Theatre at Griffith University. She also serves as Artistic Director of the Queensland Show Choir, where she conducts their award-winning young adult ensemble, Voiceworks. Kate presents nationally and internationally to singers, teachers, choristers, and actors, and she’s also an experienced crossover performer. Her career spans opera, big band, musical theatre, cabaret, contemporary commercial music — and even a gig with the Rolling Stones. Jen Teh is a singer, conductor, and music educator with more than twenty years of experience across classrooms, choirs, studios, and stages. She is the founding director of Hush Little Baby Early Childhood Music Classes and specializes in early childhood music education. Jen teaches in both the School of Music and the School of Education at the University of Queensland and serves as an accredited lecturer for the Australian Kodály Certificate in Music Education. At the heart of her work is a simple belief — music should belong to everyone. Together, Jen and Kate are stepping onto the stage with a brand-new cabaret show that celebrates the music of the late 1990s and early 2000s — the iconic Triple J era. The show blends nostalgia, storytelling, and beautiful cabaret-style arrangements of songs by artists like The Whitlams, Missy Higgins, You Am I, and Lior. The show is part of the Anywhere Festival and will feature six performances across two Brisbane venues — The Raven in West End and New Tricks in Albion — in early May. In this conversation, we explore their journeys as educators and performers, how this show came to life, what it feels like to revisit the music that shaped their younger selves, and why staying connected to creativity beyond the classroom matters so much. Let’s jump in. Links Mentioned in the Episode: ⭐️ www.hushlittlebabymusic.com 🎶 https://www.queenslandshowchoir.com.au/ 🎤 www.winemumanthems.com 💻 https://kodaly.org.au/ 👉🏼 https://anywhere.is/ Where to find me: Crescendo Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crescendocommunity Official Crescendo Page: https://www.facebook.com/CrescendoMusicEd/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CrescendoMusicEd Twitter: https://twitter.com/crescendomusic LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-o-shea-62a3741b/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CrescendoDeb Support the show
