About Sound NSW

A proud Wiradjuri woman, Adelle Robinson is Managing Director of Fuzzy Operations and has over 25 years experience producing some of Australia largest and best known festivals including Field Day, Harbourlife and Listen Out.

As Chair and founding member of the Australian Festivals Association (AFA) Adelle has worked as member of the NSW Music Festivals Regulatory Round Table since it’s inception and has given evidence at multiple parliamentary inquiries advocating for the industry as a whole. Adelle is committed to a thriving, safe and varied music scene.

Adelle is on the Executive Committee of Live Performance Australia where she advocates for the contemporary music sector. Adelle is also a Board Director of the Biennale of Sydney where she brings her large scale event experience to the contemporary art sector.

Artist Manager Jess Keeley has been working in the music industry for the past 20 years. After gaining experience in Australia in publicity and record label marketing Jess relocated to London, and in 2011 took on her first management client, Lykke Li. Jess has since been instrumental in the management of developing artists to absolute icons including Shania Twain, MARINA (and the Diamonds) and Noah And The Whale. Jess has recently partnered with Wonderlick Entertainment as their new Director of Artist Management and current clients include The Paper Kites, Isabella Manfredi and the new country talent Bella Mackenzie. She is also chair of the Association of Artist Managers (AAM), the peak advocacy body for managers in Australia.

Annabelle Herd is the CEO of ARIA and PPCA. She came to the music industry in February 2021 following a 16-year career in television at Network 10 where she most recently held the role of Chief Operating Officer looking after a range of functions including operations, corporate and government affairs, and strategy. 

Prior to Network 10, she spent several years working in in federal government in senior political roles in communications, media, and copyright. 

Annabelle was a Council Member of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) from 2018-2023, and has been a board member of Save the Children Australia, Sound NSW Advisory Group, Freeview Australia, and Free TV Australia. Annabelle has a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies) from the Australian National University. 

Dean Ormston is the Chief Executive of APRA AMCOS, Australia and New Zealand’s largest music industry organisation. He has led advocacy with Federal and State Governments for the recognition and support of creators’ rights, and the potential of the local music industry as a key economic and cultural asset. Dean has also coordinated and led cross-sector advocacy relating to COVID-19, the establishment of Music Australia, and the opportunity and threat of AI to creative industries.  

Image credit: Seshanka Samarajiwa

With over 13 years in the live music industry, Tyla Dombroski is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of Crowbar, a multi-city venue group with locations in Sydney and Brisbane. Tyla is passionate about creating sustainable, inclusive and innovative spaces for live music, revitalising venues to drive growth and audience engagement. 

Tyla also serves as President of the Live Music Venues Alliance, advocating for venues across NSW and working closely with government and industry through challenges such as Covid-19 and into its recovery and growth. With a focus on commercial viability and delivering exceptional experiences, Tyla believes a strong, unified music industry is essential for building a vibrant and successful future for live music in Australia.

An electronic music professional with 30+ years experience including artist management, programming, media and government relations, events and touring. Jane Slingo is Director, EMC; Director Asia Pacific, VibeLab and Director, Young Strangers, (Artist Management, working with Sampology, Middle Name Dance Band and Sampology’s Middle Name Records imprint). 

Jane is also Deputy Chair at MusicNSW, a member of the NSW 24-Hour Economy Advisory Council and a Patron of the Association of Artist Managers.

Joe Muller is the Managing Director of MusicNSW, the state's peak body for contemporary music. Additionally, he currently serves as a Board Member of Green Music Australia and sits on the NSW Government's 24-Hour Economy Advisory Council. 

His curatorial experience includes roles as Music Curator for Vivid Sydney and developing music programs for Queensland Music Trails (QMF), CHANGES Festival (Melbourne), Taste of Tasmania Festival, Newtown Festival, and iconic Sydney venues such as The Basement and The Lansdowne. 

Previously, Joe was Co-Director of artist management company and independent label Wondercore Island, and General Manager of artist management and venue booking company NFE. He is also a working artist with over 25 years of practice, living on Dharug and working on Gadigal country.

Growing up on a sheep farm in western NSW all the way to Glastonbury UK via hundreds of Country Halls throughout regional Australia, 2x ARIA and 9x Golden Guitar, 3x AIR award winning artist Fanny Lumsden’s journey has been a unique one.  Having “established herself as one of the one of the genre's most esteemed performers” (The Australian) and with her most recent album HEY DAWN having just taken out the 2023 ARIA for Best Country Album, the CMAA Golden Guitar for Alt-Country Album of the Year and 2024 Country Album of the year at the AIR Awards, Fanny is a force to be reckoned with. 

In addition to her music career, Fanny has appeared on numerous television shows, including Spicks and Specs, Rockwiz, Play School Showtime, and The Set. She is also a Support Act Advocate, a Volunteer firefighter, and a documentary filmmaker and has a Bachelor of Rural Science with Honours. Fanny was named the 2021 Hume shire Local Woman of the Year, runs her own Record Label and Production company, Red Dirt Road, with her husband, Dan Stanley Freeman, and is a self-managed artist. 

Image credit: Dan Stanley Freeman

Hau Latukefu is a cultural leader, media presenter, mentor, author, and lifetime musician. With 30 years of writing and performing under his belt (the majority of those years as the front man for ARIA award-winning duo, Koolism), a former presenter of the triple j Hip Hop Show, current radio presenter on ABC’s Double J and Radio Australia, a record label director (Forever Ever Records via Sony Music Australia), and a published author of ‘King’, Hau has lived on all sides of the performing arts worlds. 

Hau was born in Australia to Tongan parents, which gave him access to two cultures he would draw from when it came to writing lyrics and performing them on stage. His heritage plays an important part of who is as a person, an artist, a cultural leader, an author, and a mentor.

Adam Smith is the co-founder of Yours and Owls, a festival and events company based in Wollongong. With over 15 years in the live music industry, he has played a key role in building Yours and Owls into a staple of the Australian festival scene. Adam has also worked across venue management, artist touring, publishing and label operations at Farmer & The Owl. A board member of the Australian Festival Association, he is a passionate advocate for regional music communities and works to strengthen and sustain the live music ecosystem across NSW and beyond.

Karla Ranby is a leader, broadcaster and media professional with over a decade of experience in the music industry. Currently the inaugural Diversity & Inclusion Lead for the ABC's music networks, Karla was a triple j presenter for many years and a curator and co-creator of triple j’s First Nations show, Blak Out.  

A proud Gamilaroi woman from Moree, Karla has a demonstrated passion for improving the experiences of under-represented groups in the workplace and increasing diverse representation in the media and music industries.  She is a member of the Management Committee of Sydney youth community radio station, FBi Radio.

Ramona Blaquiere is a Sydney-based, mixed-race singer-songwriter and contemporary musician with a lifelong passion for music and performance.

Starting her music career at 14 with live performances overseas, in her teens and early twenties Ramona founded her own events management company, formed two bands and curated multi-artist musical events. More recently she reignited her professional career, returning to recording and performing live, with four new, original songs used in an award-winning Japanese film.

Ramona currently performs with two bands – Ramona & Her Funkin’ Band and Ramona & The Rip-Ons – as well as a blues-funk duo, The R & R Project. Her bands perform across Sydney, featuring a vibrant mix of original compositions and reimagined classics.

As an active member of the Sydney Blues Society, Ramona remains committed to fostering collaboration and community in music. Ramona is also a member of the MEAA and is a NSW committee member. She is especially passionate about being a voice for the collective – ensuring no one is left unheard – and advocating for greater unity and participation through active membership and shared perspectives.

Emily Collins is a music industry specialist with extensive strategy, policy and program development expertise.

Before joining Sound NSW, Emily was Managing Director of MusicNSW for eight years and galvanized the NSW contemporary music industry through significant challenges. Emily has worked on game-changing projects for the music industry including I Lost My Gig and the Music Industry Review, which resulted in the publishing of the Raising Their Voices report in 2022.

Emily began her career working in music festivals Cockatoo Island Festival and Great Escape Festival, and then went on to work at Underbelly Arts Festival, Sydney Writers’ Festival and Darwin Festival in marketing roles, before taking up the role of development manager at Sydney's premier youth station FBi Radio in 2013.

Emily has held positions on several boards including the Night Time Industries Association, Australian Music Industry Network, National Live Music Awards, and City of Sydney’s Creative and Cultural Panel, and was awarded the Sydney Music Arts and Culture Awards SMAC of the year in 2018.