Gondwana Choirs is excited to announce Cairns Songfest 2026!

Songfest brings together young people from the Cairns region for some fun and inspirational days of choral singing.

Gondwana Choirs are thrilled to welcome renowned Australian conductor Paul Holley OAM to conduct our Songfest Choirs. Paul will rehearse with the choristers during Songfest week, culminating in a concert in the wonderful acoustic of St Monica’s Cathedral, alongside Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir and the Birralee Singers.

Gondwana Indigenous Children's Choir

Conductor: Lyn Williams

Pianist: Jem Harding

Featuring Murtala from Suara Indonesia Dance

Birralee Singers

Conductor: Paul Holley

Pianist: Jo-Anne Kemp

Songfest Choir

Conductor: Paul Holley

Pianist: Jo-Anne Kemp

Guest Conductor: Paul Holley

Paul Holley is a choral conductor and educator. His personal warmth and passion for choral music have inspired many singers to discover and develop their skills and achieve personal fulfilment as choral musicians. With over 25 years of teaching experience in secondary schools and many years of working with adult community choirs, Paul knows how to connect with singers of all ages and enjoys collaborating with them in the music making process.

Paul is a graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music where he studied choral conducting with Dr John Nickson.

Paul is Artistic Director of Voices of Birralee, Brisbane where he conducts the Birralee Blokes, Resonance and Birralee Singers. Paul has a long association with Gondwana Choirs, having directed our national youth choir Gondwana Chorale for the best part of twenty years.

As a choral educator, Paul is dedicated to excellence in choral education and regularly features as guest conductor/clinician at festivals, conferences and music competitions at home and abroad. He also contributed a chapter to the book Male Voices: Stories of boys learning through making music (S D Harrison, Ed, 2009, ACER).