Nardi Simpson is a Yuwaalaraay storyteller and performer living in Sydney. Training as a musician, Nardi began her artistic journey as a songwriter and performer with vocal duo Stiff Gins. This has seen her travel both nationally and internationally for over twenty-five years releasing four albums, two singles, and countless compilations during that time.

Nardi has composed work for Ensemble Offspring, State Opera South Australia, Sydney Chamber Choir and Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Her work -barra was a feature of the 2022 Sydney Festival and has travelled to Darwin Arts Festival, Adelaide Nexus Festival as well as been performed in Berlin and Finland. She has composed for Short Black Opera and Switzerland's Ensemble Contrechamps.

Nardi works with student ensembles and directs cross-cultural choir Barayagal at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Sydney Conservatoriun of Music and remains committed and active in the making and sharing of culture, music and story in both her Sydney and Yuwaalaraay communities.

Troy Russell is a Biripi-Gamillaroi composer whose music weaves contemporary classical expression with deep cultural storytelling. Drawing on his lifelong connection to Country and community, Russell's work moves fluidly between chamber, orchestral, vocal, and cross-disciplinary forms, creating sound worlds that are both intimate and expansive.

His compositions have been commissioned and performed by leading Australian ensembles, including the Canberra Symphony Orchestra Chamber Series, Ensemble Offspring, Bach Akademie Australia, River City Voices, and small chamber groups across the country. Recent works include Stolen (CSO, "Other Worldly"), an evocative meditation on the histories of the Stolen Generations for strings, piano, and soprano; Motorways, a cinematic reflection on travel and Country; and a growing catalogue of folk-influenced ballads and narrative-driven chamber pieces.

Russell's practice is grounded in storytelling-drawing from family history, Aboriginal resilience, and the landscapes of eastern New South Wales. His work often incorporates voice, guitar, and narrative elements alongside classical instrumentation, creating hybrid forms that speak to both tradition and innovation.

Rhyan Clapham's family is from Brewarrina on Ngemba land, and he is a member of the Murrawarri Republic in Weilmoringle, NSW. Rhyan has completed Bachelor of Music at the University of NSW, and an Indigenous Studies Honours (focusing on Aboriginal hip hop music) in 2015. A rapper and drummer, he has performed for various events such as Kevin Hunt's 'Our Music' concert at the Sydney Conservatorium, at Yabun NCIE, UNSW corporate and academic events, Koori Radio events and at NAIDOC. In late 2017, Rhyan Clapham was announced as recipient of the 2018 Peter Schulthorpe Music Fellowship for an emerging composer, as part of Create NSW Arts Fellowships.

Elizabeth Sheppard is an Indigenous Australian composer of Noongar heritage with Yamatji and also Gandangarra connections. A music, culture and law Diploma graduate of Eora and Tranby Aboriginal Colleges in Sydney Australia, she combines her childhood Conservatorium music training with her cultural heritage, by composing collaborative instrumental ensemble and choral works on specifically Australian themes, drawing on diverse intercultural resources. Her MPhil (Music composition) research explores two-way intercultural composition methods that prioritise Indigenous Australian cultures, languages and protocols in consultation with local Aboriginal communities.

Will Kepa is a Torres Strait Islander multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer and producer currently based in Canberra studying an MPhil (Music) at ANU School of Music. He also runs the Yil Lull Studio at the School – a purpose built space for Indigenous musicians. After learning to play the guitar in 1998, he enrolled in the Indigenous Music Program at the Tropical North Queensland TAFE in 2000. Graduating with a Diploma in Music, he has become a much sought after musician (drums, bass, guitar and ukulele), songwriter and arranger. Will scored major films and doco’s including Blue Water Empire and Alick and Albert. He was recently the MD for the Meganesia Festival in Port Moresby – the near Pacific’s largest traditional and contemporary music event.

Will has performed with the likes of Johnos Blues Band, Phil Emmanuel, One Drop Reggae, the Briscoe Sisters, Wilma Reading, David Hudson, Kamerunga, Tribe Of Jubal, and Seaman Dan on a regular basis. His skills have taken him to many of the major festivals around the country, such as the Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, the Dreaming Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, the National Folk Festival, the Fairbridge Festival of World and Folk Music, Bellingen Global Carnival, Womadelaide Sounds of the Planet.

In 2019, Will joined Ngarra-Burria, an artist development program intended to build bridges for First Peoples musicians to step forward, further develop their composing skills, and connect with the art music sector.