💃 Artist Spotlight | Jessica Hart

From musical theatre and burlesque to international performance, screen and commercial work — Jessica Hart is a performer who moves easily between worlds.

Melbourne-based performing artist Jessica Hart works across dance, burlesque, musical theatre, modelling and screen, bringing together technical dance training with musicality, theatricality and a strong sense of character.

Her dance credits include work with Siren Heels Company, both as an ensemble dancer and soloist, as well as international performance experience in Marrakech, Morocco. Her work has ranged from podium performance to ensemble and solo dance, short films and major events.

Musical theatre has been part of Jessica’s performing life too, with appearances in productions including Grease The Musical, High School Musical, Musicals in Concert and The City of Perth Christmas Nativity.

Alongside the stage, she has worked across modelling, commercial and screen projects for names including Peninsula Hot Springs, The Motley Hotel by Hilton, Lounge Underwear, Tinder and Veuve Clicquot.

Dance, theatre, cabaret and a touch of glamour…

Somehow we think she’ll feel quite at home at Ooh là là! 🇫🇷✨

We’re delighted to welcome Jessica Hart to the 2026 Albury Chamber Music Festival.

📅 6–8 November 2026

🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483

#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #ArtistSpotlight #JessicaHart #Dance #Cabaret #AlburyWodonga

🎭 Artist Spotlight | Rod Lara

Mime, circus, opera, comedy, film — Rod Lara is rather difficult to put in a box. Which is probably just as well.

A performer with 27 years’ experience on stage and screen, Rod Lara trained in the circus arts and holds qualifications in Film & Television and Dramatic Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts.

His career has taken him from physical comedy and mime to some rather grand operatic surroundings. With Opera Australia, Rod has appeared in productions including A Streetcar Named Desire, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmen, Rigoletto, Ernani and La Traviata.

Then there’s Top Marx: The Ultimate Marx Brothers Revue Show, which he produced, co-directed and performed in; his one-man show Last Mime Standing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Melbourne Fringe; television commercials; music videos; Australian and US television; and a growing collection of film roles.

His original silent-comedy character Banjo has made the leap to television and film, while Rod’s own silent short films have collected awards and recognition internationally.

And that screen career is still growing. Rod has appeared as a mime in the upcoming Hollywood film Skeletons, currently in production, with other feature-film credits including Mask of Darkness and The Retreat.

There’s also a rather wonderful piece of Festival-weekend synchronicity: Rod’s award-winning silent short film Ticket, Please will be screening at the Benalla International & National Short Film Festival on the very same weekend as the Albury Chamber Music Festival.

In other words, he brings exactly the sort of skill set that makes us slightly reluctant to predict what might happen when he turns up at the Albury Chamber Music Festival. 😉

Physical comedy, theatrical mischief and a performer who knows how to tell a story without necessarily saying a word.

For Ooh là là!? That could be dangerous. 🇫🇷🎭

📅 Albury Chamber Music Festival | 6–8 November 2026

🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483

#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #ArtistSpotlight #RodLara #PhysicalComedy #Festival2026 #AlburyWodonga

💃 Artist Spotlight | Estelle O'Keeffe

From classical training to Los Angeles cabaret, basketball courts and national campaigns — Estelle O’Keefe knows how to put on a show.

Originally classically trained, Estelle O’Keefe discovered a love of commercial dance after moving to Los Angeles, where she completed her Diploma in Dance at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA).

She was subsequently accepted into the prestigious Debbie Reynolds Scholarship Program, training alongside leading industry professionals and building a performance career that took her into some wonderfully different worlds.

In Los Angeles, Estelle performed with The Burlesque Beauties and Cabaret Versatile, and even appeared as a guest performer with the LA Sparks.

Since returning to Melbourne in 2019, she has continued to work across stage, screen, commercial dance and major events. Her credits include Superhoodz, the official dancers of the NBL, as well as Cabaret Melbourne, FX Entertainment and Miika Entertainment. On camera, she has appeared in national and social campaigns for Universal Studios and Samsung.

It’s a career built on versatility — classical foundations meeting commercial dance, cabaret and entertainment — and this November, Estelle brings that energy to Ooh là là! 🇫🇷✨

We suspect a Festival with a French cabaret streak might suit her rather well…

📅 Albury Chamber Music Festival | 6–8 November 2026

🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483

#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #ArtistSpotlight #EstelleOKeefe #Dance #Cabaret #AlburyWodonga

🎻 Artist Spotlight | Danny Neumann

Thirty years with Orchestra Victoria — and a musical life that has continued well beyond the orchestra pit.

Violist Danny Neumann began his musical training on the violin in Canberra with Josette Esquedin, a graduate of the Brussels Conservatoire. A move to the viola led to further study with John Gould in Sydney, and later Marco van Pagee and Christopher Martin in Melbourne.

Danny then spent 30 years as a full-time member of Orchestra Victoria, retiring from his permanent position in 2005 while continuing to work with the orchestra on a casual basis.

And retirement from a full-time orchestral job certainly didn’t mean retirement from music.

Danny remains an active freelance player on both modern and baroque viola. His chamber music continues too: he performs with Aequales Ensemble, alongside fellow 2026 Festival artist Sarah Cuming, and was on stage with the ensemble again just this weekend in Melbourne for Mozart, Shostakovich and Beethoven.

There is another side to Danny’s professional life as well: alongside his work as a musician, he is a counselling psychologist.

That combination makes for a rather unusual biography — decades of orchestral experience, chamber and Baroque music, and an entirely different profession devoted to listening of another kind.

This November, we’re delighted to welcome Danny Neumann and his viola to Albury for Ooh là là! 🇫🇷🎻

📅 6–8 November 2026

🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483

#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #ArtistSpotlight #DannyNeumann #Viola #ChamberMusic #AlburyWodonga