The Talent

Meet the team behind Wings : Story of a Butterfly Princess

Melinda Cronin

Melinda started her passion for songwriting when she entered the SCALA Festival of Original Music (FOOM) songwriting competition at the Goolwa Folk Festival in 1999, and from there she hasn’t stopped!

She was co-winner of FOOM in 2001 with the song In My Dreams and was lucky enough to record this song with Quentin Eyers at Q the Music . She also recorded an EP with Darren Mullan in 2003 who also produced and engineered Wings — Story of a Butterfly Princess. In 2012, Jac Dalton recorded and published her song For Your Love.

Melinda is a jazz singer as well as a nurse, and expresses her love for people through her music. She does this by telling their stories as well as her own, to create beautiful songs to help Inspire, and empower the listener.

She has performed with her own band Cronin singing her own original songs, and has studied music and songwriting at Adelaide University in a Popular Music and Creative Technology degree, as well as studying Jazz Voice at Salisbury TAFE.

Melinda has performed to sell-out shows at the Adelaide Fringe in 2010 and performed at Tiffins on the Park with her jazz band. She also sings jazz for corporate shows with JC Jazz.

She has just completed a 16 track album soon to be release, alongside a documentary about a woman who redefines what it means to be a woman. Stay tuned!

Wings : Story of a Butterfly Princess is aimed at children aged 5-13 years old. She hopes to empower young people to stand up to bullying, whether it be in the real world or the cyber world, and which can often lead to devastating consequences.

She plans on recording an album of her original material in 2022 in collaboration with Producer Quentin Eyers.

Jo Casson

Jo Casson is the Artistic Director at Ding Productions, one of Australia’s leading producers of unique, creative, live entertainment. The company creates unforgettable performances and was announced as a finalist in the 2015 Australian Event Awards for 'Best Achievement in Entertainment'.

Jo has established a reputation for creating outstanding, live entertainment having directed and produced more than 60 unique shows, boasting more than 300 live performances around Australia. This includes creating shows for major sporting events, corporate events, festivals, government agencies, charities and touring. Most notable include NYE spectaculars on The Adelaide Oval for The Adelaide Strikers, sell out productions at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, as well as developing corporate theatre for clients such as Cricket Australia, The International Space Industry, Department of The Premier and Cabinet and Microsoft.

Jo began her career as a Secondary Teacher of Drama and Geography directing numerous musicals and productions while teaching. She recognised her passion for events and entertainment and chose to change career, joining the Senior Management Team at The Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Jo established Ding Productions twelve years ago and the company has quickly grown into one of South Australia’s leading, independent employers of professional artists. During this time she has also assisted with numerous school productions and performances including directing “Wicked”, “Mary Poppins” and “Matilda” for Pulteney Grammar. Jo was the Artistic Director for the Primary Schools’ Music Festival commissioned work “Next Stop : North Terrace” (2018), “Dear Pen Pal” (2019) and also the PSMF movie “Festival Sing” (2020).

Addi Schwartz

Addi Schwartz has studied drama and dance since she was four and has completed numerous exams in Jazz, Classical and Tap (Barbara Jayne Dance Centre).

She has performed in a range of music theatre projects with Pelican Productions and has won Miss Get The Beat (entertainment award) on three occasions.

Addi has performed in high profile shows with Ding Productions and recently played Mrs Wormwood in Pulteney’s production of “Matilda”.

She is the Dance Captain at Pulteney Grammar and has had featured roles in their whole school productions of “Addams Family” (2018), “Wicked” (2019), “Mary Poppins” (2020) and “Matilda (2021).

Taylor Schwartz

Taylor Schwartz studies vocals with Katrina Ryan and Ross Burford and has studied dance since the age of four at the Barbara Jayne Dance Centre. She won the vocal eisteddfod (SA) in 2019.

Taylor performed in Pulteney Grammar’s production of “Wicked” (2019), played Jane Banks in “Mary Poppins” (2020) and the title role in “Matilda” (2021). She performed the title role in “Annie” with Pelican Productions (2017) as well as numerous music theatre projects.

She was a featured vocalist at the Catholic Education State Convention opening ceremony and was chosen as solo vocalist for the Festival of Music, performing at the Festival Theatre in 2019.

Maddy Schroeter

From a very young age, it became apparent that Maddy was born to perform. She was singing, in tune, before she could form words and that has continued to this day. Maddy is heavily involved in the performing arts, having started lessons at the age of 2 at Theatre Bugs. Aged 7, she commenced her dance training at Xcel Dance Studios until July 2021. She has competed at various dance competitions over the last 2 years as a soloist and was part of Xcel Dance Studios Troupe from 2019-2021.

Maddy began formal vocal training in 2019 under the tutelage of Mim Sarre. Maddy has become a regular performer at Broadway Sessions and has competed in some vocal competitions with excellent results.

Maddy's true passion is musical theatre. She has participated in several musicals with both Theatre Bugs and Pelican Productions. Maddy has spent the last two summers at Pelican Productions Musical Theatre Camp where she has had solo roles and been part of the dance troupes for various sets and will be there again in 2022. In August 2021, she took the lead role of Summer in Pelican Productions' season of School of Rock. Maddy takes weekly classes through Pelican Productions in acting, singing, dancing and tap. Maddy was also part of the Junior Theatre Festival in October and performed as part of All Together Now cast with Adelaide Youth Theatre in November.

Darren Mullan

Darren is the designer and principle producer at Adelaide Recording Studios, and is a digital content professional specialising in musical artists.

Co-founder and producer of the famous ‘Hindley Street Country Club’ YouTube sensation from South Australia, Darren is a father, influencer and proud producernerd.

To Darren, everything is content. The artist and the music brand are of upmost importance and his focus is always on maximum success for his clients. Working with Darren utilises all his knowledge and experience as a producer and music marketing guru.

Darren’s studio is custom built under his hillside house in Highbury, South Australia. Complete with a multi-camera networking and streaming system, the studio is a perfect place for remote conferencing or broadcasting using the high speed fibre internet provided.

Darren has over 40 years' experience as a musician and performer, as well as more than 25 years as a professional songwriter, arranger and digital audio engineer.

For more information please visit www.producernerd.com.

Quentin Eyers

Quentin Eyers was a percussionist with the South Australian Symphony Orchestra before going into business as a composer, specialising in advertising and soundtrack production for films such as “Kiss” (AFI Best Short Film 2013).

He has been a songwriter and album producer for a wide range of artists through Q the Music Studio in Norwood, including Siobhan Owen (Australian Celtic Music Association Producer of the Year 2014), Akhter Jahan, Dya Singh, Brian Gilbertson, Kylie Kain and Dianna Corcoran (Golden Guitar winner).

The co-composer of the Port Adelaide Football Club Song (Power to Win) and many iconic advertising jingles, he has also found time to perform in concert on piano and guitar locally and internationally.