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February 8, 2026 — 5:00am
Singer Grace Kenny, stage name GK, is belting out a tune she wrote called Dynamite, accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Identifying with Down Syndrome, she has been writing songs since she was 11, a process that helped her find her voice and her purpose.
She is part of the Find Your Voice Collective, based in Warrnambool in south-west Victoria, who will hit the stage alongside the orchestra this month as part of the MSO’s much-loved free concert series at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
Co-founded by Tom Richardson and Kylie Thulborn in 2017, the collective’s members range from non-verbal quadriplegics to professional musicians, aged from as young as three through to 93. “The full spectrum of humanity” is how Richardson describes it.
Making their stage debut at Port Fairy Folk Festival in 2018 – when 115 of the 120 members had never been on a stage – the collective has since appeared at AbilityFest and Triple J’s One Night Stand, and collaborated with artists including Sarah Blasko, Mama Kin Spender and The Wiggles.
It now includes between 200 and 250 people, including crew, and has support from the NDIS, Creative Australia, Creative Victoria and philanthropy.
The arts as a whole, but music especially, is the most level playing field on the planet, regardless of ability, age, background, gender and sexual preference, Richardson says.
Being involved with the group has been life-changing for GK, who also works with the internationally renowned Geelong-based Back to Back Theatre. “I know who I am. Through that, that’s how I’ve been able to continue to be myself as a human and also as an artist, and an actor. All these different careers are unfolding that I didn’t think will be out there,” she says.
“The creative energy of artists who identify on the full spectrum of humanity is just so huge,” Richardson says. “And the other thing that’s also true is that the world’s not set up for 20 per cent of our population.”
Julian Paterson, 46, has always connected with music, playing guitar since he was six. He has a lived experience of Developmental Language Disorder and works with the collective three days a week. Joining was the best thing he ever did.
“My whole life just completely changed. I’m a completely different person … [I’m] actually really enjoying life now, and it’s all praise to these guys. I’m just glad I stepped foot in there and sang to Tom and blew the roof off,” he says. “I love writing songs and I just also just want to get my songs out to the world.”
Another member is 48-year-old Dean Saunders, who has complex cerebral palsy and is wheelchair bound. The track he wrote and will perform at the Music Bowl is called Dad’s Guitar, a homage to his late parents. In it, he recalls his father playing guitar while his mum would dance, going fishing and to the pub with them, doing the simple things families enjoy. Golden Guitar-winner Adam Harvey hopes to record it on his next album.
Richardson has seen a huge shift in the way Saunders advocates for himself since he started with the Collective, a growth in his confidence that is exponential.
“When any of us get a chance to express ourselves really creatively and authentically, it feels really good ... the ripple effects that then follow an opportunity like this are extraordinary.”
Also on the bill at the Bowl show is collective member Jacob Paton-Lee, known as JPL. Growing up, the 21-year-old – who identifies with autism spectrum disorder – thought he couldn’t sing. That changed when someone who knew about the Collective heard him singing on a park bench and encouraged him to check them out. Since joining, he has thrived, revelling in making music and performing; he recently became an intern with the group.
Paton-Lee says he was born in the wrong era, given his love of soul music from the ’60s, ‘70s and ’80s, Joe Cocker and the Rolling Stones. “I’m just so into them and just love seeing them, and I’m just like, hey, that’s exactly what I want to do. I want to bring soul to my music. I want to bring the life of music alive a little bit more in the world.”
Performing, he channels Mick Jagger, prowling around and rocking out; his voice is wild, with a huge range.
The finale for the night, sung by JPL, is a track called We Are The Ones. “It’s saying to the world that we are going to keep on moving. We’re done with being a chapter in the book that we’ve been in for so long,” he says. “We’re sick and tired of being told that there is certain people that need more help than others because I think everybody needs a little bit of help in some way.”
Seeing the collective rehearse with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is a delight. Before they start, conductor Ben Northey says to the Collective to think of them and the state’s major orchestra as one big band, and tells Richardson he’s in charge.
Warrnambool born and bred, Richardson travelled for a decade as a singer/songwriter and returned home where his good friend Kylie Thulborn worked in disability self-advocacy.
When the Port Fairy Folk Festival organisers asked him to put together something local to showcase at the festival, the friends set about visiting nearby disability support networks. “We were sitting around tables with six or seven people, and I thought we might get 30 people turn up [to the first gathering] - and 90 people turned up,” he says.
“Anyone who attends will leave this show changed,” Richardson says. “I haven’t found a choir of this size or nature anywhere on the planet.”
MSO x Find Your Voice Collective is at the Music Bowl on February 13, part of the 2026 Sidney Myer Free Concerts. Find Your Voice Collective Sing Joe Cocker is at Port Fairy Folk Festival on March 8.
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