Founder, managing director, and musician turned entrepreneur, Steve has helped redefine the music landscape at Music Valley.

Steve Jaz originally began a music career as a session musician, touring with multiple shows and corporate bands, supporting Australian music icons such as Darryl Braithwaite and Choirboys.

After completing a music degree, Steve juggled a career as a musician and a corporate sales executive for several years. Having experienced many of the challenges that come with making a living as a musician, Steve was inspired by a vision to build a company that would ultimately solve many of the problems artists face in their journey to becoming full-time working artists.

Steve's investment in his personal development and growth as an entrepreneur gave rise to create a new model for training, music production, and career development, transforming the lives of thousands of artists over the past decade with the help of his team.

With a growing network across the country, Steve continues to work on the Music Valley vision as a way of giving back to the community and helping develop a stronger music industry in Australia, creating new pathways for the modern musician.

Three time Latin Grammys nominee ALETHIA (Alethia Gomez) is a Colombian singer-songwriter and actress based in Melbourne, Australia.

Her musical project combines elements of reggae, jazz, soul and bolero with lyrics in English and Spanish which has allowed her to highlight her roots around the world. Her artistic development began in musical theatre at the age of 7, then she studied contemporary music at EMMAT representative institution of Berklee College of Music in Latin America.

In 2013 Alethia was a semi-finalist of The Voice in Colombia, working and touring with world-renowned musicians in Colombia and in USA. In 2018 she was awarded a full scholarship on performance at JMC academy. Having finished her musical studies she graduated with a Master's degree in creative industries.

ALETHIA is also well known for her countless collaborations with artists from Colombia, the USA, France, Iran, Korea and Japan. Currently, She is in her way to release her album debut ‘Emotions’ with her new sound, including the song Once More as a bonus track and special collaborations. This upcoming album is being featured for Rolling Stones Australia in April 2022 for its authenticity and its innovative creative approach.

Alethia currently teaches voice, performance and toplining at Music Valley, working with aspiring vocal artists to build their capabilities in vocal technique, performance, recording and improvisational skills.

Music Ensemble Director, Teacher, Trainer & Mentor, Martin has over 20 years of experience as a lecturer, touring musician, composer and in curriculum design.

In addition to teaching, Martin is a composer, multi-media producer, and performing musician, specialising in Saxophone, Piano and West African Percussion.

Martin currently works with a diverse range of students at Music Valley and is our Music Ensemble Director. He brings much of his world experience into our community, introducing West African percussion ensembles, jazz performance ensembles, music theory, harmony and music composition to his classes for young and old.

His work also includes designing experiences for concert, dance, film and other multi-media, both live and in the studio which has taken him to the Middle East, West Africa, South America, Europe, Australia, and throughout Asia. Martin’s previous clients include Harvard University, MIT, Boston Ballet, and Boston Convervatory at Berklee.

Born and bred in Melbourne, Australia; award winning blues/soul troubadour Shaun Kirk's ever growing career has seen him travel the globe to work with world-class producers and perform on many internationally renowned stages including Bluesfest Byron Bay and The Palais Theatre, St Kilda billed alongside the likes of Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), John Mayer, and John Butler Trio.

Shaun’s world-class live show is pushing boundaries and taking audiences by storm, with three-time Grammy Award Winner for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Fantastic Negrito calling it “One of the best one man shows he's ever seen!”

With over 10 years of songwriting, recording, and touring experience; Kirk’s journey hasn’t always been smooth sailing, with many setbacks and hurdles along the way, but his philosophy on trusting intuition, loving the process and a laser focus work ethic has sustained his place in the industry and provides students and aspiring artists at Music Valley with the tools, industry knowledge and skills they need to thrive in today’s music landscape.

Learn more at: www.shaunkirk.com

Leon Varela-Mauna Leon Alexander (Leon Varela-Mauna) is a performer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Since commencing music at the age of 13, Leon has grown to become a competent multi instrumentalist, specialising in saxophone, guitar and bass.

Over the past 2 years, Leon has gained experience working in some of Melbourne's premier live music venues including Birds Basement, Nightcat, and Workers Club performing alongside music industry veterans such as Tony Silvano, Adam Rudegeair, Julian Banks, Cameron Stark and Anton Dellecca.

Having recently completed his Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in music performance, Leon is currently working alongside with MV team, to further his skills as an educator and professional music instructor. As the youngest member of the team, Leon brings his live performance industry experience to the MV community and is a great role model for many aspiring musicians who wish to launch their career in the music industry with Music Valley.

Leon is a 2 x award recipient of the Music Bursary Award at Thomas Carr College and 4 x Award recipient of the Malaya Borneo certificate of Appreciation.

Originally from Canberra, Tristan graduated the ANU School of Music with a Bachelor of Music, majoring in voice in contemporary/ jazz music. He has an affinity for performance and was awarded the Bill Hyslop award for the highest aggregate grade in voice.

A multi-instrumentalist (piano, voice, guitar, bass, drums, saxophone), Tristan has been involved in music for his entire life. Learning piano from a young age, he has developed his musical and instrumental ability through tutors and self-teaching, as well as performing in musical theatre.

Tristan writes pop/funk music, which he has performed with his band extensively, and hopes to bring to the Melbourne scene. He released his debut single “Tired” in 2022, and is currently recording in Melbourne and plans to release more of his music in 2023.

Tristan has worked with a diverse range of students, having taught music for over five years in Canberra. He loves inspiring passion in students, and adapts his teaching style to each individual’s learning style and personality. Tristan is super excited to be joining the Music Valley team in 2023, working with aspiring singers and musicians to unlock their artistic potential.