2026 Adjudicators

Louise Hawke

Louise is a former Principal dancer of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the Hong Kong Ballet and a soloist of the National Ballet of Portugal. She was Guest Ballet Mistress for the Singapore Dance Theatre and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Born in Auckland, Louise began ballet at the age of 3, training with Rowena Jackson of the Royal Ballet, New Zealand's most famous ballerina. She gained her RAD Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced with Honours and is now a Registered Teacher with both the RAD and the BBO. Louise competed in competitions from the age of 5 until 15 and is proudly a second generation ballet teacher.

She has taught at seminars in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and NZ, opening the Academy of Ballet Arts in New Zealand in 2003. From inception the studio maintained an excellent record of Distinction and High Merit Awards in both RAD and BBO syllabus, and in NZAMD Jazz and Contemporary exams. Senior students have been consistently accepted for the NZ School of Dance Associate programmes, the RNZB mentor programme, and for international tertiary training.

🌐 louisehawkeballetarts.com

Diana Rhodes

As a practising singing teacher and choral director in Auckland and a registered secondary school teacher with extensive classroom experience, Diana teaches privately and in three Auckland Secondary Schools. Her performance background includes radio recital, music-theatre and operatic stage and her interests include Lieder & Art Song.

Diana has adjudicated singing competitions and work-shopped with leading NZ choirs, as well as working consistently with two choirs she directs to incorporate technique and vocal development. Her on-going interest in vocal pedagogy has led to teaching in a wide range of styles, reinforcing her belief that all singing should be underpinned with the freedom of functional understanding.

Diana is a long-time member of both the NZ Institute of Registered Music Teachers and of Newzats – the NZ Association of Teachers of Singing.

Yun-Pai Hsu

Yun-Pai Hsu studied at the top ranking American music conservatories, Eastman School of Music and University of Cincinnati, where she received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Piano performance. There she won several prizes, including the prestigious Concerto Prize. During the final stages of her Doctorate degree, she received a teaching and performance award to work and study at the University of Iowa where she pursued a second Masters degree in Music Theory.

Ms Hsu has won many music awards and performed as guest soloist with various orchestras both in the United States and New Zealand. In addition, she worked extensively as a collaborative pianist and has also been invited to premiere new solo piano works as well as chamber music throughout America and Russia.

For over 30 years, Ms Hsu has taught in various musical institutions as well as privately in America, New Zealand, and South Korea. Currently, she has a private piano studio in East Auckland and works as a music specialist at school. In addition, she performs regularly as a collaborative pianist.

Fleur Clarke

Fleur Clarke is an experienced Speech and Drama practitioner based in Pāpāmoa, where she runs her classes at Pāpāmoa College.

She brings with her extensive international experience, having spent eight years in Hong Kong contributing to the development of performing arts curricula and teaching at Singapore International School.

Fleur has a passion for theatre, debating, poetry, and literature, and is committed to fostering expressive confidence, critical thinking, and artistic excellence in young performers. She is delighted to adjudicate at the South Auckland Competitions to support and celebrate the work of emerging speakers and performers.