Governance

Board Members 2022-23

Julie Finch-Scally, president

As a member of ArtSound since 2019, Julie Finch-Scally has previously served as Secretary to the Board, is currently the Volunteer Co-ordinator, and ran The Young Virtuoso Awards and Radiothons in 2022 and 2023 with assistance from other members. Her hope as president is to set up systems to sustain the organisation, bring in new volunteers and help ArtSound to become better known for all its good work with the arts community.

Chris Deacon OAM, vice-president

A musician as well as co-founder, major donor, and life member of ArtSound, Chris has contributed in Board, management, and voluntary technical roles since 1983. His key roles have included securing ArtSound’s broadcast licence, acquiring studio and transmission sites, fundraising, and training including during periods as (past) General Manager and (current) Manager Technology. For his work at ArtSound and other stations, he received an Order of Australia (2009), the Technorama Life Achievement Award (2018), and several awards for excellence in broadcast programming and engineering. He has hosted weekly specialist music programs (“Friday Night Live” and “The Musicworks”) and recorded and broadcast concerts for more than three decades. Since 2019, he has provided honorary technical services including remote operation during the Covid-19 pandemic while also programming the Senior Memories Service, scheduling ArtSound’s syndicated programs, relocating the transmission site, and implementing DAB+ digital radio. Chris is a Board member of Technorama Inc., the national association of community broadcasting engineers, and a grant assessor to the Community Broadcasting Foundation, and provides technical services to Canberra’s multicultural station 1CMS. A resident of Canberra for 50 years, he holds such roles as consultant on international space and telecommunications issues,and was formerly a satellite advisor to Telstra and senior telecommunications and broadcasting strategist in the Department of Communications.

Neil Doody, secretary

The presenter of Arts Café on ArtSound FM several days a week, Neil is a member of ArtSound’s program committee. He has had a long career in public and community radio in Australia, as a founding member of the Progressive Music Broadcasting Association (which began 5MMM-FM, now 3D Radio) and then with 2XX and 2SER as he moved around the country establishing a career in IT. As a Life Member of the Capital Arts Patrons’ Organisation, he plans to leverage his extensive network in Canberra’s arts community to expand ArtSound as an important element in the region’s arts and cultural life. As a past member of public radio station boards, he understands the critical link between station identity and listener engagement. He holds qualifications from University of South Australia and Australian Graduate School of Management, and is a Senior Member of the Australian Computer Society.

Saad Khalid, treasurer

Saad Khalid is an emerging leader in community and multicultural broadcast, having volunteered for the Canberra Multicultural Service FM91.1 for the past five years. He has worked with leading broadcast entities such as the ABC, CBAA, CBF, SBS and the City of Perth to deliver various works on ethnocultural footprint in Australia. Saad currently serves as the Treasurer of the Ethnic Broadcasters’ Council of the ACT where he manages an annual budget of $300k+ and exposition of over 30 programs. With a Bachelor of Finance (Capital Markets) and Bachelor of Economics from The Australian National University, Saad possesses a unique skillset in financial management and governance. Having completed the Australian Institute of Company Director’s Foundations of Governance training and McKinsey’s Mission Delivery Programme, he is excited to contribute to the community sector and wider society. As Treasurer, he aspires to bring systematic consistency, placing ArtSound at the forefront of artistic exposition in Canberra and the wider region.

Gabe Caddy

Tim McNamara

Tim presents Wednesday’s Arts Café and produces Arts Diary, our regular four-minute update on arts events in the region. He is also the Training Coordinator for the Training and Standards committee. He is a radio practitioner/professional with over 20 years of experience in most areas of radio broadcasting. He has worked for community radio stations 2SER and 2MBS, and for the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA). He has also worked at SBS Radio and as a freelance radio producer for ABC Radio National. Since joining ArtSound FM, he has built an extensive network within the Canberra music scene and has been leveraging this network to present music and interviews with local and visiting musicians/bands, as well as live-to-air performances. Tim also has an extensive career in learning and development, and is drawing on this experience to develop and deliver training activities that develop the skills of Artsound broadcasters.

Peter Monaghan

Active at ArtSound in programming and other areas, Peter is a journalist who has covered academic research and administration for a national newspaper in the US since 1984 and film preservation around the world since 2010 as editor of Moving Image Archive News. He has been: associate director of the award-winning documentary film Walls and the Tiger (2015), about Indian villagers’ devastating loss of land and livelihoods to “economic development”; librettist of Space in the Heart, a “jazzopera” produced at Earshot Jazz Festival, Seattle (2008) and off-Broadway at Symphony Space, New York (2010) with William O. “Bill” Smith (Paris Prize, Rome Prize); 10-year Seattle community radio presenter of jazz, new music, and other genres; 10-year editor of Earshot Jazz monthly; and board member (1994-2004, now emeritus) of Earshot Jazz, a Seattle presenting/advocacy organisation. On ArtSound, he presents “Jazz Frontiers” each Friday 10pm-midnight, coordinates “The ArtSound Recorded Music Society” (Saturday noon-1pm & Wednesday 4-5pm), produces “Poetry on the Radio,” a weekly segment on Arts Café, and is a member of the Program Committee.

Sharon Paliaga

Stuart Warner

Stuart Warner, returning to the Board, has had extensive experience in senior and executive management positions in local government authorities in NSW over a period of 35 years. His roles included financial management, governance, risk management and supervision of departmental managers. Stuart also represented local government on various boards and committees including a statewide insurance brokerage and across-government and across-border issues. Stuart has a keen interest in music, having played piano professionally for 56 years and enjoys listening to and participating in arts music activities — choirs, a barbershop quartet, and the like. Stuart has been a member and supporter of ArtSound for 11 years. He is currently a member of the Program Committee. Stuart is a presenter and coordinator of two ArtSound programs – Senior Memories and Celtic Heartbeat. He was a presenter for the morning program, Sounds Early for thee years.

John Worcester

John Worcester previously joined the ArtSound Board as vice-president upon moving to Canberra in 2018. He served as liaison to the Program Committee. After joining 3MBS in Melbourne in 1975, John served as President, Secretary, and Director several times, most recently from 2011 to 2014 when he worked to repair many problems — financial, near-closure, massive disputes, policy re-establishment, and others. He oversaw two licence-renewal applications, development of a Policies and Procedures Handbook and a Quality & Standards Working Group, and much else. John still presents “Organ & Choral Music” on 3MBS on a three-monthly basis. John was also active with CBAV (Community Broadcasting Association of Victoria) from 1982-2018, and Channel-31 (community television, 1996-2017, including as a board member and President). He has also been active at ethnic community station 3ZZZ (from 1997 including 6 years on 3ZZZ Council, and still presents the 3ZZZ Irish Program every three months via pre-recording), and 3WBC (community radio in Box Hill, from 1998 and still pre-records programs twice monthly). He has had leadership roles at all of those. John has had ArtSound connections since its CSPR days in Curtin (his son, Bevis, was a presenter from 1998) and has been a member since 2010. He presents “Classical Mood” Friday afternoons, 2-4pm, and “Sounds Classical” on the third Sunday each month – and continues as a member of the Program Committee.