Leigh Carriage

[10] Carriage is a senior lecturer in the Contemporary Music Program at Southern Cross University, where she has specialised in songwriting, arranging, vocal pedagogy and ensemble direction since 1998.

[11] Since 1999 Carriage has coordinated a Visiting Artists mentoring program for Women in Contemporary Music,[12] and the APRA AMCOS Songwriting Workshop Series for 17 years.

The Higher Education Equity Support Program (HEESP) initiated by Dr Carriage from 2000-2010 offered music students a program of national and international, female visiting artists, who provide mentorship and support through live performances, workshops, private lessons, and open forums.

To complement the program, Dr Carriage also created and designed a website which provides additional information such as artist biographies, an alumni section, and links to relevant educational sites.

The HEESP project supplements normal course tuition by scheduling artists to perform who are specialists in the musical genre in which the students are currently studying.