OUR TEAM
EMA BARTON
EDWIN JUDD
JONO ANNANDALE
DR GRANT HEWISON
EMA BARTON
Chairperson
Ema Barton aka Ema I'u is a full-time Musician based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She's currently working on original material and performs with her cover bands Lucky May and Coco-Rocky regularly at bars, functions, festivals and on cruises.
Her strong performance skills come from a background in acting for screen and theatre, and she has been teaching guitar and singing privately for the last 10 years. Ema’s production and event planning skills were honed as a Producer and core member of The Outfit Theatre Company, and running a Commedia Del’ Arte / Theatre in Education troupe Slapstix.
Ema is known as ‘The Queen of Open Mic’ having run multiple Open Mics over the last 9 years at Empire Tavern, Zoo Eatery, Portland Public House and Win-Win Bar. Ema has also hosted Tiger Songwriter Night at The Empire and Songwriter Club at Win-Win. She has a passion for serving her community through creating opportunities for people to share their arts and music.
EDWIN JUDD
Treasurer
Edwin has been actively chasing music as his career for over 4 years. He focuses on his original band The RVMES as lead singer and manager. Edwin has booked over 350 music shows and three successful tours around the North Island. He is proactive in the New Zealand music scene and well organised. Edwin also plays most weekends on the cover band circuit around Auckland, teaches guitar and passionately runs two open mics at The Kingslander (Kingland) and Fantail & Turtle (Takapuna) which he has built into a tight and humble community.
JONATHAN ANNANDALE
Trustee
Jono is a permanent resident of New Zealand who resides in Auckland. He is a talented multi instrumentalist who has played: Guitar, Slide-guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Lapsteel, Ukulele, Oud and Đàn tứ (to name a few) in the following bands: Permission To Speak, Shana Grace, Sam Loveridge and in covers duo: Party Karate. Jono is also a freelance sound engineer, (fine arts) artist and currently teaches music privately and for Lewis Eady Music School. Jono has been a passionate supporter and consistent participant in open mics over the past decade. Working behind the scenes to support his fellow musicians in the open mic community and collaborating creatively with different open mic participants. He currently hosts open mics at Portland Public House and Win-Win.
DR GRANT HEWISON
Secretary
Dr Grant has been a musician for the last 10 years. He plays a variety of instruments including guitar, ukulele, drums, harmonica and xaphoon. He plays in three bands - Group Therapy, Sliding & Flying and Midnight Raglan Bridge. Dr Grant writes original songs and has recorded some of his music. During his ‘down-time’ he is also a lawyer and brings a wealth of knowledge and legal experience to the Holding Space Team. Dr Grant is passionate about music and helping the community in multiple ways and has taken on a Secretary and Mentor role for Holding Space.
