Colin Gardner – Tenor
Colin earned a living as a truck driver for many years and has taught his family well the foundational truths of God’s Word. Affectionately dubbed ‘Poppy’, Colin was a wonderful grandpa to all his grandkids. Along with Aileen, Colin helped the family on Mondays with general house cleaning and washing the mountain load of sheets. He loved telling the kids stories and you would often find him buried under two or three little ones, all eager to hear his latest tale. Although he usually played the role of silent observer, he did have his Pearls of Wisdom, as the family called them, when he would interject with two or three words of advice. The Evans kids have often said how interesting it would be to compile all of his sayings into a book.
Colin Gardner passed into glory in 2021. We are so incredibly grateful for the legacy he has left us, and look forward to seeing him again one day when we all get to heaven.
Aileen Gardner – Alto, Plays Tenor Horn, Piano
As the only daughter of the five Sheather children, Aileen learned how to work hard at a young age. Her family lived in rural NSW with no electricity or running water and having someone willing to help around the house was a great asset to her mother. Aileen learned to play the piano at a very young age and has played for church services since she was about twelve, and helped tutor the Evans kids with their playing early on in their musical development. Aileen has always been a supporting and driving backbone to the family singing group and absolutely loves their rehearsal times. For many years Aileen also enjoyed playing tenor horn in the Salvation Army Warragul Corps Brass Band, which she participated in for many years until 2018.
Rod Evans – Bass singer, plays Guitar
A boilermaker by trade, Rod is right into the nuts and bolts of actually getting a concert from concept stage to fruition. He is heavily involved in the family’s recording projects and oversees every concert, including organising programmes and advertising. At a more home level, Rod is also very involved with his family, assisting Cheryl with the homeschooling of their 5 school age children and being the godly leader of his home. He is also part director of their homeschooling group they are involved in, and organises conferences and seminars throughout the year with that.
Cheryl Evans – Soprano/Alto, plays Euphonium
A stay at home mum who loves her children to pieces! Cheryl gave up her day job when she and Rod decided to teach their children from home and she has not regretted it for a moment. Teaching up to 5 kids at once all on various levels of learning and understanding can be a difficult task, but Cheryl handles it like a pro. Of course, we are human, and there are times when our house is turned upside-down, despite the daily cleaning time. These are the times when Cheryl states, “If you want to see me, come anytime you like, our door is always open; if you’d like to come to see my house, give me at least two weeks notice!” Cheryl also helps Rod with their ministry, where they help counsel christian families who are struggling with their marriages or home life.
Jacob Evans – Piano (AmusA, LmusA, BmusA), Cello (Grade 8), Tenor/Baritone singer
Jacob began learning piano at the age of seven and has loved it ever since. He has studied music under Alison Kirkpatrick, Leonie Wobking, Henry Wenieg among others and graduated from the Australian Guild of Music Education with a Bachelor in music in 2019. Jacob has thrown himself into almost every aspect of music including writing and arranging. He began writing his own music at the age of 14 when he won a prize for own composition in the West Gippsland Music and Drama Eisteddfod. Jacob writes and arranges almost all of the music that they sing as a family and plays a major role in their recording projects as well. He also teaches both piano and cello from his music school studio in Drouin and also teaches five of his younger siblings piano. Jacob also teaches music at a nearby Christian school. Music aside, which is hard to do sometimes, Jacob enjoys children ministries and together with Taylah, heads up the children’s programme in the homeschooling group they help run.
Samuel Blanchard – Sound Technician, Part time Tenor
Samuel is recently married to our eldest daughter Taylah. You can watch their wedding here!
Taylah Blanchard – Piano (AmusA), Violin (AmusA), Soprano
Although she has played the piano far longer, Taylah’s love and joy is her violin which she practises for about two hours a day. She is currently taking private tuition with Toorak based violin teacher Lan Shi and enjoying every minute of it. Taylah enjoys teaching violin part time (including teaching her younger siblings) in the studio she and her brother Jacob own, besides helping with office matters in their homeschooling group. In her spare time, of which there is not much, Taylah loves devouring any good book she can get her hands on, and has written a historical fiction herself, 'The Captains Daughter'. She was recently married on the 11th February 2023 to Samuel Blanchard.
Isaac Evans – Piano, Violin, Bass singer
Isaac follows closely in his father’s footsteps when it comes to technical things. He is very down to earth and loves maths, working alongside his Dad and LEGO®. Isaac began playing piano at the age of seven and soon took up violin at the age of eight and enjoys teaching music at a Christian school nearby. Isaac also runs his own Gardening and Home Maintenance business in the surrounding towns. Isaac (along with Jesse) loves creating videos, editing most of the videos and promos that are online.
Jesse – Piano, Violin, Tenor
With a much quieter personality than Isaac, Jesse is the perfect counterpart, and these two are almost always together. Having begun both piano and violin studies at the same time as Isaac, they have enjoyed playing many duets together. In his spare time, you will most likely find him and Isaac in their room buried under a pile of LEGO®, either building something or creating stop-motion films with the iconic bricks. Aside from LEGO®, Jesse enjoys sketching pictures of really anything and also portraits of family members.
Skylar – Piano, Violin, Soprano
Sandwiched neatly between four boys, Skylar is certainly glad to have a younger sister! She loves outdoor activities and playing with her younger brothers. To balance things out nicely, Skylar also loves craft and baking (mainly cakes). Skylar began taking lessons with Lan Shi at the age of five after begging her parents to allow her to go with the ‘big kids’ to learn. After a year of waiting, Rod and Cheryl decided to let her go, much to Skylar’s delight. And she is now taught by her older sister. This early start has allowed Skylar to get to where she is at a young age, and she loves playing with her family in every concert they do. She is doing well in her schooling and her favourite subject is English, and like her older sister, it’s not unusual to find her curled up on the couch reading in her spare time.
Micah – Piano, Violin
Micah began learning piano and violin in 2018 and is advancing rapidly. His studious mindset and outlook on life is a great asset to him. He loves homeschooling where he does very well in pretty much all areas, but his favourite is history. In his spare time, Micah loves drawing, writing mystery stories, woodcarving and designing his latest invention or science experiment. Micah also enjoys making stop-motion films with LEGO®.
Elisha – Piano, Violin
Having begun taking part in their family concerts at the age of two, Elisha is certainly not scared to get up in front of people! His bright smile, cheery greetings and love for people make him an instant classic with people everywhere the family sings. Along with Micah, Elisha also began his music studies in 2018 and enjoys being taught by Jacob and Taylah. Elisha started schooling officially in 2019, but has always enjoyed sitting at the table with the other ‘big kids’ doing school for many years. As one of the youngest in a large family, Elisha has learnt many things, and at a young age would be able to talk like a grown up; many of the things he came out with sounded as though he was twenty six, not six! When he’s not busy practicing or schooling, Elisha also enjoys much reading.
Jordyn – Violin & Piano (Grade…Um, well)
Although still young, Jordyn is able to play both piano and her little violin, and also is a great connoisseur of music. Even while she was in the womb she would get excited when the family were listening to good singing, and now her favourite piece to listen to is Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Seriously, if you put that on, she will sit in rapt attention and delight and just listen; how classic! Jordy enjoys drawingpictures, which she will then give to someone as a gift, insisting that you keep it.