MEET THE TEAM
Jesse Sheehan
In his time he has performed all over the world at festivals like
Glastonbury, national festivals like RnV, as well as backing up NZ legends Neil Finn on the Dizzy Heights World Tour 2014, and Dave Dobbyn on various tours 2015-2017. He was also Smokefree Rockquest’s first ever solo artist to take out the national competition in 2009.
Jesse’s new passion is running Lila School of Bands, he loves the feeling of seeing the next generation find themselves and thrive through music.
Callum Lee
emotion and to express beauty. As a music teacher he focusses on applying learnt theory and technical skills through songwriting and other creative processes.
Darryn Harkness
New Telepathics. Loud Ghost, King Ketchup, Hallelujah Picassos, From Scratch and the Andrew Fagan band. He has released over 25 albums and toured over 25 countries, touring and opening with acts such as The Pixies, The Buzzcocks, Muse, Sebadoh and many more.
Bella Bavin
supported the Beths and Princess Chelsea, and secured slots at major festivals like RnV with her band CoastArcade. Bella brings a wealth of both musical and music industry knowledge to the Lila Team.
Francesca Parussini
member of the jazz community in
Auckland.
With her Bachelor in Music (major in Jazz Performance), she has burst into the NZ music scene. Francesca is a passionate saxophone, flute, clarinet and piano player. As a full time gigging musician, she has been involved with multiple bands/musicians across Auckland. She has worked with the likes of Mazbou Q, Exploding Rainbow Orchestra (Don McGlashen, Delany Davidson, Tiny Ruins, Lipps), and more. She also has a passion for arranging music, arranging and performing for the Exploding Rainbow Orchestra and Silver Scrolls Sounz Award Winner 2023. Francesca is a passionate educator, working as an itinerant teacher at schools across Auckland. Passionate about female representation in the music industry, Francesca co-directs the not-for-profit “Wāhine in Jazz” that aims for the development of women in the NZ music scene.
Liam Wright
trumpet and cornet player from the North Shore of Auckland, currently studying at University of Auckland.
He is in his second year of a bachelor of music degree at the University of Auckland. Liam started playing the cornet at the age of eight, and over the last 10 years has been awarded numerous national titles, including the best under 19 brass player in New Zealand for the last four years. Once his studies are completed, it is Liam’s aim to become a professional trumpet player.
Johnny Fleury
and teacher whose history includes
playing with The Idles, Dave Dobbyn and Greg Johnson.
Johnny taught music at a university level through Mainz – The Music and Audio institute of NZ for over 20 years.
Joe Lonie
Joe is also an award-winning screenwriter & director with over 60 music videos to his credit. As a music industry pro for over 30 years, Joe has seen it all. As a teacher and band-coach, he loves putting that hard-earned knowledge and experience to good use, instilling confidence in young players, and getting them up on the stage.
Milly Tabak
and guitarist. One of Milly’s
greatest joys is bringing
her music to life on stage.
Tabak has opened for industry
legends like Nathaniel Rateliff, Mick Fleetwood, Dave Dobbyn, touring with the Teskey Brothers
on their first national Kiwi tour and with joining Tami Neilson’s tour in 2019.
Tabak has a few albums under her belt including the award winning self-titled debut album The
Miltones (Taite Music Award Best Independent Debut Album 2017)
