X-Factor Australia winner Marlisa’s music teachers

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Australian Marlisa Ann Punzalan, 15, this year’s X Factor Australia grand winner, the youngest ever to win in the history of that prestigious competition, has been working closely with Australian Roxanne Kiely, Marlisa’s vocal coach, for 18 months now, and especially during this year’s X Factor.

“Marlisa and Roxanne have worked so hard for so many months to make this happen, and the combination of Marlisa’s natural talent and Roxanne’s amazing and intuitive guidance, has led to this fantastic achievement,” said Stephen Kiely, Roxanne’s husband, who is an accomplished pianist and vocalist.

Both Roxanne and Stephen are joint directors at ScoopFX Music, with its teaching site (at Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.://www.scoopfx.com) situated in North West Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Stephen explained, “So that every syllable, nuance and note would work within the context of the song (that) Marlisa was performing at the time.”

“(Marlisa) has an innate ability to take on board the ideas that Roxanne is imparting to her,” he told The Philippine STAR.

Roxanne, an actress, singer and guitarist rolled into one, has many students who are already successful and high-profile stars in the Australian entertainment industry, such as Joshua Timothy Barker, Steve Edmonds and Delta Lea Goodrem (whom Roxanne took for weekly lessons from age eight to age 16 and who takes her for lessons, less frequently, even now), who swear by her ability to allow the singer to find their full potential. Discovering music at age eight, Roxanne is also entering a new stage of her career, recording, writing and performing her own songs.

“Roxanne is also a children’s book author, and we are currently working on a series of books which will include accompanying songs and apps,” said Stephen with alacrity.

It is interesting to note that Marlisa’s first hit single, Stand By You, in the X Factor Australia, is co-written by Roxanne’s student, Hayley Warner, an Australian pop rock singer-songwriter from Southern Sydney who was the runner-up of Australian Idol in 2009.

Marlisa is also a pianistic talent, revealed Stephen, Marlisa’s piano teacher.

Marlisa began playing piano enthusiastically at age four, and since then her inclination toward music has developed tremendously.

In early 2006, Marlisa performed her first solo piano concert. In that same year, she performed at the Sydney Opera House 2006 Suzuki classical piano graduation.

“(Marlisa) is a dedicated and willing student, a fine person, and as you have seen, an excellent performer,” said Stephen who plays in all the major night spots of Sydney as well as internationally.

He concluded this interview saying, “I expect that she will continue to improve at all levels and produce fantastic results for us, her teachers, and for her family and friends.”