TOUR LEADERS & LECTURERs
A World of Expertise
Limelight Arts Travel prides itself on the genuine expertise of its tour leaders. With solid postgraduate qualifications, extensive teaching experience at university level and a history of undertaking research, our tour leaders are thorough subject area experts. But they’re also very familiar with the destinations to which they lead tours, having lived, worked or travelled to those places for decades, and many of our tour leaders have significant second language expertise too.
Most importantly, our tour leaders are passionate communicators. They understand that the significance of a destination is more than a dusty collection of facts or statistics, and their subject area expertise means that they are sensitive to the cultural specificity and contemporary local experience of the places they travel. They know what you need to understand, and when you need to hear it – but they also appreciate that the most memorable parts of a trip can be unexpected and personal joys, so they’re also adept at stepping back when necessary.
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Dr Kathleen Olive
Dr Kathleen Olive has significant expertise in Italy and is well known as a cultural tour leader.
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Robert Gay
Robert Gay is one of Australia’s best known and most respected music tour leaders and educators.
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Dr Louise Marshall
Dr Louise Marshall is an art historian and lecturer who specialises in medieval and Renaissance Italian art.
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Dr Nick Eckstein
Nick Eckstein is a historian with an international reputation for his innovative research into the society and culture of Renaissance Florence.
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Dr Kristen Mann
Dr Kristen Mann is an Aegean archaeologist with 17 years of excavation experience in Greece, Cyprus, Jordan and Australia.
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Dr Nick Gordon
Dr Nick Gordon is known for his design and leadership of contemporary art tours in Europe, Asia and Australasia.
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Fiona McIntosh
Fiona McIntosh is an art advisor and tour leader with extensive knowledge of the visual arts and contemporary art industry.
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Clive Paget
Clive Paget is a highly-regarded arts writer and critic and Editor at Large for Limelight magazine.
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Jackie Menzies
Jackie Menzies OAM is an expert in the art and culture of Asia, and is a former Head of Asian Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
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Dr Estelle Lazer
Dr Estelle Lazer is an Australian archaeologist and experienced tour leader, with an international reputation for her work on ancient Pompeii.
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Kate Bolton-Porciatti
Kate Bolton-Porciatti is a professor of music and cultural history in Florence and a music critic and broadcaster.
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Dr Kathryn Welch
Dr Kathryn Welch has a PhD in Roman history and is an engaging communicator and experienced tour leader.
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Freya Middleton
Freya Middleton is a well-known Australian art historian and qualified local guide, who has lived in Tuscany for over twenty years.
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Dr Olivier Krischer
Dr Olivier Krischer is a historian and curator of modern and contemporary art from East Asia.
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Dr Lachlan Warner
Dr Lachlan Warner is an artist, lecturer, and gallery director with a passion for the visual arts.
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Jansson Antmann
Jansson Antmann is a music and performing arts specialist, and has written for Limelight magazine since 2018.
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Ben Churcher
Ben Churcher is a gifted public educator and an archaeologist with extensive field experience.
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Dr Penny Gay
Penny Gay is Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney, with expertise in theatrical performance history.
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Dr Matthew Laing
Dr Matthew Laing is a historian and political scientist, with expertise as a tour leader to North America, Scandinavia and Western Europe.
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Royna McNamara
Royna McNamara is a conductor and music educator with experience leading music tours to Western Europe.