Three IGS alums have followed different paths since leaving school. Isabella Manfredi (2002), Lauren Hall (2007) and Tanaka (Will) Nhongo (2003) reflect on the unexpected turns their careers have taken, the opportunities they have embraced and the lasting influence of their time at IGS.
ISABELLA MANFREDI (left 2002)
After school, I lived in Italy for a year. When I came back I started a Bachelor of Arts (Advanced Languages) degree at Sydney Uni. I come from a family of teachers and the plan was to be a high school English Teacher. But halfway through my degree I took a detour, and started a piano and voice double major at the Australian Institute of Music. There I met Tom and Jack who would become my bandmates in The Preatures. By my early twenties I was working as a waitress in cafes and restaurants around Sydney, studying full time and playing as many gigs as I could with my band.
In 2012, when I was 24, The Preatures were signed to Mercury Records and the following year we had a worldwide breakthrough hit with Is This How You Feel? It sent us touring all over the world and we played Coachella, Jimmy Kimmel Live! Glastonbury, Splendour in the Grass, among many other incredible experiences. We had more hype and success than we knew how to handle at such a young age, and got to support artists like The Rolling Stones, Garbage, The Cranberries, The Foo Fighters, Pink, Harry Styles, and Paul Kelly. We broke up during the pandemic in 2020. But in 2025 we reformed with a 20 date sold-out Australian tour, and announced we were making a new album.
I’ve learned a lot about the business and about my craft. In 2021, I started a solo career and released my debut album ‘izzi’. I’ve had cameos in Netflix shows, co-written tracks for other artists, composed and produced scores for films, worked as an A&R and producer on other artists’ projects, and mentored artists. I also got married and had a daughter in 2021. I love being a mum.
These days, I live between Australia and the US, dividing my time between San Francisco, LA and Sydney. I’m finishing a new album with The Preatures to be released in 2027 and working on a book.
Looking back, IGS nurtured the three most important foundations of my career: my love of language and writing, music and performance. Having these pillars baked into my daily life from a young age gave me a natural creative vocabulary. I loved being an IGS kid and I’ll always feel grateful for my education.
I write about music on my substack Izzi Club, and in the periods when I’m not touring or deep in projects, I return to my love of teaching: I love mentoring younger artists, especially bands and songwriters.
LAUREN HALL 2007
After school, I studied Arts and Literature, dabbled in a few different fields and spent a lot of time trying to work out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Along the way, I discovered that I was much happier creating experiences than sitting behind a desk, and that eventually led me into the world of events.
From there, my career took me in directions I never could have predicted. What started with cinemas and live events turned into opportunities to work across Australia and overseas. I found myself working on everything from outdoor cinemas to the Chelsea flower shows in England, projects in New York, and eventually some of Australia’s largest public events. The more complex and chaotic the challenge, the more I seemed to enjoy it.
These days I’m based in Sydney and work as the Parade Producer with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, helping deliver one of Australia’s most iconic events. My days are spent juggling logistics, risk management, stakeholders, emergency services, creative ideas and thousands of moving parts. Outside of work, I’m planning my wedding, spending time with family and friends, attempting to keep up with far too many projects at once, and trying to convince myself that work-life balance is a real thing.
Looking back, IGS taught me to be curious. More than any specific subject or lesson, it encouraged me to explore different interests, ask questions and embrace opportunities that didn’t fit neatly into a predefined career path. If I could tell my younger self one thing, it would be that you don’t need to have everything figured out. Most of the best things in life happen when you’re busy heading somewhere else.
If you’d like to chat about events, leadership, career pivots, Mardi Gras or how on earth a Literature student ended up producing major public events, I’d love to hear from you.
TANAKA (WILL) NHONGO 2003
After school, I attended the University of Sydney and did a Bachelor of Economics, mostly due to the hectoring of one of my closest friends, Jai. He had a clear idea of what he wanted to do and I was a bit more flexible.
I kept busy working at Subway in Broadway and around the school coaching basketball while at uni, which was a great time and built links with those a good deal younger than me that remain to this day.
I took a deferment as my family ran into some difficulties and went to work for a family friend as an Assistant to a Chief Technical Officer in a biometric venture that went on to win investment from a private equity firm.
After some time I headed back to uni and finish my degree. Along the way I kept up some creative pursuits, taking jobs in commercials, films and TV.
Going back to uni after my deferment meant I was now in classes with some old IGS friends from grades below me, Max Harrington and Elliot di Qual to name a couple. I worked in markets as a futures trader, then in risk management and achieved a Masters.
I had been teaching postgrad workshops and lectures at uni, and an old lecturer and perhaps one of the kindest people I have had the pleasure of meeting, Paul Martin, asked me to come back on a more full-time basis.
That’s what I’m mostly up to now-teaching undergrad and postgrad banking and finance at the University of Sydney.
I’m based in Newtown where I live opposite a couple of IGS alums, coincidentally, with my partner and our 3 year old son Tanaka Etienne. He is currently at IGS ELC doing French.
We mostly try to spend as much time with our core group of friends, most of whom are friends of mine from IGS. We enjoy going to the Blue Mountains, and Patonga to visit my partner’s family and enjoying the great outdoors camping and road tripping. I don’t play much basketball anymore but do enjoy getting down to watch the Swans.
I grew up moving around a lot with my mum’s job in diplomacy, and longed to have deep roots somewhere. When we moved to Sydney the options of other schools was there and Simon and I toured them, but found immediate connection walking into IGS and Paul Cahill introducing me to Jamie Kenyon, Jai Parrab and Patrick Coghlan.
Looking back I have such fond memories of finishing my schooling at IGS, the friendships and relationships I’ve had and built with so many people have been amongst the most rewarding and nourishing in my life.
Through the joys and the tragedies, the connections have not only endured but deepened.
I think of Mr Raniga doing meditation during our HSC with us extension one and two maths groups. Dr Suhashini Shankar wrangling Justin King-Lacroix, myself and Jai in physics. Mr Galea. Mr Miller. My tutor group teacher Ms Blacker. Ms Jones in bio and chemistry. Madame Anne Gregory and her good humoured patience. Ms Nardella. Mona Rawlings-Way managing to get results with Steph Page, Mia and I in one class. Maureen Gill and Kerry Murphy.
I didn’t know it at the time but those were the halcyon days we read about.
It’s something that I hope to bring to my teaching, that I might be lucky enough to help them create memories, experiences and growth that my students look back on as fondly as I do mine, even if they aren’t aware that they will in the moment.
