Voices will soar in Voci Stupende's concert next month, as six rising young Australian singers bring the joy of opera to Armidale.
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The students and recent graduates of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music - a baritone, a tenor, and a pair each of soprani and mezzos - will perform on Sunday afternoon, March 10, at St Peter's Parish Centre.
"The audience can look forward to a magic performance of operatic highlights, including some well-known melodies and a couple of pieces from popular music theatre," organiser Jane Fraser said.
"Ranging over solos, duets, trios, and ensemble pieces, the repertoire is guaranteed to appeal to a wide taste."
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Jane and Hugh Fraser founded Voci Stupende, a not-for-profit opera company, in 2013 to bring young singers to regional Australia before they pursue their careers internationally.
Several members of this year's troupe have performed in Europe, and been young artists with Australian opera companies.
Soprano Georgia Melville graduated from her Bachelor of Music Performance (Voice) in 2018. This month, she performed in Strauss's Die Fledermaus with the Lyric Opera Studio, Weimar, Germany, sponsored by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. She progressed to the semi- finals of the prestigious IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition last year, and was also selected for the Estivo Chamber Music festival in Verona, Italy. She intends to pursue postgraduate study at the Conservatorium.
Her pieces for this concert include Mozart’s "Laudate Dominum", the trio "Soave sia il vento" from Mozart’s Così fan Tutte, and the Barcarolle from Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann.
Soprano Katherine Allen is in her final year at the Sydney Conservatorium. Like Georgia, Katherine sang in the Weimar production of Fledermaus this month. She has also been selected for her second year as an Associate Young Artist with Pacific Opera.
For this recital, she will sing the sparkling “Mein Herr Marquis" from Die Fledermaus, the trio "Angiol di pace" from Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda, and the evening prayer from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.
French-Australian mezzo-soprano Rebecca Hart is sponsored as a Pacific Opera Young Artist, a Central Coast Opera emerging artist, and the Alto Scholar at St Stephen’s Uniting Church.
She will perform arias from Bizet’s Carmen, sing the Flower Duet from Delibes' Lakmé with Katherine, and present Vaughan Williams' tender "Silent Noon".
Mezzo Stella Hannock makes her first appearance with Voci Stupende, but is no stranger to performance. In her native Port Macquarie, she was a regular soloist for Hastings Choristers. Since moving to Sydney, she has been a Young Artist with Pacific Opera.
She has just been selected to perform the role of Cherubino in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro at the Prague Summer Night’s Festival next July, and she will sing a Cherubino solo for this recital. She will also participate in Vivaldi's spirited duet "Laudamus te" with Katherine Allen.
Baritone Henry Wright graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music last year. He has just returned from performing Die Fledermaus in Weimar, and will be well practiced for the rousing "Brüderlein und Schwesterlein". He makes an impish Papageno in a duet with Georgia Melville from Mozart's The Magic Flute, and a bereft widower in the duet "Lily’s Eyes" from Lucy Simon's Secret Garden.
Tenor Nathan Bryon is completing his degree this year. He is a Pacific Opera Young Artist and the Tenor Scholar for St Stephen’s Church. He has just returned from the New Zealand Singing School where he was presented with the Beatrice Webster Award and the Royal Overseas League Classical Scholarship.
He leads "Libiamo ne' lieti calici", the famous drinking song from Verdi’s Traviata, and takes the tenor part for duets and trios.
Pianist Benjamin Burton will accompany the singers. The principal support for Voci Stupende since its inception, he has performed with Opera Australia touring productions and the Australian Institute of Music.
Parish Centre, St Peter's Cathedral, 9 Tingcombe Avenue, at 2pm on Sunday, March 10. Cost: $35 (adult), $25 (student), $90 (family - 2a+3c), $15 (under 17 yrs), free (under 5 yrs), $30 (pp group bookings 10+) - available at Carr's NewsXpress (Beardy Street Mall, phone 02 6772 3534) or www.try booking.com/468603 (30¢ booking fee applies). For more information, phone Jane Fraser on 02 6778 1233.
