Dr Di Bresciani, Founder of YMF Australia (sponsor of the YMF Scholarship) completed a Music Degree at the University of Melbourne and subsequently obtained a Doctor of philosophy in music and psychology undertaken with a Post Graduate Research Scholarship. In the 1980’s her research achieved international recognition, with an invitation to visit the USSR by Dimitri Kabalevsky, publications in research journals and participation in Research Commissions for the International Society for Music Education. In 1988 Di founded the Youth Music Foundation of Australia Inc (YMF) which is affiliated with leading music /arts institutions in Australia, Italy, the US and the UK.
In 2003 Di was selected Woman Achiever of the Year by the Australian Brain Foundation. Di is a life member of the Melba Trust Foundation, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Music Teachers, a senior adjudicator for the Australian Music Examinations Board, a Life Governor of University College, Melbourne, Founder and Managing Director YMF and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Di was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) of Australia in the Queen's Honours List 2013 for her contributions to the visual arts, music and philanthropy. On April 6th, 2014 Trio Bresciani was launched at Melba Hall University of Melbourne, with three of Australia’s finest young musicians. On July 6th 2014 the Trio was launched in Brisbane Queensland. Trio Bresciani is the intersection between the hidden impulses of painting and music. Di’s paintings gave wings to this trio and are shown in the Trio’s website www.triobresciani.com
Di was previously -
Introducing the 2023 Adjudicators
Dr Di Bresciani OAM: Chair of the Panel
• Board Member Australian Festival of Chamber Music
• Vice President Soiree Musical Inc• Director Australian Cultural Fund
• Art Committee Member Peter MacCallum Institute
• Board Member Australian Society for Music Education
• Board Member Rose Music Pty Ltd
• Managing Director Yamaha Music Foundation of Australian Inc
• Board Member Australian Festival of Chamber Music
• Council Member University College Melbourne
• Council Member University College Past Students’ Association
• 6-time Opera Awards Adjudicator
Cheryl Barker AO
Cheryl has established a distinguished international opera career appearing for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Welsh Opera, Paris Opera, Netherlands Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, National Opera du Rhin, De Vaalmse Opera, La Monnaie, Opera Holland Park, Reis Opera, Scottish Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Minnesota Opera, Vancouver Opera, Taipei Opera, Opera Queensland, Opera Australia, State Opera of South Australia, Victorian State Opera, Western Australian Opera, New Zealand Opera and most recently a return to Deutsche Oper Berlin and Opera Queensland.
Her many roles have included the title roles in Jenufa, Tosca, Suor Angelica, Madama Butterfly (Mo Award performer of the year), Manon Lescaut, Rusalka, Arabella and Salome (both for which she won green room and Helpmann awards), Adrianna Lecouvreur, Francesca di Rimmini, Hanna Glawari in Die Lustige Witwe, Katya Kabanova, Maria Stuarda.
Concert appearances include Wigmore Hall, The Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Konzerhous Wein, Koningin Elizabethzaal Belgium, at the Brisbane and Melbourne Spoleto Festivals and with the SSO, QSO, MSO and WASO.
Cheryl was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours and also holds an Honorary doctorate of Music conferred by the Melbourne University.
Cheryl Barker is currently Head Voice Teacher at the Australian National University School of Music, Canberra and Co-Artistic Director of Pacific Opera.
José Carbó
Consistently praised for his smooth, powerful voice, thrilling top notes and magnetic stage presence, the award-winning Argentine-Australian baritone José Carbó has performed in the leading houses of the world including Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Real Madrid, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Seattle Opera and Opera Australia.
Established as “Australia’s leading Verdi lyric baritone” (Limelight Magazine), José's triumphant Verdi debut as Renato in Un ballo in maschera at Opera Australia was described as “an object lesson in Verdi singing” (Sydney Morning Herald). This led to further Verdi role debuts including the title role in Rigoletto, Rodrigo in Don Carlo and one of his signature roles; Germont La traviata. Recent La traviata engagements for Opera Queensland (2022) and Opera Australia (2021) have seen him exceed seventy performances of Germont, performing opposite Ermonela Jaho, Corinne Winters, Jessica Pratt and more.
2023 sees two more Verdi role debuts for José in the title role of Macbeth for Opera Queensland and Iago in Otello for West Australian Opera, as well as a return to Escamillo in Carmen for West Australian Opera/Perth Festival and featured soloist appearances in Opera Queensland's 2023 Festival of Outback Opera and others TBA.
Recent engagements include his house debut at the Ópera de Tenerife, Spain, in gala concert Nancy Fabiola y sus Invitados, his role debut as Scarpia in Tosca for Opera Queensland, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Victorian Opera, a tour of Australia with superstar Sumi Jo in their recital Mad for Love and Alfio/Tonio Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci for Opera Australia, for which he received his third Helpmann Award nomination, a Green Room Award nomination and was praised for his “peerless Prologue, sung with polished and glowingly powerful cantabile.” (Sydney Morning Herald).
Other recent appearances include Riolobo Florencia en el Amazonas for Los Angeles Opera, Enrico Lucia di Lammermoor for Victorian Opera and Zurga Pearlfishers for Opera Australia. In 2015, José joined the roster of principal artists at the Metropolitan Opera.
José has performed his first signature role of Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia across three continents at Seattle Opera (his 2011 US debut) Teatro Real Madrid, Opera Australia, Opera Queensland, Victorian Opera and State Opera of South Australia. He made his European debut in 2005 at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro and his La Scala debut in 2009 in Il viaggio a Reims.
In 2012 he won a Helpmann Award for his portrayal of Fritz Die tote Stadt with Opera Australia. Other roles include the title role in Don Giovanni, Belcore L’elisir d’amore, Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro, Marcello La bohème, Silvio Pagliacci, Escamillo Carmen, Dandini La cenerentola, Lescaut Manon, Don Alfonso Così fan tutte, Sonora La fanciulla del West and Tomsky in Pique Dame.
On the concert platform with all the major orchestras of Australia and New Zealand, José has performed Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Mass in C and Choral Symphony, Carl Orff Carmina Burana, Rachmaninoff The Bells, Fauré Requiem and Brahms Eines Deutsches Requiem, Ralph Vaughan-Williams Mass in C minor, Mendelssohn Paulus and Elijah and Elgar Dream of Gerontius.
José’s debut album, My Latin Heart, released by ABC Classics, was nominated for the ARIA Classical Record of the year and debuted at No. 1 on the Limelight Magazine Classical Music charts. He also appears on DVD/Blu-Ray and CD as Marcello in La Bohème for Opera Australia and on CD in Classical Spectacular and 50 Best Opera with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra released by ABC Classics.
Simon Kenway
Simon Kenway is an established and highly respected orchestral and operatic conductor. He has held posts as Principal Chorus Master and Guest Conductor of Opera Australia, Conductor and Chief Vocal Coach for the Sydney Conservatorium, Musical Director for Opera in the Vineyards and Opera by George and Opera Under The Stars in Broome, and from 2015 – 2019 was Artistic Director of Pacific Opera.
Simon has conducted the Sydney, Tasmanian, Adelaide, West Australian, Canberra and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, for Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, State Opera of South Australia, Opera Queensland, The Australian Ballet, Hong Kong Philharmonic, many festivals, Aldeburgh Productions in the UK, the Australian Youth Orchestra and Beijing Symphony Orchestra.
From 2022, Simon will be providing musical direction for the Sydney Conservatorium’s new undergraduate music theatre course. He also continues his long-standing relationship with the Sydney Opera House’s Taste of Opera Tours, QPAC’s Spirit Of Christmas performances and the Sydney Conservatorium’s Open Academy Opera Lab. Other recent engagements include 7 Deadly Sins and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny for Redline Productions, chorus master for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Andrea Bocelli tour, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg and The Merry Widow for State Opera South Australia, The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute for Opera Australia’s Regional Tour and Opera on the Beach performances in Coolangatta, and workshops and performances as Conductor and Music Director for Opera Australia’s Community Choirs project from 2012 - 2015. He has conducted Verdi Requiem for the Australian Intervarsity Choral Festival in Sydney, Orfeo ed Euridice for Spectrum Now Festival (for which he also prepared the Chorus and acted as Music Advisor), The Cunning Little Vixen for Pacific Opera, Hansel and Gretel for AIM, Rossini’s Cinderella and Associate Conductor for Verdi’s Otello for Opera Queensland, Opera on the Riverstage for the Brisbane Festival and Opera Queensland, Symphony of Australia at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, and the Massed Festival Choir and Women’s Festival Choir at the Melbourne International Singers Festival.
Long associated with Opera Australia as a Guest Artist, Simon has also conducted performances of Don Giovanni, OzOpera’s La bohème tour, La Traviata, The Mikado, Madama Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, The Magic Flute, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, The Gondoliers, L’elisir d’amore, Sweeney Todd and an OzOpera concert at Olympic Park. For Opera Australia's Youth Education programme Simon conducted Kurt Weill's Down in the Valley, Anne Boyd’s The Little Mermaid and Purcell’s The Indian Queen.
A celebrated performer and the winner of five Green Room Awards, John Bolton Wood AM was born in Sydney. John received his music education at the NSW Conservatorium of Music and the London Opera Centre and made his UK debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Bosun in Billy Budd.
John returned to Australia in 1973 to sing the role of Roderick Usher in Larry Sitzky's Fall of the House of Usher, the first full-scale production to be staged at the, Sydney Opera House. Since then he has appeared with all the State Opera companies and with Opera Australia in a wide variety of roles.
John received great acclaim for his role as Old Deuteronomy in the Australian and Asian tour of Cats, which he sang for an astounding 1498 performances. He is also noted for his performances in the operetta repertoire, particularly in roles such as Agamemnon (La Belle Helene), Jupiter (Orpheus in the Underworld) and his justly renowned interpretation of Frank (Die Fledermaus).
Recent engagements include Benoit and Alcindoro in La Bohème for Opera Australia’s Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour and Fritz Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Act III in a special staged gala concert with State Opera of South Australia; Philippe in three seasons of Two Weddings, One Bride, Dottore Grenville in La Traviata for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow, Benoit in La Bohème and Sacristan in Tosca, all for Opera Australia; Sacristan, and Fra Melitone in La Forza del Destino for State Opera of South Australia; Baron Zeta for Singapore Lyric Opera; Germont for Opera Projects Sydney, at the Independent Theatre; along with an appearance as soloist in the City of Stonnington’s Opera in the Park. He was also on the adjudication panel for the 2018 Lexus Song Quest in New Zealand.
Dr Di Bresciani, Founder of YMF Australia (sponsor of the YMF Scholarship) completed a Music Degree at the University of Melbourne and subsequently obtained a Doctor of philosophy in music and psychology undertaken with a Post Graduate Research Scholarship. In the 1980’s her research achieved international recognition, with an invitation to visit the USSR by Dimitri Kabalevsky, publications in research journals and participation in Research Commissions for the International Society for Music Education. In 1988 Di founded the Youth Music Foundation of Australia Inc (YMF) which is affiliated with leading music /arts institutions in Australia, Italy, the US and the UK.
In 2003 Di was selected Woman Achiever of the Year by the Australian Brain Foundation. Di is a life member of the Melba Trust Foundation, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Music Teachers, a senior adjudicator for the Australian Music Examinations Board, a Life Governor of University College, Melbourne, Founder and Managing Director YMF and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Di was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) of Australia in the Queen's Honours List 2013 for her contributions to the visual arts, music and philanthropy. On April 6th, 2014 Trio Bresciani was launched at Melba Hall University of Melbourne, with three of Australia’s finest young musicians. On July 6th 2014 the Trio was launched in Brisbane Queensland. Trio Bresciani is the intersection between the hidden impulses of painting and music. Di’s paintings gave wings to this trio and are shown in the Trio’s website www.triobresciani.com
Roxane Hislop is one of Australia’s most respected and accomplished Mezzo Sopranos. She is a graduate of Sydney University, the NSW Conservatorium of Music and holds a master’s degree in Arts Administration from RMIT University in Melbourne. Awards include the Sydney Sun Aria and the Australian Regional finals of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. She has been nominated five times for a Green Room Award and was named best female artist in a supporting role for Maddalena (Rigoletto) and Olga (Eugene Onegin).
Roxane has an operatic repertoire of over 60 roles including the title roles in Carmen and La Pericole, Rosina (Barber of Seville), Dalila (Samson et Dalila) and Varvara (Katya Kabanova). She has appeared with every major opera company and Symphony orchestra in Australia.
This year, Roxane will perform the roles of Mary in The Flying Dutchman for Melbourne Opera and Mother in Hansel and Gretel with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Other recent engagements include singing the role of Teresa in La Sonnambula in concert for Victorian Opera, Dame Hannah in Ruddigore for Opera Queensland, Gertrude in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette in concert with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, reprising the role of Rossweisse in Die Walküre in Opera Australia’s 2016 Melbourne Ring Cycle, as well as covering Erda and Flosshilde in Das Rheingold, Flosshilde and First Norn in Götterdämmerung, and Mrs Herring in Albert Herring for Opera Australia in Sydney.
Concert engagements include Beethoven 9th Symphony with the West Australian and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras; L'Enfant et les Sortileges with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; at (Not) The Last Night of the Proms and in Messiah with Queensland Symphony Orchestra; at Victorian Opera’s Proms Concert Games of Love and Chance as well as performances with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.
Australian conductor Benjamin Northey is the Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Associate Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He has previously held the posts of Resident Guest Conductor of the Australia Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra (2002-2006) and Principal Conductor of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (2007-2010).
Northey also appears regularly as a guest conductor with all major Australian symphony orchestras, Opera Australia (Turandot, L’elisir d’amore, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Carmen), New Zealand Opera (Sweeney Todd) and State Opera South Australia (La sonnambula, L’elisir d’amore, Les contes d’Hoffmann). His international appearances include concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, the Malaysian Philharmonic and the New Zealand Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia and Christchurch Symphony Orchestras.
Northey studied conducting with John Hopkins at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. In 2001, he was awarded first prize in the Symphony Australia Young Conductor of the Year Competition under the direction of Jorma Panula. In 2002, he was he was accepted as the highest placed applicant to Finland’s prestigious Sibelius Academy where he studied with Leif Segerstam and Atso Almila until 2005.
With a progressive and diverse approach to repertoire, he has collaborated with a broad range of artists including Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Karen Gomyo, Piers Lane, Alban Gerhardt, Johannes Moser, Piers Lane, Amy Dickson, Slava Grigoryan & Marc-André Hamelin as well as popular artists Tim Minchin, KD Lang, Kate Miller-Heidke, Barry Humphries, Kurt Elling, James Morrison and Tori Amos.
Northey is highly active in the performance of Australian orchestral music having premiered numerous major new works by Brett Dean, Peter Sculthorpe, Elena Kats-Chernin, Matthew Hindson and many others.
2019 highlights include La bohème for Opera Australia and returns to the Hong Kong Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, Christchurch Symphony and all six state symphony orchestras.
Anson Austin sang as a principal tenor with Opera Australia for thirty four years before retiring in 2004. During this time he performed over fifty major roles with the national company, encompassing most of the standard operatic lyric tenor repertoire, with a particular emphasis on French and Italian opera.
He also performed regularly on the concert stage, singing most of the major concert repertoire throughout Australia and also internationally.
He has been featured on The Australian Opera videos of Adriana Lecouvreur, Les Huguenots, Die Fledermaus, La Fille du Regiment and The Merry Widow, all with Dame Joan Sutherland, and The Gipsy Princess. His recordings include Highlights of French Opera under Richard Bonynge, and the soundtrack of Melba.
For several years Anson has adjudicated many major vocal competitions including the McDonald Aria (Sydney), The Marianne Mathy Scholarship, the Rotorua Aria (N.Z.), The Australian Opera Foundation and The Herald Sun Aria.
Anson was awarded the OAM in 1993 and is currently on the Board of Opera Australia.
Cheryl has established a distinguished international opera career appearing for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Welsh Opera, Paris Opera, Netherlands Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, National Opera du Rhin, De Vaalmse Opera, La Monnaie, Opera Holland Park, Reis Opera, Scottish Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Minnesota Opera, Vancouver Opera, Taipei Opera, Opera Queensland, Opera Australia, State Opera of South Australia, Victorian State Opera, Western Australian Opera, New Zealand Opera and most recently a return to Deutsche Oper Berlin and Opera Queensland.
Concert appearances include Wigmore Hall, The Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Konzerhous Wein, Koningin Elizabethzaal Belgium, at the Brisbane and Melbourne Spoleto Festivals and with the SSO, QSO, MSO and WASO.
Dr Di Bresciani, Founder of YMF Australia (sponsor of the YMF Scholarship) completed a Music Degree at the University of Melbourne and subsequently obtained a Doctor of philosophy in music and psychology undertaken with a Post Graduate Research Scholarship. In the 1980’s her research achieved international recognition, with an invitation to visit the USSR by Dimitri Kabalevsky, publications in research journals and participation in Research Commissions for the International Society for Music Education. In 1988 Di founded the Youth Music Foundation of Australia Inc (YMF) which is affiliated with leading music /arts institutions in Australia, Italy, the US and the UK.
In 2003 Di was selected Woman Achiever of the Year by the Australian Brain Foundation. Di is a life member of the Melba Trust Foundation, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Music Teachers, a senior adjudicator for the Australian Music Examinations Board, a Life Governor of University College, Melbourne, Founder and Managing Director YMF and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Di was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) of Australia in the Queen's Honours List 2013 for her contributions to the visual arts, music and philanthropy. On April 6th, 2014 Trio Bresciani was launched at Melba Hall University of Melbourne, with three of Australia’s finest young musicians. On July 6th 2014 the Trio was launched in Brisbane Queensland. Trio Bresciani is the intersection between the hidden impulses of painting and music. Di’s paintings gave wings to this trio and are shown in the Trio’s website www.triobresciani.com
Simon Kenway is a highly respected orchestral/operatic conductor, music educator and accompanist. He has held posts as Principal Chorus Master of Opera Australia and Chief Vocal Coach for Sydney Conservatorium Opera School and now works as a freelance conductor, and in 2015 was appointed Artistic Director of Pacific Opera.
Simon has conducted the Sydney, Tasmanian, West Australian, Canberra and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland, Australian Ballet, Hong Kong Philharmonic, many festivals, Aldeburgh Productions in UK, Australian Youth Orchestra and Beijing Symphony Orchestra.
In 2017 Simon conducts Aida for Griffith Opera on the Beach at Coolangatta and The Marriage of Figaro on Regional Tour (both for Opera Australia), and concerts with Willoughby Symphony. Recent engagements include The Battle of the Somme for New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, adjudicating the 2016 New Zealand Young Performers Award, as a member of True North at Dark Mofo Festival (Hobart), The Magic Flute for Opera Australia’s Regional Tour and Opera on the Beach, Verdi Requiem for Australian Intervarsity Choral Festival, Orfeo ed Euridice for Spectrum Now Festival (for which he also prepared the Chorus and acted as Music Advisor), and Conductor and Music Director for Opera Australia’s Community Choirs project from 2012 – 2015.
Dr Di Bresciani, Founder of YMF Australia (sponsor of the YMF Australia Award) completed a Music Degree at the University of Melbourne and subsequently obtained a Doctor of philosophy in music and psychology undertaken with a Post Graduate Research Scholarship. In the 1980’s her research achieved international recognition, with an invitation to visit the USSR by Dimitri Kabalevsky, publications in research journals and participation in Research Commissions for the International Society for Music Education.
In 1988 Di founded the Youth Music Foundation of Australia Inc (YMF) which is affiliated with leading music /arts institutions in Australia, Italy, the US and the UK. In 2003 Di was selected Woman Achiever of the Year by the Australian Brain Foundation. Di is a life member of the Melba Trust Foundation, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Music Teachers, a senior adjudicator for the Australian Music Examinations Board, a Life Member Melbourne University Graduates’ Association, a Life Governor of University College, Melbourne, a Governor of the Florey and Mental Health Research Institute, Founder Governor and Managing Director YMF, a Board Member for the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2013.
On April 6th, 2014 Trio Bresciani was launched at Melba Hall University of Melbourne, with three of Australia’s finest young musicians. On July 6th 2014 the Trio was launched in Brisbane Queensland. Trio Bresciani is the intersection between the hidden impulses of painting and music.
New Zealander Conal Coad trained in the NSW Conservatorium of music Opera School before joining Opera Australia. He made his European debut with the Opera de Wallonie and has sung with all the major companies of Belgium; in Brussels (La Monnaie), Liege, Antwerp, Charleroi, Ghent and Bruges, in the principal bass roles. In France he has sung in Paris, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Strasbourg, St Etienne, Le Mans. Elsewhere in Europe he has performed regularly in Naples, Venice, Bologna, Hamburg, Geneva, Lisbon, and Madrid. He has performed in the UK at Covent Garden, Holland Park Festival Opera, Garsington Festival and Opera North and in Scotland.
In the USA he has performed in Washington and New York. Conal has also performed in Israel. Conal performs regularly in New Zealand with the national company in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as National tours.
Australian soprano Rachelle Durkin is one of opera's most striking young artists performing at major houses worldwide to critical acclaim.
Rachelle began her career by winning the top three vocal competitions in Australia in 2000: The Herald Sun Aria Competition, The Marianne Mathy Scholarship and The Metropolitan Opera Award. Another win followed at the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and she was invited to join the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program where she remained from 2001-2004.
She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the First Handmaiden in Sly.
Greg graduated with a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne. He studied under Carlo Felice Cillario and Geoffrey Arnold. He worked at Queensland Opera and Australian Opera, and has run his own successful entrepreneurial business since 1979. As a conductor Greg has an extensive operatic repertoire and he produced and conducted Melbourne Opera’s inaugural season of La Traviata, The Pearl Fishers, and The Magic Flute, and has produced and conducted most of Melbourne Opera’s productions since.
In 2004 he conducted La Traviata in Fiesole and returned to Rome for concerts later that year.
Greg is a founding director of Melbourne Opera. He also founded the Universal Theatre, the Comedy Club, and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He is a theatrical producer in his spare time, with extensive credits ranging from Wogs out of Work to Beckett directs Beckett and is responsible for Australian concert tours of many famous artists including Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Roger Woodward, Ivo Pogorelich, Sir George Martin and Elvis Costello.
Dr Di Bresciani, Founder of YMF Australia (sponsor of the YMF Australia Award) completed a Music Degree at the University of Melbourne and subsequently obtained a Doctor of philosophy in music and psychology undertaken with a Post Graduate Research Scholarship. In the 1980’s her research achieved international recognition, with an invitation to visit the USSR by Dimitri Kabalevsky, publications in research journals and participation in Research Commissions for the International Society for Music Education.
In 1988 Di founded the Youth Music Foundation of Australia Inc (YMF) which is affiliated with leading music /arts institutions in Australia, Italy, the US and the UK. In 2003 Di was selected Woman Achiever of the Year by the Australian Brain Foundation. Di is a life member of the Melba Trust Foundation, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Music Teachers, a senior adjudicator for the Australian Music Examinations Board, a Life Member Melbourne University Graduates’ Association, a Life Governor of University College, Melbourne, a Governor of the Florey and Mental Health Research Institute, Founder Governor and Managing Director YMF, a Board Member for the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
On April 6th, 2014 Trio Bresciani was launched at Melba Hall University of Melbourne, with three of Australia’s finest young musicians. On July 6th 2014 the Trio was launched in Brisbane Queensland. Trio Bresciani is the intersection between the hidden impulses of painting and music.
Brian Castles-Onion is one of Australia’s most exciting and best-known conductors and pianists. He is described as ‘Exceptionally Brilliant’, ‘Dynamic’ and ‘Fabulous’. After study abroad, he returned to Opera Australia in 1994 and was awarded the prestigious Churchill Fellowship to study conducting in Europe. He has worked at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Rossini Festival in Italy, has been Artistic Director of Canterbury Opera in New Zealand and continues a long association with Opera Australia.
Brian’s reputation as an international recording artist, orchestral arranger and broadcaster is legendary and he has appeared in cabaret in New York, Berlin, London and throughout Australia - where he also regularly appears on national television. Brian is also a regular pianist/presenter on ABC television’s Play School – a position he adores! His first book Losing the Plot in Opera (published by Exisle Publishing) was released internationally in 2008. He made his New York Recital Debut in May 2009 and taught at Julliard School of Music in New York.
Amelia Farrugia is one Australia’s best-loved sopranos. Since her opera debut in 1994, she has sung many leading roles for Opera Australia, performed with all the ABC Orchestras and appeared internationally with distinguished conductors Richard Bonynge, Edo de Waart, Richard Hickox, Carlo Felice Cillario, Markus Stenz, Simone Young, Emmanuel Plasson, Paul Dyer, Andrea Licata, Alexander Briger, Brad Cohen, Robin Ticciati, Giovanni Reggioli and composers Gian Carlo Menotti, Richard Mills and George Palmer.
A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Amelia has won many major singing competitions including Sydney Eisteddfod’s McDonald’s Operatic Aria (1994), The Herald Sun Aria (1994) and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in Australia and New York (1994-1995). She was awarded NSW Young Achiever of the Year (1996). Amelia is a generous supporter of many charities and donates her time as Ambassador for the Sydney Eisteddfod, as a member of the Council of Patrons for Pacific Opera and Ambassador for St Lucy’s School, Wahroonga.
Michael Lewis, one of Australia’s most respected singers, is highly regarded for his command of both operatic and concert repertoire. After winning the Metropolitan Opera Competition in 1973 and an Arts Council Scholarship, Michael left Adelaide for Europe, marking the beginning of a successful international career. His major debut at the Wexford Festival in 1976, was followed by performances at opera houses in Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Leipzig, Amsterdam, Venice, San Diego, Pittsburgh, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Opera, and in Mexico.
Since that time he has performed 35 major roles with Opera Australia, as well as regular appearances with the state companies in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane and New Zealand Opera.
Dr Di Bresciani, Founder of YMF Australia (sponsor of the YMF Australia Award) completed a Music Degree at the University of Melbourne and subsequently obtained a Doctor of philosophy in music and psychology undertaken with a Post Graduate Research Scholarship. In the 1980’s her research achieved international recognition, with an invitation to visit the USSR by Dimitri Kabalevsky, publications in research journals and participation in Research Commissions for the International Society for Music Education.
In 1988 Di founded the Youth Music Foundation of Australia Inc (YMF) which is affiliated with leading music /arts institutions in Australia, Italy, the US and the UK. In 2003 Di was selected Woman Achiever of the Year by the Australian Brain Foundation. Di is a life member of the Melba Trust Foundation, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Music Teachers, a senior adjudicator for the Australian Music Examinations Board, a Life Member Melbourne University Graduates’ Association, a Life Governor of University College, Melbourne, a Governor of the Florey and Mental Health Research Institute, Founder Governor and Managing Director YMF, a Board Member for the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
On April 6th, 2014 Trio Bresciani was launched at Melba Hall University of Melbourne, with three of Australia’s finest young musicians. On July 6th 2014 the Trio was launched in Brisbane Queensland. Trio Bresciani is the intersection between the hidden impulses of painting and music.
Baritone Peter Coleman-Wright is widely considered one of the most versatile singers in the world today, equally home in opera, concert and recital.
He has sung more that 60 roles throughout the worlds famous opera houses, The Met, Covent Garden, La Scala, Paris, Vienna and Munich and others including Figaro, Forester, Michele, Scarpia, Marcello, Sharpless, Don Giovanni, Count, Onegin, Dandini, Billy Budd, Gunther, Golaud, Germont, Chorebe, Wolfram, Pizzaro, and Sweeny Todd. His numerous awards include Helpmann Awards for Todd and The Traveller (Death in Venice), Green room awards for Billy Budd, Orestes, and Harry Joy (Brett Dean).
www.petercolemanwright.com
Andrea Molino is known as both a composer and conductor. He was born in Turin and studied in Turin, Milan, Venice, Paris and Freiburg. He lives in Zurich. From 1996 to 2007 he was Musical Director of the Pocket Opera Company in Nuremberg. His own projects the smiling carcass (1999), on advertising and Those Who Speak in a Faint Voice (2001), about the death penalty (both in collaboration with Oliviero Toscani), are examples of his commitment to innovative, multimedia-oriented music theatre. He conducted the death penalty project in Basel and Nuremberg with the Phoenix Ensemble Basel and in New York and Milan with the Klangforum Wien.
Elizabeth Whitehouse, one of Australia’s most renowned sopranos, lives in Germany with her career focused primarily in Europe.
She recently appeared in the José Carreras Charity Gala at the Megaron in Athens and in April sang the last of sixteen performances of the title role in Turandot in Münster. Forthcoming engagements in the 2009 -2010 season include Kundry in Parsifal in Münster and Turandot in Lübeck. In 2011 she returns to Opera Australia to make her debut in the role of Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth.
Other notable operatic engagements include Marie (Wozzeck) for the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Agathe (Der Freischütz) for the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes) in Genoa, Gutrune (Götterdämmerung), Leonore (Fidelio) with Riccardo Muti and Ellen Orford with Jeffrey Tate at La Scala, a concert performance of Act Two of Fedora with Plácido Domingo in San Francisco, Tosca in San Francisco and Colorado, Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera) and Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer) at the Deutsche Oper, Elsa (Lohengrin) and Capriccio in Turin as well as Feldmarschallin (Der Rosenkavalier) in Palermo and at La Scala.
Held as the 'Armstrong-Martin Scholarship' under the auspices of the Australian Singing Competition
Held as the 'Armstrong-Martin Scholarship' under the auspices of the Australian Singing Competition