2023 Winner: Eleanor Greenwood

Soprano
VICTORIA

The 2023 Opera Awards took place in the Eugene Goossens Hall at the ABC in Sydney on Wednesday 29 March.

Entrants were auditioned and interviewed by a distinguished panel of adjudicators comprising musician and artist Dr. Di Bresciani OAM (Chair); soprano Cheryl Barker AO; baritone José Carbo; and Maestro Simon Kenway.

Following a long day of auditions and discussion, the panel announced soprano Eleanor Greenwood as the winner of the 2023 Opera Awards. Eleanor was awarded the YMFAustralia Award of $30,000 and the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship of $4,500 sponsored by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust.

Adjudicators were impressed by the high standard overall, and the exceptional technical ability and maturity displayed by all the competitors (pictured from left to right- Simon Kenway, Cheryl Barker AO, Dr. Di Bresciani OAM (Chair), and José Carbo.






About Eleanor

Eleanor Greenwood has sung on stage and on radio, in London, in the UK, in Europe, in Australia, and throughout China. A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music Opera School, and of the Australian National University, she has performed various roles and concerts and is a winner of the Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Scholarship Competition. In opera productions Eleanor has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Schweizer Radio DRS, RTE Radio, Ireland.

Eleanor Greenwood is a graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music Opera School and the Australian National University’s School of Music, first prize winner of the Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Scholarship Competition. Eleanor made her professional debut in Ireland at the Opera Festival in Wexford, in Statkowski’s little known Polish Opera, Maria.

Described as ‘a thrilling voice’, Eleanor recently toured in ‘The Sopranos’ throughout regional Queensland, for Opera Queensland, directed by Patrick Nolan and Laura Hansford. With Melbourne Opera she debuted as a Soprano singing the role of Sieglinde in Die Walküre directed by Suzanne Chaundy. A diverse soprano, other recent roles include Ortlinde in Die Walküre in Melbourne, the Dama in Verdi’s Macbeth as directed by Bruce Beresford, and Annio in la clemenza di Tito as directed by Peter Coleman-Wright for the newly established National Opera in Canberra. Eleanor was seen in The Sopranos, directed by Patrick Nolan and Laura Hansford, at QPAC singing as Leonore (Fidelio) and Abigaille (Nabucco) for Opera Queensland. Eleanor recently sang the Soprano solo in Verdi’s Requiem at QPAC under the baton of Dane Lam.

In the UK and Ireland, as a mezzo soprano, Eleanor sang at Grange Park Opera and the Dorset Opera Festival, and returned to Wexford Festival Opera. She covered roles in Eugene Onegin (Grange Park) and sang in Suor Angelica (Dorset). She also appeared in recital for ‘culture night’ in Dublin. She sang as the Woodpecker, Forester’s Wife and Grasshopper at the Ryedale Festival in North Yorkshire in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen. The roles of Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, she performed as a part of the Bloomsbury Festival in London. At the Royal Academy of Music Opera Studio, she performed the roles of Hansel, Endimione in La Calisto as directed by John Ramster, various roles in scenes performances including Meg Page, Sesto, Dorabella, Minskwoman from Flight by Jonathan Dove, and a Flowermaiden from Parsifal. She was ‘the wife’ in the production of Paradise Moscow by Shostakovic and Ernestina in l’occasione fa il ladro by Rossini.

As an oratorio soloist, Eleanor most recently sang the soprano solo in Verdi’s epic composition of Requiem alongside Peter Coleman-Wright, Bass, Tania Ferris, Alto and Carlos Barcenas, Tenor. She has sung the soprano solos in Handel’s Messiah at Brisbane City Hall with the Queensland Choir and the Mozart Requiem with St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir in Sydney. She has performed in various magnificent works including Beethoven 9, Mass in B minor JS Bach, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Gloria and WA Mozart’s music for a play, Thamos, Kind of Egypt.

An experienced recitalist, Eleanor has sung in concert at Opera by the Lake for Opera Queensland, appeared as part of the Music on Sundays programme with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, hosted by Guy Noble, in Adelaide with the Italian Arts Society, hosted by Vincent Ciccarello and ‘Opera in the Paddock’ in Armidale NSW. Internationally, Eleanor has toured Chinese Poly Theatres with Australian International Productions performing in concert and opera.

Eleanor is a grateful past recipient of a grant from the Ian Potter Cultural Society and the Wagner Society of NSW.