Opera Queensland
Encyclopedia
Opera Queensland is an opera
company based in Brisbane
, Queensland
. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government
in 1981, then under the name Lyric Opera of Queensland, after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in December 1980.
It is after Opera Australia
the second largest opera company in Australia
. Each year the company presents at least three major operatic productions in Brisbane and numerous smaller productions, concerts and tours of operatic and lighter musical material in other venues throughout Queensland. As a partner in The Opera Conference, the national partnership of professional opera companies, Opera Queensland is actively involved in commissioning and presenting new productions. Opera Queensland is a "State flagship company" member of the Australian Major Performing Arts Group.
's Iolanthe
, opened there on 31 July 1982. In 1985, the Lyric Opera moved its productions to the newly-opened 2,100 seat Lyric Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre
, where it continues to present two of its three main stage opera seasons each year. Smaller productions are staged at the 650 seat Queensland Conservatorium.
In 1996 the company changed its name to Opera Queensland and moved its offices and rehearsal studio into new, purpose-built, premises on South Bank, which it shares with Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.
, and lunchtime concerts in the Main Auditorium of Brisbane's City Hall
.
Exploring Opera! is Opera Queensland’s education program for school students and adult and community groups. In 2008 and 2009, it toured schools with Engelbert Humperdinck
's Hansel and Gretel. Other projects include the two-day workshops for primary schools, The Wombat Story and The Storm and What Came of It.
Moving Opera! is a residency program that brings a group of five professional artists (a director, musical director and three singers) into secondary schools. A week-long workshop explores music theatre processes on a variety of levels and provides opportunities for individual and ensemble development. The residency finishes with a performance on the Friday evening. Thanks to corporate sponsorship, Moving Opera! visits regional High Schools in Biloela
, Mount Isa
, Chinchilla
, Ipswich
, Emerald
, Blackwater
, Clermont
, and Adelaide.
Towards Opera! is an Italian language opera study project designed for students of Italian in Queensland secondary schools. In 2008, it introduced Puccini's Turandot
to students.
Arts Infused presents workshops to primary and secondary school teachers.
OPpreciation gives adult and community groups the opportunity to participate in a range of activities to discover more about opera. Lunch 'n Learn offers a one-hour program at the workplace. Overture to Opera is a one-hour forum with talk and performance for teachers, senior secondary students and adult groups. Exploring Opera! is a radio programme on 4MBS
by Opera Queensland's Artistic Administrator, Brad Jarrett.
Choice Voices takes opera into corporate, hospitality and convention markets; it presents tailored concert productions that showcase Queensland's vocal talent.
has taken on the role as Director of the Young Artist Program.
Artists participating in this program undertake a weekly schedule of one-on-one repertoire coaching, individual language coaching in major operatic languages including Italian, German, French, Russian and Czech, individual sessions or classes in various movement and stagecraft disciplines such as drama, concert presentation, basic dance, historical gesture and combat. Masterclasses, workshops and private lessons are arranged with visiting specialists such as renowned Australian and international teachers, singers, directors and conductors. A wide range of concert opportunities, featuring both standard operatic and popular or music theatre works, provides performing experience and broadens repertoire and style.
. In 2008, the income and expenditure statement amounted to about A$
6.6 million; about 34% were box office receipts, and 12% percent derived from private sector contributions. 37% were grants from the Queensland State Government and 8% from the Federal Government
.
The Opera Club has many fee paying members; the club offers exclusive invitations and discounted admittance to various events such as Introductory Evenings, Rehearsals, Cocktail Evenings, and the Season Launch function.
The Encore Entertainment program offers corporate clients a specially tailored experience of visiting the opera.
Opera Queensland's Patron Program provides special support for its Young Artists Program and has about 80 members; the required level of donations starts at $500. The Queensland State Government has recently matched donations up to a total of $100,000.
There are about 35 corporate sponsors contributing to various programs, and a Bequest Program can be used to name Opera Queensland as beneficiary in wills.
Tickets to performances are offered in a range of subscriptions, including discounted tickets in the 30 Below program and subsidised last-minute-tickets. There are about 4,000 subscribers.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
company based in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government
Government of Queensland
The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...
in 1981, then under the name Lyric Opera of Queensland, after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in December 1980.
It is after Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
the second largest opera company in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Each year the company presents at least three major operatic productions in Brisbane and numerous smaller productions, concerts and tours of operatic and lighter musical material in other venues throughout Queensland. As a partner in The Opera Conference, the national partnership of professional opera companies, Opera Queensland is actively involved in commissioning and presenting new productions. Opera Queensland is a "State flagship company" member of the Australian Major Performing Arts Group.
History
For the first two years of operation (1982–1983) the Lyric Opera of Queensland performed at Her Majesty's Theatre in Brisbane. The first production, Gilbert and SullivanGilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
, opened there on 31 July 1982. In 1985, the Lyric Opera moved its productions to the newly-opened 2,100 seat Lyric Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre
Queensland Performing Arts Centre
The Queensland Performing Arts Centre is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre and is located on the corner of Melbourne Street and Grey Street in Brisbane's South Bank precinct....
, where it continues to present two of its three main stage opera seasons each year. Smaller productions are staged at the 650 seat Queensland Conservatorium.
In 1996 the company changed its name to Opera Queensland and moved its offices and rehearsal studio into new, purpose-built, premises on South Bank, which it shares with Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.
Milestone events
- Lisa GasteenLisa GasteenLisa Kinkead Gasteen AO , is an internationally acclaimed Australian operatic soprano, renowned for her performances of the works of Wagner. She won the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1991...
's stage debut (1985) - Jason Barry-SmithJason Barry-SmithJason Barry-Smith is an Australian operatic baritone, vocal coach, composer and arranger. He works with organisations such as Opera Queensland, The Queensland Orchestra, Seven Network, and the Queensland Youth Choir.- Education :...
's stage debut in the title role of the Australian premiere of Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Billy BuddBilly Budd (opera)Billy Budd is an opera by Benjamin Britten, from a libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, was first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 1 December 1951. It is based on the short novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville....
(1993) - World premiere of Seeking True South (2001) by Stephen Leek and Philip Dean
- Kimm Julian's http://www.mnsu.edu/music/faculty/kimm_julian.html debut in 2003 as Scarpia in Giacomo PucciniGiacomo PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's ToscaToscaTosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900... - Created two chamber operaChamber operaChamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
s for children: The Sound Garden, and The Song Bird - A new production of La bohèmeLa bohèmeLa bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
(2005) directed by Simon Phillips - Neil ArmfieldNeil ArmfieldNeil Geoffrey Armfield AO is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera.Born in Sydney, Armfield was the youngest of three boys. The son of a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's biscuit factory he was brought up in the suburb of Concord adjacent to Exile Bay...
's productions of Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's The Marriage of FigaroThe Marriage of FigaroLe nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
(2005) and Britten's The Turn of the ScrewThe Turn of the Screw (opera)The Turn of the Screw is a 20th century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, "wife of the artist John Piper, who had been a friend of the composer since 1935 and had provided designs for several of the operas". The libretto is based on the novella...
(2005) - Kate Miller-HeidkeKate Miller-HeidkeKate Miller-Heidke is a singer-songwriter from Brisbane, Australia. Although classically trained, she has followed a career in alternative pop music. She is signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in the UK.-Career:...
's solo debut (and last opera role) as Flora in The Turn of the Screw - Gaetano DonizettiGaetano DonizettiDomenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's Lucia di LammermoorLucia di LammermoorLucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
conducted by Richard BonyngeRichard BonyngeRichard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
in 2006 - Jerry HadleyJerry HadleyJerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa , Susannah , and Candide...
's last stage performance (as Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama ButterflyMadama ButterflyMadama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
(2007) - The Love of the NightingaleThe Love of the Nightingale (opera)The Love of the Nightingale is an opera in two acts by Richard Mills. The libretto by Timberlake Wertenbaker is based on her play of the same name...
world premiere (2007) - Cynthia MakrisCynthia MakrisCynthia Makris is a soprano opera singer whose professional career has spanned nearly thirty years.She was born 1956 in Sterling, Colorado, USA, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Music Performance from Adams State College. Makris has sung major soprano roles at La Scala and the Royal...
company debut as Abigaille in Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's NabuccoNabuccoNabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
(2007)
Educational programs
Free events performed by Opera Queensland include pre-performance 45 minute talks, performing arias of forthcoming productions in Brisbane's Queen Street MallQueen Street Mall, Brisbane
The Queen Street Mall is a pedestrian mall on Queen Street in the centre of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.It is Brisbane's predominant retail district, featuring shopping centres, hotels, restaurant and coffee shops, cinemas, clothing, music, jewellery and book stores, newsagencies, and banks...
, and lunchtime concerts in the Main Auditorium of Brisbane's City Hall
Brisbane City Hall
Brisbane City Hall, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is the seat of the Brisbane City Council. It is located adjacent to King George Square, where the rectangular City Hall has its main entrance. The City Hall also has frontages and entrances in both Ann Street and Adelaide Street...
.
Exploring Opera! is Opera Queensland’s education program for school students and adult and community groups. In 2008 and 2009, it toured schools with Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel. Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province; at the age of 67 he died in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.-Life:After receiving piano lessons, Humperdinck produced his first composition...
's Hansel and Gretel. Other projects include the two-day workshops for primary schools, The Wombat Story and The Storm and What Came of It.
Moving Opera! is a residency program that brings a group of five professional artists (a director, musical director and three singers) into secondary schools. A week-long workshop explores music theatre processes on a variety of levels and provides opportunities for individual and ensemble development. The residency finishes with a performance on the Friday evening. Thanks to corporate sponsorship, Moving Opera! visits regional High Schools in Biloela
Biloela, Queensland
Biloela is a rural town in Central Queensland, Australia. It is situated inland from the port city of Gladstone at the junction of the Burnett and Dawson highways...
, Mount Isa
Mount Isa, Queensland
-Culture and sport:The local theatre group, the Mount Isa Theatrical Society, or MITS, often holds plays and musicals, at least once every few months or so....
, Chinchilla
Chinchilla, Queensland
Chinchilla is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Chinchilla had a population of 3,681.The town was established in 1877...
, Ipswich
Ipswich, Queensland
Ipswich is a city in South-East Queensland, Australia. Situated along the Bremer River Valley approximately 40 kilometres away from the state's capital Brisbane. The suburb by the same name forms the city's Central Business District and administrative centre...
, Emerald
Emerald, Queensland
Emerald is a town located in the Central Highlands district of Central Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Emerald had a population of 10,999. The town is the business centre for the Central Highlands Regional Council....
, Blackwater
Blackwater, Queensland
Blackwater is the major town of a significant coal mining area in Central Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Blackwater had a population of 5,031....
, Clermont
Clermont, Queensland
Clermont is an agricultural town in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. It is 274 km south-west of Mackay on the junction of the Gregory and Peak Downs highways...
, and Adelaide.
Towards Opera! is an Italian language opera study project designed for students of Italian in Queensland secondary schools. In 2008, it introduced Puccini's Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
to students.
Arts Infused presents workshops to primary and secondary school teachers.
OPpreciation gives adult and community groups the opportunity to participate in a range of activities to discover more about opera. Lunch 'n Learn offers a one-hour program at the workplace. Overture to Opera is a one-hour forum with talk and performance for teachers, senior secondary students and adult groups. Exploring Opera! is a radio programme on 4MBS
4MBS
4MBS Classic FM is a Brisbane community radio station that broadcasts classical music, jazz and nostalgia throughout South East Queensland. It is broadcast at a frequency of 103.7 MHz....
by Opera Queensland's Artistic Administrator, Brad Jarrett.
Choice Voices takes opera into corporate, hospitality and convention markets; it presents tailored concert productions that showcase Queensland's vocal talent.
Young Artist Program
Opera Queensland's Young Artist Program provides young performers the opportunity to refine their professional skills. Opera Queensland's Head of Music, Narelle French, was the inaugural director of this program from 2001–2008. From 2009 baritone Jason Barry-SmithJason Barry-Smith
Jason Barry-Smith is an Australian operatic baritone, vocal coach, composer and arranger. He works with organisations such as Opera Queensland, The Queensland Orchestra, Seven Network, and the Queensland Youth Choir.- Education :...
has taken on the role as Director of the Young Artist Program.
Artists participating in this program undertake a weekly schedule of one-on-one repertoire coaching, individual language coaching in major operatic languages including Italian, German, French, Russian and Czech, individual sessions or classes in various movement and stagecraft disciplines such as drama, concert presentation, basic dance, historical gesture and combat. Masterclasses, workshops and private lessons are arranged with visiting specialists such as renowned Australian and international teachers, singers, directors and conductors. A wide range of concert opportunities, featuring both standard operatic and popular or music theatre works, provides performing experience and broadens repertoire and style.
Funding
Opera Queensland is jointly supported through funding partnerships with the Australia Council for the Arts and the Queensland State GovernmentGovernment of Queensland
The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...
. In 2008, the income and expenditure statement amounted to about A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
6.6 million; about 34% were box office receipts, and 12% percent derived from private sector contributions. 37% were grants from the Queensland State Government and 8% from the Federal Government
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
.
The Opera Club has many fee paying members; the club offers exclusive invitations and discounted admittance to various events such as Introductory Evenings, Rehearsals, Cocktail Evenings, and the Season Launch function.
The Encore Entertainment program offers corporate clients a specially tailored experience of visiting the opera.
Opera Queensland's Patron Program provides special support for its Young Artists Program and has about 80 members; the required level of donations starts at $500. The Queensland State Government has recently matched donations up to a total of $100,000.
There are about 35 corporate sponsors contributing to various programs, and a Bequest Program can be used to name Opera Queensland as beneficiary in wills.
Tickets to performances are offered in a range of subscriptions, including discounted tickets in the 30 Below program and subsidised last-minute-tickets. There are about 4,000 subscribers.