Scots' Church, Melbourne
Scots’ Church, Melbourne

In February this year I started singing with Scots’ Church, Melbourne. So far, it’s been a lovely experience, singing some gorgeous choral music in the exquisite surrounds of this 19th-century church (built by David Mitchell, father of Dame Nellie Melba), with a group of friendly, talented people. This coming Friday 18 April at 8pm we’re performing Bach’s St John Passion, with a fantastic line-up of soloists. It’s my first time singing a Bach Passion, and the process of learning such a monumental work has been both challenging and immensely satisfying. If you happen to be in Melbourne on Friday, please do come along! For more information, please see the Scots’ website.

How She Gives Me Death
How She Gives Me Death

On Wednesday 5 March, at 8pm, I’ll be performing some interesting and quirky madrigals by Hungarian composer Péter Eötvös, as well as Hildegard von Bingen’s beautiful chant ‘O Ierusalem’, as part of a concert for Georgia Ioakimidis-MacDougall‘s Fellowship through the Australian National Academy of Music. The performance will take place at St Ali in South Melbourne. For tickets and more information visit the ANAM website. Hope to see you there!

Getting ready for Dido and Aeneas
Getting ready for Dido and Aeneas

After a a bit of a hiatus, I’m back and singing again! This coming January I’ll be performing 1st witch in a production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas for the 2014 Peninsula Summer Music Festival. It’s set to be a fantastic show, and I can’t wait to sing alongside mezzo soprano Fiona Campbell; a star of the Australian opera and early music scene. Details and booking information here.

Photography by William Knight
Photography by William Knight

The first two performances of Na’ama Zisser’s opera Black Sand at the Tête à Tête Opera Festival were a fantastic success! Read reviews here, here, and here, and browse through more photos on the Gallery page. The last performance will take place at the Arcola Theatre for  the Grimeborn festival on Saturday 22 August. Don’t miss out! Book tickets here.

Watch the full opera below…

The last couple of weeks at RCM have been busy and exciting! Today I had the opportunity to workshop a new opera by RCM alumnus Louis Mander, The Life to Come, based on a short story by E M Forster, with the inimitable Stephen Fry (more details here); and I said au revoir to Paris on Saturday with the final two performances of Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne (photos here, and a couple of excellent reviews here and here).

What’s next? A couple of weeks of much needed rest, and then diving straight back into rehearsals for a new opera to be performed in August! Details to come…