Lorina Gore

Soprano, NSW

Lorina Gore, winner of the 2010 Opera Awards, which included the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship, completed postgraduate voice studies at the Australian National University in Canberra. She has won several prestigious awards, including the Robert and Betty Salzer Prize (Opera Foundation Australia 2004), the Lady Gallegan Scholarship for Voice, the Frank and Viola Tait Scholarship, the Phoebe Patrick Award, the Australian National Operatic Aria (2001), and the Opera Foundation's Convent Garden Scholarship (2003/04), and has twice been awarded second place in the Herald Sun Aria (2002 and 2004).

Lorina's operatic roles include Susannah (Le Nozze di Figaro), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Queen of the Night, Pamina and Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Giulia (La Scala di Seta), Fiakermilli (Arabella) for Garsington Opera, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor for Iford Arts, Norina (Don Pasquale) for New Zealand Opera, and Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Sandrina (L’infedeltà delusa) and Agilea (Teseo) for English Touring Opera.

Lorina has appeared in concert with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Welsh Chorale, London Mozart Players, London Salon Ensemble, Opera North and Welsh National Opera, and has been a full time principal artist with Opera Australia since 2008, performing as Fiakermilli (Arabella), Oscar (Un Ballo in Maschera), Shining One/Madam Wanton/Voice of a Bird (Pilgrims Progress), Queen of the Night (Magic Flute), Yum-Yum (Mikado), 1st Niece (Peter Grimes), Marzelline (Fidelio), and Honey B (Bliss).

Emma Pearson

Soprano, WA

Perth-born soprano Emma Pearson, winner of the 2009 Opera Awards, which included the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship, graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance in 2001, and with Honours from the Australian Opera Studio in 2003. She was one of four Australians accepted by the University of Cincinnati for the Opera Theatre and Music Festival in Lucca, Italy.

In 2004, Emma won the Australian Singing Competition’s Marianne Mathy Scholarship (The Mathy) as well as the German-Australia Opera Grant, which led to a 12-month contract at the Hessisches Staatstheater, Wiesbaden. As a principle artist there she has performed more than 25 roles including The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Adele in Die Fledermaus and Nanetta in Falstaff.

Emma has performed with the English Chamber Orchestra in London, conducted by Robin Stapleton, in Tokyo with the Royal Philharmonic, under the baton of Roderick Brydon, and with the Southern and New Zealand Operas. In 2009, Emma made her Opera Australia debut as The Queen of the Night at the Sydney Opera House, and has since performed Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and the title role in Rodion Shchedrin’s Lolita for the International Maifestspiele.

Shane Lowrencev

Bass, NSW

Melbourne-born bass Shane Lowrencev, winner of the 2008 Opera Awards, which included the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship, is a principal artist with Opera Australia. Shane was educated at the Melba Memorial Conservatorium, graduating with a Bachelor of Music in 2000, and subsequently studied at the Australian National Academy of Music and at the Guidhall School of Music and Drama, London.

Shane’s roles with Opera Australia have included The King in Aida, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Baron Douphol in La Traviata, Cascada in The Merry Widow, Nourabad in The Pearlfishers and the title roles in The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. He has also performed Colline in La bohème for West Australian Opera.

Shane has enjoyed a distinguished career on the concert platform, having performed bass solos in Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus, Messiah and La Resurrezione; Mendelssohn’s Elijah; Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor; Bach’s B Minor Mass and St John Passion, and Haydn’s Creation.

James Homann

Baritone, NSW

Baritone James Homann, winner of the 2007 Opera Awards, studied violin from the age of eight, before deciding to pursue singing after joining the school choir. He completed a Bachelor of Music at the Australian Institute of Music in 2003, majoring in Classical Voice Performance under the tutelage of Ms Petah Burns, and was awarded a scholarship to complete his Masters.

In 2006, James won the Guildhall Scholarship, the Alliance Francaise Award and the McDonald’s Operatic Aria, which enabled him to study at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice in the UK.

In 2009, James took up a two-year contract with the International Opera Studio at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, during which time he was a regular guest in Staatsoper productions, with his roles including The Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly, Zaretsky in Eugen Onegin, Sciarrone in Tosca and Moralès in Carmen.

Amy Wilkinson

Soprano, QLD

Soprano Amy Wilkinson, winner of the 2006 Opera Awards, which included the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship, began her vocal training in her teens. As a Young Artist with Opera Queensland in 2003, Amy appeared as soloist in concerts such as Opera in the Rainforest and with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Michael Christie.

In 2004, Amy made her debut as Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and graduated that same year with a Bachelor of Music degree, also studying for three months at the Metropolitan Opera in New York after winning the Metropolitan Opera Auditions Award at the Sydney Opera House.

In 2007, Amy performed with Opera Queensland, Opera Australia, played Micaela in OzOpera’s national tour of Carmen, and performed in Handel’s Messiah for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

In 2008, Amy became a Young Artist with Opera Australia and has since performed roles including the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Frasquita in Carmen and the High Priestess in Aida. In 2011, Amy made her debut for New Zealand Opera, singing Atalanta in Xerxes.

Tamsyn Stock-Stafford

Soprano, WA

UK-born Tamsyn Stock-Stafford moved to Australia when she was nine. In 1996 she joined the West Australian Opera chorus, performing in operas including Hansel and Gretel and Madama Butterfly, and in 1997 she graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music.

Tamsyn has performed a number of roles for West Australian Opera and the soprano solos in Beethoven’s Mass in C, Mozart’s Mass in C Major and Mass in C Minor, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah. She has also performed the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss with orchestra, and recorded recitals for ABC Classic FM.

In 2003, Tamsyn won the Ralph Thompson Memorial Scholarship and was selected for the West Australian Opera Company’s Young Artist Program in 2004. That year Tamsyn performed soprano solos in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. In 2005, the year she won the Opera Award’s Armstrong-Martin Scholarship, Tamsyn played Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute for the West Australian Opera Company at the Perth Festival, and in 2006, she performed the role of Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco.

Tamsyn released her debut CD recording Cugine with fellow Perth opera singer Penny Shaw in 2008, and continues to perform on a regular basis.

Jose Carbo

Baritone, Argentina

Baritone Jose Carbo, winner of the 2004 Opera Awards, which included the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship, moved to Australia from Argentina at a young age and made his debut with Opera Australia in Ariadne auf Naxos in 2002.

Jose’s Opera Australia repertoire is extensive, and includes Marcello in La bohème, Lescaut in Manon, the title role in Don Giovanni and the title role in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. Jose made his European debut with this role in Madrid at the Opera Real, and has also performed with the Rome Opera, in La Coruna Mozart Festival in Spain, and with Opera Queensland.

Jose’s concert repertoire includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mass in C and Choral Symphony, and Rachmaninoff’s The Bells. He has performed with orchestras, including the Sydney Symphony, the Sydney Youth Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony and the Japan Philharmonic, and has also toured Japan as a soloist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and guitarist Slava Grigoryan.

In 2011, José made his American debut in the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Seattle Opera.

Hyesoung Kwon

Soprano, QLD

After graduating from Seoul’s Han-Yang University with a Bachelor of Vocal Music in 1995, Hyeseoung Kwan, winner of the 2002 Opera Awards, moved to Italy to pursue vocal and opera performance studies at the Conservatorium of Milan and the Vercelli Academy. She performed in concert in Milan and throughout Italy in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle, Poulenc’s Gloria, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater.

In 2002 she moved to Australia to join Opera Queensland’s Young Artist Program and, in the same year, won the prestigious Opera Award, which included the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship, the Foster Award, and the 4MBS Young Performers Award. In July 2003, Hyeseoung performed the role of Zerlina in Opera Queensland’s production of Don Giovanni to enthusiastic critical acclaim, and returned in 2008 to sing Liú in Turandot.

Hyeseoung has performed many of the major lyric roles with Opera Australia including Falstaff, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, The Pearl Fishers, Carmen and Cosi Fan Tutte. She has been a soloist for Opera in the Vineyards in Stanthorpe, Queensland, performed as Mimi in OzOpera’s tour of La Boheme, as well as numerous concerts and recitals in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne, and was nominated for Helpmann & Greenroom’s Awards in 2008 and 2009.

Some of Hyesong’s most recent roles are Carmen, Mimi in La Boheme in Sydney and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.

Nicole Youl

Soprano, VIC

Nicole Youl, winner of the 2001 Opera Awards, is one of Australia’s leading sopranos. Having studied singing with Dame Joan Hammond at the Victorian College of the Arts, she won the Herald-Sun Aria in 1991, then travelled to London for further study. She was a finalist in the 1994 Placido Domingo World Operalia competition in Mexico City and won both the Metropolitan Opera Awards in 1995 and the Rome Opera Award in 1996.

Since winning the Opera Awards in 2001, Nicole has performed regularly with Opera Australia, Opera Queensland, West Australian Opera and the Victorian State Opera, particularly in the works of Verdi and Puccini. She has performed the title roles in Madama Butterfly and Tosca, Mimi in La Bohème, Leonora in Il Trovatore, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi and Liù in Turandot. Other roles include Elsa in Lohengrin, Micaela in Carmen and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni.

On the concert platform, Nicole has performed as soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Verdi’s Requiem, Rachmaninov’s The Bells, Bruckner’s Te Deum and Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the major Australian orchestras. Festival appearances include the Queensland Biennial of Music and the Coriole Festival.

Han Lim

Baritone, NSW

Korean-born Han Lim commenced his studies at Myoung Ji University in Seoul. In 1995, he continued his vocal training at the Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney where he was awarded the Marsh Scholarship for male voice. During his time at the Conservatorium, he performed in Madama Butterfly, Ravel’s L’Enfant et Les Sortileges and the title role in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse.

Between 1998 and 2000, Han was a full time member of the chorus of Opera Australia and he performed and understudied several principal roles.

In 2000 he was offered a scholarship to study at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, founded in 1991 by Leonard Bernstein. In the same year he won the Australian Singing Competition’s Opera Awards, including the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship and the Foster Award. He was also featured as an emerging artist in the Gala Concert for the Pacific Rim Forum held in Sydney.

Han has since performed regularly with Opera Australia and Opera Queensland and played the role of Marcello in La Bohème for the touring OzOpera production. He has appeared as a principal artist in Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly and Carmen and completed an extensive tour of Korea as Old Deuteronomy in CATS.

Adrian McEniery

Tenor, QLD

Tenor Adrian McEniery graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium in 1991 and received awards such as the 1994 Dame Mabel Brooks Award and 1995 Britten-Pears School Scholarship & Lotus Development Award. In 1999 he won the Opera Awards which included the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship and the Foster Award. In 2002 he received a Green Room award nomination for his role as Dr S in The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.

Since then he has performed extensively with Opera Australia, in roles including Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, First Armed Man in The Magic Flute, and Spoletta in Tosca. He has also performed at the Brisbane Biennial, with the New Zealand Opera, WA Opera, Opera Queensland and Operalive in operas including Madama Butterfly, Falstaff and The Merry Widow. His concert career has taken him to St Martin in the Fields and St James’ Piccadilly and he has performed with the Queensland, Sydney and Australian Symphony Orchestras.

Most recently Adrian has performed in WA Opera’s The Tales of Hoffman.

Jamie Allen

Tenor, NSW

Australian tenor Jamie Allen grew up in the Hunter Valley, NSW, and began his musical life as a flute player. Jamie was educated at the State Conservatorium of Music (now Sydney Conservatorium).

He successfully auditioned for a part in Opera Australia's Meistersinger in 1994, after which he started formal vocal training with David Harper. This lead to a succession of roles with Opera Australia including Benedict in Beatrice and Benedict, Malcolm in Macbeth and Rodolfo in La Boheme.

In 1998 Jamie was the major winner in the Australian Singing Competition's Opera Awards, being awarded the Handa Opera Scholarship, the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship, the Foster Memorial Scholarship and the Queensland Performing Arts Trust Prize. In 1999 he was awarded the Remy Martin Scholarship, voted as the outstanding young talent at Opera Australia.

Jamie has extensive experience on the concert platform including Bruckner’s F Minor Mass and Te Deum, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 and Haydn’s Creation. He has performed tenor solos in works including Handel’s Messiah for the Christchurch City Choir, New Zealand, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Jonathan Mills’ Sandakan Threnody for the Sydney Symphony and Tippett’s A Child of our Time for Sydney Philharmonia.

In the past few years he has performed leading roles with Opera Australia in operas such as La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, The Marriage of Figaro and La Traviata.

Donna-Maree Dunlop

Mezzo soprano, ACT

Donna-Maree Dunlop completed her Diploma of Music (Vocal Performance) at ANU in 1992 and a Graduate Diploma of Music (Opera Performance) at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 1993. In 1996 she performed the title role in Madama Butterfly with the Victorian State Opera, and appeared in Aida and Die Frau ohne Schatten for the 1996 Melbourne International Festival of the Arts conducted by Simone Young and the following year won the Australian Singing Competition’s Armstrong-Martin and Nelly Apt Scholarships.

In 1998, Donna-Maree traveled to London to further her studies, where she performed the title role in Tosca to critical acclaim for European Chamber Opera. Donna-Maree’s repertoire includes principal roles in Carmen, Salome and Lulu for Opera Australia, Senta in the State Opera of South Australia’s production of The Flying Dutchman, touring Asia as a cast member of The Phantom of the Opera.

Amelia Farrugia

Soprano, NSW

Soprano Amelia Farrugia was the recipient of the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship in 1996, a year in which she was also named NSW Young Achiever of the Year. A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Amelia had already won the Marianne Mathy Scholarship in 1993, and the Metropolitan Opera Auditions Award in New York in 1995. She has since forged a successful singing career.

Amelia made her debut with the Australian Opera (now Opera Australia) as Casilda in The Gondoliers in 1994. Subsequent roles with Opera Australia have included Nannetta in Falstaff, Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte and Musetta in La bohème. She has also performed with State Opera of South Australia and Opera Queensland. She made her UK opera debut for Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2004 and performed the role of Adele in Die Fledermaus for Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 2006.

Amelia has appeared with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edo de Waart, all of the ABC Symphony Orchestras, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra, and Australian Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2011, Amelia made her debut as Violetta in La Traviata for Opera Queensland and the Brisbane Arts Festival and in 2012 joins the roster of The Metropolitan Opera in New York, covering the title role of Massenet’s Manon.

Ingrid Silveus

Soprano,  

INCOMPLETE

Soprano Ingrid Silveus won the Armstrong- Martin Scholasrhip in 1995. The following year she played Suzuki in Opera Australia’s production of Madama Butterfly, which was released on DVD in 2008. In 1998, she was awarded Opera Foundation Australia’s Italian Opera Scholarship. She has performed with the Schirmer Ensemble on the Naxos release, Stravinsky: chamber music, released in 1998.

Fiona Campbell

Mezzo soprano, WA

Mezzo soprano Fiona Campbell is an accomplished international performer, recitalist and recording artist.

A graduate of the West Australian Academy for Performing Arts (WAAPA), Fiona won the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship in 1994, also winning the ABC Young Performer of the Year Award in the same year. The following year she travelled to the UK to further her career, returning to Perth in 2001.

Fiona sings regularly as a principal artist with the major ensembles and orchestras in Australia and overseas including the Prague Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, Australian Chamber Orchestra and Pinchgut Opera. Her operatic roles have included Olga in Eugene Onegin, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, and Siebel in Faust. In 2009, she was nominated for a Helpmann Award for her portrayal of Cherubino in the WAO production of The Marriage of Figaro.

Career highlights include concerts with the legendary tenor José Carreras in Japan, Korea and as his special guest artist in Australia. She has also toured with Barbara Bonney.

In 2011, Fiona became the first mezzo soprano to headline with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra in 21 years, and her solo album ‘Love, Loss, Lust’ was released.

Douglas McNicol

Baritone, SA

Baritone Douglas McNicol born in England, was educated in South Australia and has also undertaken extensive vocal study in Europe. He began his professional singing career with the State Opera of South Australia, debuted with the Australian Opera, now Opera Australia, in 1991 and two years later won the Australian Singing Competition’s Armstrong-Martin Scholarship. He was also a recipient of a Churchill Fellowship in 1996.

Douglas has worked for all the major opera companies and orchestras in Australia and New Zealand and is considered to be one of Australia’s most versatile and experienced baritones. Career highlights include the world premiere seasons of Richard Mills’ opera, The Love of the Nightingale at the Perth International Arts Festival and the West Australian Opera in Perth, with seasons following in Brisbane and Melbourne. Recent engagements include his role debut as Jack Rance in La Fanciulla del West with Opera Queensland.

He has performed many of the best-known operatic roles to high acclaim, including include Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Marcello in La Bohème and Papageno in The Magic Flute. His performance as Sharpless for Opera Australia is available on DVD.

Douglas is currently a principal artist with Opera Australia.

Elisa Wilson

Soprano, WA

Soprano Elisa Wilson, a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), was invited to join the West Australian Opera (WAO) as a cadet soprano shortly after completing her studies. She made her debut as Despina in Così fan Tutte and went on to perform the title role in The Merry Widow, Marguerite in Faust, Micaela in Carmen and Pamina in The Magic Flute among many others. Also with the WAO, she performed in the world premieres of The Eureka Stockade and Heloise and Abelard.

Elisa was awarded the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship in 1992 and in 1994, she made her debut with Opera Australia as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed at the 1994 Edinburgh Festival. She has since performed a number of other roles for Opera Australia, including Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at the Sydney Opera House.

Elisa is a regular soloist with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared with many other major Australian orchestras. In 2008 and 2009, Elisa returned to Opera Australia as a principal soprano covering Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire and Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, a role she also played for OzOpera in a series of performances around Australia. Elisa continues to perform regularly with WAO.

Akiko Nakajima

Soprano, Japan

For soprano Akiko Nakajima, winning The Australian Singing Competition’s Armstrong-Martin Scholarship in 1990 marked the start of a successful international singing career. She made her debut for Opera Australia in La Clemenza di Tito shortly afterwards. Her European debut was at the Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli as Musetta in La Boheme.

Akiko made her Austrian debut in the title role of Handel's Alcina for Innsbruck's Festwochen der Alten Musik and later appearances in the title roles of La Sonnambula and La Fille du Regiment led to her nomination as the Best Singer of the Year by Opernwelt Magazine in 1998. She made her debut at the Vienna Volksoper in 1999 as Sonja in Der Zarewitsch and in 2007 at the Hamburg State Opera as Donna Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia.

She has performed in music festivals, concert and recitals throughout Europe, the UK and the USA, and frequently appears with NHK Orchestra and New National Theater Tokyo in Japan. She has appeared with many well-known conductors including Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Kazushi Ono and Thomas Hengelbrock.

Her debut solo CD ‘La Pastorella’ was nominated for the Deutschen Schallplattenkritik list and she has since made a number of recordings. A live DVD recording of Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with Seiji Ozawa was released in 2009. Akiko released a much awaited operetta recording ‘Wien, Stadt meiner Träume’ on Viennese label Gramola in 2011.

Lucas de Jong

Baritone, VIC

Melbourne-born Lucas made his professional debut in 1974, playing the shepherd boy in Tosca with the Australian Opera. He was only 12 years old.

He trained under Bettine McCaughan in 1983 while studying for a Diploma of Music at the Melba Conservatorium, Melbourne. In 1984, he was accepted into the Victoria State Opera, performing in most of their operas between 1984 and 1991.

In 1989 Lucas began a three-year course at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) studying at the Opera Studio. That same year he won the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship and the inaugural Phillip & Myrtle Foster Memorial Award. Two years later, Lucas was a finalist in the Covent Garden Scholarship and placed second in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

In 1992, Lucas moved to London and over the next decade performed major roles in operas such as La Bohème, Cosi fan tutte, Carmen and Don Giovanni with companies including Court Opera, Opera Atelier and London City Opera, performing throughout the UK, Europe and Canada. He also understudied a number of roles for the English National Opera.

Since 2000, he has performed major roles in The Pearl Fishers and Madame Butterfly with Opera Australia, played Valentin in Faust for West Australian Opera, and has toured with the Melbourne Opera as Marcello in La Bohème and Germont in La Traviata. He has released a number of albums, has been the Musical Director for the Melbourne Welsh Male Choir since 2007, and teaches singing at Monash University, Victoria.

Stephen Ibbotson

Tenor, WA

INCOMPLETE

Tenor Stephen Ibbotson was a singer with the West Australian Youth Orchestra in 1978 and won the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship in 1988. The following year he won the Opera Foundation’s Lady Galleghan Memorial Encouragement Award. In 1991 he played Duke in Rigoletto opposite Claire Gormley, who had won the Marianne Mathy Scholarship in 1988. Stephen relocated to Europe and in 1996 he featured on a live recording in German of Shostakovich’s The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. In 2003 he performed an aria from Bajazzo at a recital titled ‘A night in Italy’ at the Cologne Academy in Germany.

Helen Adams

Soprano, VIC

Soprano Helen Gasztowt-Adams was born in Geelong and completed her undergraduate studies at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne prior to making her debut as Parmina in The Magic Flute with the State Opera of South Australia in 1983. She debuted with Opera Australia as Nanetta in Falstaff in 1986 and the following year was awarded the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship as part of the Australian Singing Competition.

Helen moved to the UK to further her career, studying with Audrey Langford and Janice Chapman at the National Opera Studio, London, in 1989. In the same year she made her London debut in Anna Bolena at National Opera Studio Showcase, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and was a finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. She debuted with the English National Opera as Donna Elvira in 1991.

Helen has since performed all over Europe in operas and concert recitals, including those for radio and television. Her recital repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Mozart’s Requiem. In Australia she has performed with Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Francesco Fabris

Baritone, VIC

Baritone Francesco Fabris, the inaugural winner of the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship in 1986, began his professional singing career in 1981 with the Victoria State Opera. He has gone on to forge a successful singing career within Australia, performing with major opera companies including Opera Australia, Oz Opera, Opera Queensland and the Melbourne City Opera, as well as the Victoria State Opera.

His principal operatic roles have included Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Schaunard and Marcello in La Boheme, Ein Perkenmaker in Ariadne auf Naxos, Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin and I1 Commissaro in Madame Butterfly and Papageno in The Magic Flute.

He has performed with the Australian Pops Orchestra, the Victorian Arts Centre Trust, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and at festivals such as the Melbourne Music Festival, Melbourne Spoleto Festival and Mozart by Moonlight.

In addition to the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship, Francesco's vocal awards include a Winston Churchill Fellowship and the Armstead Scholarship. He has studied with eminent voice coaches in Italy, the USA and UK. He currently teaches singing in Melbourne.