SOME of Australasia’s most promising opera performers were in Ballarat at the weekend, fighting it out for their chance to share in almost $60,000 worth of prize money.
Sixteen semi-finalists were cut down to just six on Saturday night in the 87th annual Australasia-wide Herald Sun Aria competition.
Richard Dival, Anson Austin and Tiffany Speight made up the expert judging panel, who have all had illustrious operatic careers, both domestically and internationally.
Chair of the vocal committee with Royal South Street Society, Peter Zala described the music as being “very melodic” and “very tuneful”.
“It’s where the singer uses their voice as a musical instrument, so it’s very very demanding,” he said. “But it’s coming from composers like Verdi, Mozart, Bizet and Handel, so it’s some of the most beautiful music ever written.”
Mr Zala said the event was a credit to Ballarat and an important stepping stone for many young performers.
“It’s Australia’s richest vocal prize and it’s been the launching pad of many an international career. It is very very important,” he said.
“Some of the more recent winners are now performing in places like the New York Metropolitan Opera, Opera Australia, and London’s Covent Garden.”
An audience of more than 450 people packed into Her Majesty’s Theatre to enjoy the event, with the final to be held in the Melbourne Recital Centre on October 24 and accompanied by Orchestra Victoria.
The semi-final comes as part of the Royal South Street Society’s 120th year, which has seen at least five Ballarat performers win the Aria.
This years finalists are Olivia Cranwell, Hannah Dahlenburg, Clarissa Spata, Barbara Zavros, Kathryn Radcliffe and Stacey Alleaume.
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