Stacey Alleaume – Soprano (Victoria)

Stacey's passion for music began as a chorister in the National Children's Choir of Australia (1994-2001). In 2008 Stacey completed her Bachelor of Music at The University of Melbourne.

In 2009 Stacey won The Australian Youth Aria Award and also is the recipient of The Elms Vocal Recital Scholarship (2008, 2009).  Stacey was also a semi-finalist in the 2008 Herald Sun Aria Awards and the 2009 Australian Singing Competition's Marianne Mathy Award. Her most recent achievement is placing 3rd in the 2010 Royal Melbourne Philharmonic ARIA competition. 

Stacey's operatic roles include Gossip, Noye's Fludde and Reindeer, Snow Queen (Victorian Youth Opera); Eurydice, Orpheus in the Underworld (Monash University); Pamina, The Magic Flute, Zerlina, Don Giovanni, Laetitia, The Old Maid and the Theif, Silly Goat, Figatroll, Gretel, Hansel and Gretel  (The Opera School Melbourne)

In 2009 Stacey was awarded a Buzz Grant from The Foundation for Young Australians. In 2010 she is the recipient of the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust Scholarship, and is looking forward to developing her stagecraft and refining her and vocal technique in her second year at The Opera School Melbourne.

Age 24

Repertoire
O luce di quest’anima, Donizetti
Vedrai carino, Mozart
Di piacer mi balza il cor, Rossini
V’adoro pupille, Handel
Stizzoso, mio stizzoso, Pergolesi

Catriona Bell - Lyric Coloratura Soprano (Victoria)

Born in Switzerland, Lyric Coloratura Soprano Catriona Bell is currently completing a Masters of Music performance at the Royal Northern College of Music Opera School in the U.K. Catriona has also completed a Master of Music and an Arts/Music degree at Melbourne University majoring in both history, philosophy and German.  She has received 1st class honours in voice during her studies and won various awards.

Catriona has had a busy summer in Europe performing with Europa Opera Classica in Der Freischutz in Germany. She also performed various roles in Suor Angelica as well as Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate and in many Italian gala evenings in San Clemente Basilica as part of the Tuscia Opera Festival which takes place in Rome and Viterbo.

Age 25

Repertoire
O luce di quest’anima, Donizetti
Tornami a vagheggiar, Handel
Presto amiche, a spasso!, Rossini
Dal tuo gentil sembiante, Mozart
Da tempeste, Handel

Angela Brun – Coloratura Soprano (NSW)

As a young girl, Angela dreamed of becoming an opera singer. Having completed an Advanced Diploma of Opera at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2008, Angela was immediately offered the title role in Rossini’s Cinderella for Opera Australia’s touring OzOpera Schools Company in 2009.  Since then, Angela has been a finalist in several major singing competitions. Most recently she was awarded 2nd place in the 2010 McDonald’s Open Aria.

In 2010 Angela will understudy Mabel for Opera Australia’s Pirates of Penzance and Tytania for Opera Australia’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Having been selected as the winner of the prestigious Opera Foundation Vienna State Opera Award, she will sing with the Vienna State Opera from January to May in 2011 before returning to Australia to understudy the title role in Opera Australia’s Lakmé.

Age 26

Repertoire
Agitata da due venti, Vivaldi
Mio caro bene, Handel
Regnava nel silenzio, Donizetti
Care compagne, Bellini
Caro nome, Verdi

Michelle Marie Cook – Spain

Italo-Australian soprano, Michelle-Marie Cook, studied at the VCA and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Formazione in Italy where she trained with notable teachers and coaches, and also in Barcelona, Spain.
Michelle-Marie performed Mimí, Giorgetta,and Anne Trulove, with MCO and Opera Australia (Ozopera). Her awards include two Acclaim Awards, which took her to Europe where she made her Italian debut at the Teatro Comunale di Firenze, Festival d’Estate, as Madama Cortese, and roles in the Puccini Festival. She recorded with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. She has recently performed Donna Elvira (Opera of Oviedo) and concerts there. She sung Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder with orchestra in the Palau de la Música.
Since 2007, Michelle-Marie has sung in the Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona. These roles include Prilepa, Pepa (Tiefland) and Die Scheppträgen/4th Maid of Elektra for the opera, Elektra, alongside Debra Polanski whom she studies with. She prepared the Wesendonck Lieder for her recital in Las Canarias in October which was a success.
Age

Repertoire
Pace, pace mio Dio. La Forza del Destino. Verdi
Tacea la notte placida. Il Trovatore. Verdi
Mi tradí (with recit) Don Giovanni. Mozart
Si, mi chiamano Mimí. La Bohème. Puccini
In quelle trine morbide. Manon Lescaut. Puccini

 

Kiandra Howarth – (Queensland)

Kiandra is a finalist in the Australian Singing Competition at just 20 years of age, and earlier this year placed second in the Dame Joan Sutherland Awards held in Noosa. Kiandra recently won first prize in the Southeast Queensland Aria and Concerto Competition last month and was a Quarter Finalist in the McDonalds Operatic Aria Competition in Sydney (2010 and 2006).

She was the youngest singer ever to attend the Ronald Dowd Summer School for Singers at just 17 years of age. In 2009, Kiandra made her professional debut creating the role of Josie in Opera Queensland’s production of Dirty Apple. This year Kiandra is a Developing Artist with Opera Queensland.

Age 20

Repertoire
Flammen perdonami, Mascagni
Per pieta, Mozart
O mio babbino caro, Puccini
Son pochi fiori, Mascagni
Padre, germani, Mozart

Victoria Lambourn – Mezzo Soprano (Victoria)

Victoria Lambourn was born and raised in Brisbane. She studied singing at the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester), where her performance as Angelina in La Cenerentola led to an invitation to the 2005 Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro. In 2007 Victoria was a Young Artist with Opera Queensland. The following year she made her main stage debut as Suzuki in OzOpera’s national tour of Madama Butterfly.

Her operatic performance highlights include Hansel (Hansel & Gretel) for the State Opera of South Australia, Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte) for Opera Australia, Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) for Melbourne Opera, and Flora (La Traviata) for OzOpera.

Age 29

Repertoire
Una voce poco fa, Rossini
Addio, o miei sospiro, Gluck
Verdi prati, Handel
E sgombro il loco… Ah! parea, Donizetti
Di tanti palpiti, Rossini

Christopher Richardson – Bass Baritone (Tasmania)

Thirty-year-old Tasmanian Bass-Baritone Christopher Richardson is fast gaining a reputation as one of Australia’s finest ‘up-and-comings’.  After playing to Associate Diploma level (AMEB) in both Pianoforte and Violoncello by the age of 16, Christopher then pursued Tertiary Performance studies in Pianoforte and later a degree in Classical Vocal Performance through the UTAS Conservatorium of Music.  Since graduating in 2002, he has gone on to frequent the stages of Tasmania and Australia in productions of operatic, oratorio, music theatre and concert repertoire.

Having received many awards over the years, Christopher most recently won the RMP (Royal Melbourne Philharmonic) Aria which took place in Melbourne’s Federation Square in July.  With a particular love of all things baroque, Christopher aspires to have a world-class reputation as a specialist in the works of Handel, Mozart and Bach.

Age 30

Repertoire
Sorge infausta, Handel
Vedro mentr’io sospiro, Mozart
Si, tra i ceppi e le ritorte, Handel
Non piu andrai, Mozart
Madamina!, Mozart

Amy Spruce – Soprano (Victoria)

Last year, Amy was one of the inaugural students of The Opera School Melbourne. In 2007, she completed a Bachelor of Music at the Melba Conservatorium. During her studies, she was awarded the Amelia Joscelyne Memorial Scholarship, a full conservatorium scholarship and a scholarship from Opera Australia for advanced vocal coaching.

She has received Australian Music Events Scholarships to perform in Opera in the Alps and Opera in the Market and was the holder of the Maroondah Singers Vocal Scholarship for 2008. She is currently studying singing with Raymond Connell.
Age 28

Repertoire
V’adoro pupille, Handel
Stizzoso, mio stizzoso, Pergolesi
Sposa son disprezzata, Vivaldi
Intorno all’idol mio, Cesti
Non disperar, Handel

Siobhan Stagg – Soprano (Victoria)

Siobhàn recently graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Music (Honours). Recent solo engagements have been with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus, La Compania: The Renaissance Band, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society and the Consort of Melbourne. Siobhàn spent July this year touring England and Germany with the Choir of Trinity College, the University of Melbourne. Siobhàn’s operatic roles include playing Mademoiselle Silversound in Mozart’s The Impresario (2009) and Martha in Rothschild’s Violin by Fleischmann/Shostakovich (2008).
Siobhàn is continuing to study privately on a scholarship from the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust.
Age 23

Repertoire
Tornami a vagheggiar, Handel
Piangero la sorte mia, Handel
Caro nome, Verdi
Deh vieni non tardar, Mozart
Eccomi in lieta vesta, Bellini

Adrian Tamburini – Bass (NSW)

Adrian’s operatic roles include: the Lawyer and the Doctor in Gianni Schicchi, Aeneas- Dido and Aeneas; Lillias Pastia- Carmen; Papageno and Sarastro- The Magic Flute; Figaro and Bartolo- Le Nozze di Figaro; Uberto- La Serva Padrona; Ceprano– Rigoletto; Leporello– Don Giovanni; Yakuside, Lo Zio Bonze and Il Commissario- Madama Butterfly; Dr. Grenvil- La Traviata; Colatinus- The Rape of Lucretia; Figaro, Fiorello and Ambrogio- Il Barbiere di Siviglia; Jervis- Nelson; Mr. Gobineau- The Medium; Dandini- La Cenerentola; Alfio- Cavelleria Rusticana; Taddeo- L’Italiana in Algeri; Falstaff- The Merry Wives of Windsor and roles in Prokofiev’s The Love of Three Oranges.

His oratorio repertoire includes Orff’s Carmina Burana; Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation and Seasons, Mozart’s, Faure’s and Verdi’s Requiems, Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ, Bach’s St. John’s Passion, Easter Oratorio, Magnificat and Ich Habe Genug.

Age 34

Repertoire
Tra caligini profonde, Handel
Pur ritorno a rimirarvi, Handel
Madamina!, Mozart
Come dal ciel precipita, Verdi
Ecco il mondo, Botto