Pacific Opera Receives Funding To Grow, and Awards Scholarships

Pacific Opera has been announced as a recipient of Create NSW $94,000 annual funding in 2020 for their core Young Artist Program.

Scholarships generously sponsored by Arts philanthropist Prue Kennard, have been adjudicated and won by:

Laura Scandizzo, dramatic soprano - $10,000 per year for three years ($30,000 total)

Susie Bishop, lyric soprano - $5,000 per year for three years ($15,000 total)

Gabrielle Penney, lyric soprano - $5,000 per year for three years ($15,000 total)

Tessa Hayward, lyric soprano - $1,000 per year for three years ($3,000 total)

Additionally, there will be $1,000 Prue Kennard cash grants made to Young Artists within Pacific Opera's 2020, 2021 and 2022 programs, specifically targeted to address skills deficits e.g. funding a term of language lessons.

In further news, the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust Travelling Scholarship with a total value of $25,000 has been awarded. Mezzo-soprano Rebecca Hart, who will be taking up studies at Guildhall in the UK in 2020, is the worthy recipient. Applicants who had spent at least two years in Pacific Opera's Young Artist Program were invited to apply for this overseas study grant.

The expert panels for these scholarships and grants included Cheryl Barker AO, Tanja Binggeli, Peter Coleman-Wright AO, Michael Curtain, Christine Douglas, Warwick Fyfe, Bradley Gilchrist, Prue Kennard, Moffatt Oxenbould AM, Helen Sherman and Robert Mitchell.

Pacific Opera has announced that Australian baritone, Peter Coleman-Wright AO, is the incoming Guest Artistic Director for 2020. Coleman-Wright has had an international career, spanning decades, and has much to offer the Young Artists in their development. Recently appointed the new Artistic Director of the rebranded National Opera in Canberra, Coleman-Wright is excited for the possibilities and opportunities that his roles will create.

Bradley Gilchrist has been appointed as Music Director of the program and will be principal accompanist and repetiteur, complementing Coleman-Wright's work. Gilchrist has a strong working relationship with young singers in Sydney.