With the exception of names like our grand Dames of opera, Nellie Melba and Joan Sutherland, Australia’s track-record of nurturing talent here at home hasn’t always been stellar.
Conductor Simone Young, arguably one of Australia’s most successful exports since Sutherland, ventured overseas to build her career after facing challenges in the Australian landscape. For the last 30 years, Young honed her skills in Europe’s major opera houses and orchestras.Â
In 2022, Young became Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, giving Australian audiences a consistent chance to see her in action.Â
Young isn’t the only Australian hitting goals both here at home and around the globe.
More Aussies on the world stage
It’s been a great year for Australian musicians on the world stage.Â
This month Daniel Carter starts his post as Music Director of the German National Theatre and State Orchestra in Weimar, Germany, a position previously held by J.S Bach, Franz Liszt and Richard Strauss. And Ingrid Martin was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Simone Young live with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
There are hundreds more Aussies doing great things around the world. Enough to form an entire orchestra, the Australian World Orchestra. Their members are drawn from far-flung places including Berlin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, London and more.Â
Luckily for us, many of these musicians regularly perform in Australia. The Australian World orchestra is coming together this week for performances in Sydney and Melbourne. Â
“It’s such an exciting time for Australian classical music with artists like Siobhan Stagg and Simone Young shining on the world stage and bringing that brilliance home,” says Alice Keath, presenter of ABC Classic’s What’s On, a guide to Australia’s best classical concerts and live performances.
Opera singer Siobhan Stagg is another Australian who chose to hone her craft on European stages for over a decade. She recently made her debut with Opera Australia to much acclaim.
Siobhan Stagg living the dream of being an opera singer
Mildura-born soprano Siobhan Stagg built her operatic career in Europe’s opera houses, but visits Australia regularly. (Supplied: Jakob Tillmann)
Many people dream of singing in an opera, but few manage to realise it.Â
Becoming an opera singer requires superb vocal technique and an affinity for acting. It also involves constant hard work, rigorous training and finding someone willing to give you a chance to prove yourself.
Stagg made her dream a reality.
Originally from the regional Victorian town of Mildura, Stagg proves that you don’t have to be Taylor Swift or own a private jet to make the world your stage.
“She’s already notched up performances at many of the major [opera] houses in Germany, France, Holland, Chicago and Ireland,” says ABC Classic Legends presenter Mairi Nicolson. Not to mention major festivals in Edinburgh, Adelaide, Aix en Provence and the BBC Proms.
Stagg has made a home and a name in Berlin, where she has been living since 2013. But she regularly visits Australia.
Recently finishing her debut run with Opera Australia as Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Stagg is making a brief visit to Berlin before flying back for another extended stay in Australia.
Stagg has appeared on numerous international stages and at many major festivals. (Siobhan Stagg: Samantha Meuleman)
With new operas and symphony concerts written especially for her, Stagg is expanding her repertoire.
Earlier this year she starred in a brand new opera, The Dark Side of the Moon, by Berlin-based composer Unsuk Chin. Stagg played the lover of a 1930s fictional quantum physicist with a slowly fragmenting mind.
“They share a special connection, but their love story is never quite realised,” Stagg says.
After a concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in September and making a debut with State Opera of South Australia as Juliette in October, Stagg will perform a brand-new symphonic concert piece written especially for her.Â
Simone Young at the height of her power
If you don’t know Young from the concert stage, you might recognise her from Knowing The Score, a documentary charting her meteoric rise to become one of the world’s top conductors.
With more than 40 years of conducting under her belt, Young is at the height of her power. She’s regularly on the podium in Europe’s leading opera houses and concert stages in New York, New Zealand and Sydney.
Every year, this small German town stages the most extravagant operas
Young made history last year as the first Australian and first woman to conduct Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Bayreuth, a series of four operas totalling 15 hours. It takes hundreds of players and a cast of singers to bring to life.
The festival was started by Wagner himself in 1876, in a theatre he built to stage his grand vision for the operas. Young has just returned from Bayreuth where she conducted the Ring Cycle for the second year running.
Back in Sydney, Young will perform the music of Richard Strauss, a contemporary of Wagner whose symphony has become an iconic part of screen music, particularly Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
If that name doesn’t ring a bell, the opening strains certainly will. The dominant trumpet call featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey made this household music. It’s also been referenced in popular culture from The Simpsons to the recent Barbie movie.
“Strauss’ lush harmonies, intense emotionality, walking the tightrope between despair and ecstasy — these are all powerful elements in a symphony concert,” Young says.
As the recent Hottest 100 of Australian songs showed, music lovers take fierce pride in celebrating the achievements of home-grown talent who can only thrive with our support. It’s the same for classical music.
Keath says: “The best way audiences can support musicians is by showing up.”
“Go to their concerts, tune in on ABC Classic and help create a strong, engaged community that celebrates and sustains this incredible talent.”Get the latest classical music stories direct to your inbox