{"id":718542,"date":"2026-06-06T07:30:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T07:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/718542\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T07:30:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T07:30:24","slug":"perth-soprano-emily-davis-one-of-three-west-aussies-advancing-to-national-classical-singing-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/718542\/","title":{"rendered":"Perth soprano Emily Davis one of three West Aussies advancing to national classical singing semi-finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

A young Perth classical singer is one of just 10 young performers from across the country selected for the semi-finals of a leading national classical singing competition.<\/p>\n

Emily Davis will travel to Sydney in August after progressing through the 2026 IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition heats held around Australia.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old soprano was one of three WA singers to be selected for the national semi-finals, alongside bass baritone Samuel Claxton and tenor Ciaran McChord.<\/p>\n

Although now an accomplished classical singer, Ms Davis said her musical journey began at West Leederville Primary School, where she learned cello before her father suggested singing might be a better fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cDad said, \u2018I don\u2019t think you should do cello because you\u2019re not that great at it,\u2019\u201d she said, laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I decided to go for a solo in our school choir and ended up getting it. That was really my first experience singing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MsCamera IconMs Davies (right) playing cello at West Leederville Primary School in 2013. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n

She later joined the gifted and talented music program at Churchlands Senior High School, where weekly individual lessons gave her the chance to explore a range of music styles before she eventually settled on classical singing.<\/p>\n

Ms Davis went on to complete a bachelor\u2019s degree in classical voice at WAAPA and is currently studying honours at the University of WA.<\/p>\n

She said entering the Australian Singing Competition was considered a major milestone for young classical singers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably the most sought-after competition for young classical singers in Australia,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Applications opened earlier this year before singers competed in State heats, which were judged by national and local adjudicators.<\/p>\n

Despite feeling confident in her performance, Davis said nerves almost got the better of her during the Perth heat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not usually a nervous performer, but for some reason I slept really badly the night before . . . I think I only slept for about an hour,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was a pleasant surprise when I found out I was in the semi-finals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ACamera IconA short-lived career in cello blossomed into a passion for singing. Credit: Stuart Quinn\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

The semi-finals will be held in North Sydney in August, when competitors will perform repertoire from several required classical categories before the judges determine who progresses to the final round.<\/p>\n

While opera remains a major focus of classical music in Perth, Davis said she ultimately hopes the competition could create opportunities to pursue art song \u2014 a style of classical singing centred around poetry and intimate performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more focused on poetry and is a lot more intimate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have opera performances here, but art song is probably a genre that needs a little bit more encouragement.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, however, her focus remains on preparing for Sydney.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I\u2019m most excited about is meeting new people in Sydney and getting to know the other singers from across Australia,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being able to make some new friends and have some new experiences is something I\u2019m really looking forward too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A young Perth classical singer is one of just 10 young performers from across the country selected for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,505,21101,134,136,46,45,506],"class_list":["post-718542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-central","tag-competitions","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-perth","tag-wa-news","tag-western-suburbs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}