Wikipedia

Sydney Chamber Opera

Sydney Chamber Opera is an opera company based in Sydney, Australia. It is a resident company at Carriageworks.[1] The company was founded in 2010 by Louis Garrick and Jack Symonds.[2] Its first production was in February 2011 and it has since produced between two and four 20th- and 21st-century chamber operas each year. Its repertoire typically consists of world premieres of Australian operas and recent international works receiving their Australian premieres, including stagings of song cycles or non-traditional stage works.[3]

Sydney Chamber Opera
OriginSydney, Australia
GenresContemporary opera, chamber opera
Years active2011–present
Websitesydneychamberopera.com

History and repertoire

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Sydney Chamber Opera began with the world premiere of Notes from Underground by Jack Symonds and Pierce Wilcox, an adaptation of Dostoevsky's novel at the Cellblock Theatre, Darlinghurst.[4] The Cunning Little Vixen, The Lighthouse, Owen Wingrave, Exil, His Music Burns, Mayakovsky, Fly Away Peter, An Index of Metals and O Mensch! were presented at Carriageworks and I Have Had Enough, In the Penal Colony and Climbing Toward Midnight at National Institute of Dramatic Art.[5] Through The Gates was a performance for the 18th Biennale of Sydney at Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay amidst a large-scale installation by Belgian artist Honoré δ'O [fr][6] and Victory Over the Sun was another site-specific commission by the 20th Biennale of Sydney for performance on Cockatoo Island, reimagining an early-twentieth century Futurist work with Western Sydney artist Justene Williams.[7] His Music Burns,[8] Passion[9] and O Mensch! by Pascal Dusapin,[10] and Biographica[11] were presented in the 2014, 2016 and 2017 Sydney Festivals. Passion was a revival of a production by Pierre Audi. Fly Away Peter toured to Arts Centre Melbourne in association with Melbourne Festival in October 2015,[12] and in 2018 the previous year's production of The Rape of Lucretia was co-presented by Victorian Opera and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra at the Dark Mofo Festival.[13]

Past productions

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2011–2015

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WP= World premiere; AP= Australian premiere

2016–2020

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2021–

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  • Future Remains (Double bill The Diary of One Who Disappeared by Leoš Janáček / Fumeblind Oracle Huw Belling and Pierce Wilcox) – WP with Alexander Berlage, director (2021)[16]
  • Poem for a Dried Up River (Music: Jane Sheldon, text: Alice Oswald) – AP (2021)[5]
  • In Song (Four programs of songs) – some AP and WP (2021)[17]
  • Awakening Shadow (Music from Britten's Canticles combined with music by Luke Styles) – AP (2022)[5]
  • Antarctica (Opera by Mary Finsterer / Tom Wright) – AP (2022)[5]
  • Earth.Voice.Body (Triple bill The Shape of the Earth by Jack Symonds and Pierce Wilcox; La voix humaine by Poulenc; Quatre instants by Kaija Saariaho and Amin Maalouf) (2023)[5]
  • Gilgamesh (Music: Jack Symonds, text: Louis Garrick, based on Epic of Gilgamesh, directed by Kip Williams) – WP (2024)[18]

Key personnel

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Jack Symonds is the artistic director.[19]

Huw Belling is principal artistic associate. Danielle Maas, Mitchell Riley, Jane Sheldon, James Wannan and Pierce Wilcox are artistic associates.[3]

The company has typically engaged stage directors from a theatre background, often making their operatic debut, e.g. Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Kip Williams.[20] The company has also been noted for developing talented young singers.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Residents". Carriageworks. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  2. ^ Tim Douglas (2 August 2013). "The wide-eyed impresarios taking on a proud tradition". The Australian. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b "About". sydneychamberopera.com. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Auspicious launch of an impressive production". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Past Productions". sydneychamberopera.com. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Through the Gates". sydneychamberopera.com. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Sorry you missed the best thing at the Biennale". Time Out Sydney. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  8. ^ "Outstanding performances by Sydney Chamber Opera at Sydney Festival". Bachtrack. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Passion: Sydney Festival".
  10. ^ "O Mensch!: Sydney Festival".
  11. ^ McCallum, Peter (8 January 2017). "Biographica review: Mary Finsterer and Tom Wright's story of Gerolamo Cardano". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Fly Away Peter". Melbourne Festival. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  13. ^ "★★★★½ The Rape of Lucretia (VO & TSO for Dark Mofo)". Limelight. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  14. ^ Matthew Westwood (25 July 2014). "Portrait of the proletarians' poet, Vladimir Mayakovsky". The Australian. p. 14. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Finland's premier composer" by Andrew Ford, The Music Show, Radio National, 16 December 2018
  16. ^ "Future Remains production details" (2021), sydneychamberopera.com
  17. ^ "In Song" production details (2021)", sydneychamberopera.com
  18. ^ "Gilgamesh production details (2024)", sydneychamberopera.com
  19. ^ Ashleigh Wilson (21 October 2014). "Louis Garrick Steps down as Sydney Chamber Opera". The Australian. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  20. ^ Matthew Westwood (14 November 2015). "Kip Williams leaps from STC to Sydney Chamber Opera and back". The Australian. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Live review: The Lighthouse (Sydney Chamber Opera)". Limelight. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
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