Sterling Stage Stars MC Bios

Hallam Ingram (or Hal Raiser) is a 14 year old now living at Bobs Farm, typically identified by his distinctive hair -  wild fairy floss one day, followed by tight coils the next.   Hal is a super fast breaststroke swimmer with half an aim to make it to Tokyo in four years time.  He is the eldest of 3 brothers and is generally a very handy young man.  Hal was recently living away from home at boarding school in Cairns where he fell in love with Gelato and Sailing.  Hal relaxes by riding his motor bike, driving tractors, learning to surf and helping with Wildlife Rescue. He is a regular member of Birubi Surf Life Club and helps patrol the beach to keep swimmers safe. 

Buckley Ingram (known as The Boo) is the 12 year old brother to Hallam and Randal Ingram.  The Middle Child with lots of swagger, Boo is blessed with a tenor voice since birth and has a size 58cm head circumference.  Boo loves Maths, modern Music and is rather obsessed with Soccer.  He can cook the best Chocolate Caramel Slice known to humans and has a talent for finding chocolates no matter how well they are hidden by his Mum.  Buckley has lived in the Torres Strait for two years where he learnt to fish for BIG fish, made some very cool Islander friends and realised how amazing Mangoes trees can be.  Buckley begrudgingly took tap dancing lessons for two years and is this year part of his first theatrical performance Back to the 80’s.

MMI presents Opera Projects Sydney. 3 Concerts Only

7pm Friday April 8 - St Andrews Presbyterian Church, 12 Laman St, Newcastle

2pm Saturday April 9 - Singleton Uniting Church, Church St, Singleton

2pm Sunday April 10 - Chris Walkling Theatre, St Philips Christian College,182 Salamander Way, Salamander Bay

The beginnings of Sterling Stage Stars.......

In June 2015, an innovative ensemble of colleagues devised “La Petite Boheme” in the intimate setting of Sydney’s Independent Theatre. The sold-out season led to the creation of “Opera Projects, Sydney”. This exciting new venture is committed to stripping back the great operas to their most eloquent form by binging new audiences powerful and intimate experiences of opera without a melodramatic price tag. Subsequent productions have been “La Traviata” directed by Tama Matheson, “Madama Butterfly” directed by Cheryl Barker and recitals entitled “Cantique de Noel” and “Nachtmusik”. All have been unique and impressive offerings for this new company.

And now, appearing for Musical Matinees Inc. in Port Stephens and The Hunter.....

Opera Projects, Sydney presents its first tour “Sterling Stage Stars - Music of Love and Catastrophe".   A light-hearted look at the most tragic moments in opera.

Opera Australia performers Rebecca Moret, Damian Arnold, Soon Ki Park together with Melba Foundation Scholar Bronwyn Douglass and pianist Bradley Gilchrist have joined forces in a moving and thoroughly entertaining program of operatic works by Verdi, Puccini, Strauss, Massenet, Saint-Saens, Bizet and Menotti as well as arts songs and music theatre favourites.

Performers

Rebecca Moret, soprano

Bronwyn Douglass, Mezzo-soprano

Damian Arnold, tenor

Soon Ki Park, baritone

Bradley Gilchrist, piano

Rebecca Moret

Soprano

Melbourne-born soprano Rebecca Claire Moret is currently based in Sydney, where in 2016 she is working as a Young Artist with Pacific Opera, as well as appearing with the Opera Australia chorus and in upcoming performances with Opera Projects Sydney. Since graduating from the Sydney Conservatorium opera school, she spent 2014 performing with Opera Australia's NSW Schools Company in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. In 2015, she was winner of the Deborah Riedel Prize in the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation Bel Canto Award, and performance highlights included Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Sydney University Symphony Orchestra, and the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School, where she appeared in the roles of Mozart's Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Elettra (Idomeneo) with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

Bronwyn Douglass

Mezzo Soprano

Bronwyn Douglass is a Mezzo-Soprano originally from Milton, on the South Coast of New South Wales. She is currently the recipient of the Amelia Joscelyne Memorial Scholarship with the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust.

Bronwyn graduated with a Masters in Operatic Performance from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in 2014, also receiving an Award for Academic Excellence and the Wagner Society in Queensland Encouragement Award. She attended the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School from 2013-2015 as well as undertaking the Mediterranean Opera Studio Summer Program held in Caltigirone, Sicily.

Bronwyn has performed the roles of Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly for Opera Projects, Sydney (2016), Flora in Verdi’s La Traviata for Opera New England (2016); Nadezhda von Meck in Sean Ross’ new opera Angel of Music (2015), Miss Baggot in Benjamin Britten’s The Little Sweep for the Australian Festival of Chamber Music (2015); and Second Witch in Dido and Aeneas for the Brisbane Baroque Festival (2015).

She performed as the Alto Soloist with Queensland Symphony Orchestra in their production of their Messiah (2015); Mezzo-Soprano Soloist with Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Miracles and Magic in their Music on Sundays Series; and Alto Soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria for the 4MBS Festival of Classics (2014).

Bronwyn has been the recipient of many awards, grants and scholarships, most recently: Finalist in the Herald Sun Aria (2015): Winner of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria (2015): 1st Place in the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition (2015); and runner up in the Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Awards (2015).

Damian Arnold

Tenor

Damian has completed his Bachelor of Music at the Sydney

Conservatorium, where he was the recipient of the Linda

Kingsbury Jeffery Scholarship for Voice.

Damian was recently a Finalist in the 2015 IFAC Australian

Singing Competition, where he was awarded numerous

prizes, including the Nelly Apt Scholarship to attend the

Meitar Opera Studio in Tel Aviv and the ROSL Scholarship to

study and perform in London.

His performance experience includes Don Basilio in The

Marriage of Figaro, Mozart in Mozart and Salieri by Rimsky-

Korsakov, Hugo in Offenbach's Love By Lanternlight, The

Tenor Lover in Puccini's Il Tabarro and Edward in Trial by

Jury.

He also has had an extensive Concert experience, including

performing the Tenor Soloist in: Handel's Messiah, Gounod's

St Cecilia Mass, Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, Haydn’s

Paukenmesse, Mozart's Requiem and Coronation Mass,

Stainer's Crucifixion, and Peterson's Shadows and Light.

In 2014, Damian represented the Sydney Conservatorium in

its inaugural Estivo Summer School in Italy; as well as

studying under teachers in Germany and Austria.

He spent 2015 performing the role of Rolan (Prince Ramiro)

in Opera Australia's adaptation of Rossini’s La Cenerentola.

He also made appearances with Manly-Waringah Choir,

Strathfield Symphony, Penrith Symphony, Ryde-Hunters Hill

Orchestra, as well as performances throughout regional NSW

with Voci Stupende- with whom he is a founding member.

Damian is looking forward to traveling to London and Tel Aviv

in 2016, thanks to the scholarships he won in the IFAC

Australian Singing Competition.

Soon Ki Park

 Baritone

Soonki Park, who was born in South Korea, is a baritone. He studied a Bachelor of music performance voice major at the National University of Busan. He  worked for Kim-hae professional city chorus for 4 years then, he came to Australia to study Opera at the University of Sydney.

He performed the operas  ‘La Traviata’, ‘Rigoletto’, ‘La boheme ’, ‘The Magic flute’, and recently performed Professor Bhaer from the opera ‘Little Women’, and one of the Street singers from ‘Mass’, and has also been the Bass Soloist in the ‘ Mozart Requiem. ‘He has been studying with Barry Ryan. Since 2013, he has worked for Opera Australia.

Bradley Gilchrist

Bradley Gilchrist completed studies in accompaniment and piano performance in Perth, Sydney and Madrid. Bradley has numerous concerto performances to his name including the Khachaturian

Concerto with the WA Symphony Orchestra, the Grieg Concerto with the Slovakia

Philharmonic Orchestra and Beethoven’s First and Second Concertos with the Odessa

Philharmonic Orchestra. Bradley has given solo and chamber music recitals across Australia and in South Korea, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom. As repetiteur, Bradley’s early interest in ballet repertoire has extended to opera and has been repetiteur for many of Sydney’s chamber opera companies as well as being in demand as an accompanist and vocal coach for auditions, recitals, examinations and concert performances. He works for Opera Australia’s School’s Touring and Outreach Company and is the driving force behind Opera Projects, Sydney.