Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor, Simone Young has previously held the posts of General Manager and Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Music Director of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg, Music Director of Opera Australia, Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of both the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Her appointment as Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra has recently been extended through until the end of 2029.

An acknowledged interpreter of the operas of Wagner and Strauss, she has conducted complete cycles of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival, Vienna Staatsoper, Berlin Staatsoper, Hamburg Staatsoper and, in 2026, La Scala Milan.

Simone Young has an extensive and celebrated recording catalogue. Her first performance as Chief Conductor in Sydney, featuring Mahler’s Symphony No.2 Resurrection and the world premiere of William Barton’s Of the Earth was released worldwide on Deutsche Grammophon, and performances of Elgar & Vaughan Williams, Das Rheingold and Gurrelieder have been filmed for Sydney Symphony On Demand. Her Hamburg recordings include the Ring Cycle, Mathis der Maler (Hindemith), Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (Schmidt) and symphonies of Bruckner, Brahms and Mahler. She has also recorded Benjamin Britten Folksongs and songs of Richard Strauss with Steve Davislim, and songs by Wagner and Strauss with Lisa Gasteen.

Simone Young’s return invitations to the great orchestras of the world in 2026 will include the Suisse Romande, the Orchestre nationale de Lyon, West German Radio Orchestra Cologne, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France Paris, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester. She also returns to ANAM, Melbourne to lead their orchestra in a 30th birthday celebration Gala performance.

Firmly established as one of the world’s leading opera conductors, 2026 will see Simone Young return to the Berlin Staatsoper (Lohengrin and Nabucco), La Scala Milan (the Ring cycle and a new work by Luca Francesconi) and Götterdämmerung, completing Sydney Symphony’s Ring Cycle.

The presentation of Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Ring Cycle in concert, commencing in 2023, has played to sold out audiences, standing ovations and 5-star reviews. A second, feature-length documentary film, Knowing the Score, showcasing Simone Young and her career was also internationally released in 2023.

In 2025 Simone Young was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sydney. Her many accolades also include the 2024 Conductor of the year (British Opera magazine), Honorary Member (Ehrenmitglied) of the Vienna State Opera, the 2019 European Cultural Prize Vienna, a Professorship at the Musikhochschule in Hamburg, Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Western Australia and New South Wales, Griffith University and Monash University, the Sir Bernard Heinze Award, the Goethe Institute Medal, the 2013 Helpmann Award for Best Individual Classical Music Performance and the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France.

Born in Germany, Gerhard Siegel graduated from the Leopold Mozart Conservatory in Augsburg, where he studied singing with Liselotte Becker-Egner. He was a member of the Trier and Dessau companies and was then hired in Augsburg. In 1995 he won the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition in Vienna.

From 1999 to 2006, he was a member of the Nuremberg company, where he sang Bacchus (Ariadne in Naxos), Herod (Salome), Mefistopheles (Busoni’s Doktor Faust), Tom Rakewell (The Rake’s Progress), Florestan (Fidelio), Laca (Jenůfa), Serguei (Mzensk’s Lady Macbeth), Walter von Stolzing (The Master Singers of Nuremberg), and the title roles in Parsifal and Siegfried.

He sang Max (Freischütz) at the KomischeOper Berlin, Tum Tum (Hindemith’s Das Nusch-Nuschi) in Cologne, Florestan at the Granada Festival, Parsifal in Kassel, Tannhäuser in Augsburg, the title-role in Kurt Weill’s Der Protagonist at the Bregenz Festival, Max (Krenek’s Jonnyspieltauf) in Cologne, the Captain (Wozzeck) at the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Paris Opera, New York Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and the Salzburg Festival, Klaus Narr (Gurre-Lieder) on tour with Michael Gielen and the SWR Symphony Orchestra, Sellem (The Rake’s Progress) at the Theater an der Wien, Chouiski (Boris Godunov) in Munich, Alwa (Lulu) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Tristan (Tristan and Isolde) in Augsburg, Herod at the Vienna Staatsoper, the Zurich Opera and the Verbier Festival, Midas (Danae’s Love) at the Salzburg Festival 2017, the Witch (Hänsel and Gretel) at the Royal Opera House in London and at the Metropolitan Opera, the Emperor (Die Frau ohne Schatten) at the Verbier Festival 2019, Piet (Le Grand Macabre) in Dresden.

He made his debut as Mime at the New York Metropolitan Opera and Bayreuth Festival, as well as in Cologne with Jeffrey Tate at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, the Royal Opera House in London, the Mupa in Budapest and the Paris Opera.

Gerhard Siegel is also a composer: he composed, among others, a stage version of Heinrich Heine’s Deutschland – ein Wintermärchen, premiered in Trier.

A central part of his repertoire today is Mime in Das Rheingold and Siegfried. He sang it in his debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, at the Bayreuth Festival and in the Jeffrey Tate-directed Ring at the Cologne Opera, but also at London’s Covent Garden and under Jun Märkel in Tokyo. Another artistic highlight was Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder (Klaus-Narr) on a tour with Michael Gielen and the SWR Symphony Orchestra as well as with the Vienna Philharmonic under Zubin Metha.

After Mime in Rheingold and Siegfried in Barcelona, Dresden, New York and Tokyo, Lulu in Amsterdam, Wozzeck (Captain) in Chicago and Salzburg (Festivals), Prince Schuisky in Boris Godunov in Munich, Herodes at the Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera House, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and at the Verbier Festival under Charles Dutoit and Midas in Love of Danae at the Salzburg Festival was followed in 2017 by the witch at the Metropolitan Opera New York.

After the Ring in Dresden and Salome in Berlin at the State Opera, Tristan in Cleveland and recitals in New York, Staunton/Virginia and in Texas, Salome in Budapest, the Ring and also the Witch in London followed Wozzeck in New York, Le Grand Macabre in Dresden, the Ring in Paris (which, due to the pandemic, was streamed as a concert recording).

After a break of about 19 months, things started again with a new Salome in Budapest and the opera Die Verkennung des Lucullus at the Stuttgart State Opera.

In the next years, Chowanschtschina, Wozzeck and Elektra at the Opera National de Paris will follow, as well as a concert tour as Loge in the Rheingold with the Rotterdam Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Cardillac and Salome at the Vienna State Opera, Mahagonny and Salome at the Metropolitan Opera.

British-Australian mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble is known internationally for her commanding performances of the dramatic and Wagnerian repertoire. In 2025, she sings Verdi’s Requiem with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Her extensive appearances in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen include Erda and Waltraute in three full cycles with Melbourne Opera—roles also performed in multiple productions for Opera Australia, alongside her recent role debut as Fricka. She sang Erda in Siegfried (Boston Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Halle Opera), Erda in Das Rheingold (Hong Kong Philharmonic, Saffron Opera Group), and Wellgunde in Götterdämmerung (Saffron Opera Group), with further complete cycles in Bari and Ludwigshafen. For Hamburg State Opera, she sang Erda, Waltraute and Schwertleite. She also performed Waltraute in Die Walküre with Sydney Symphony.

Deborah’s Australian roles include Amneris in Aida and Brigitta in Die tote Stadt (Opera Australia), and Dalila in Samson et Dalila and Magdalena in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Melbourne Opera). In concert, she sang the Princess in Suor Angelica with Melbourne Opera and performed Clairon in Capriccio and Clytemnestra in Elektra with Victorian Opera. Internationally, she has appeared as Mary in Der fliegende Holländer (Opéra de Lille and Hamburg); Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Olga in Eugene Onegin (Hamburg); and Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor (Hamburg and Teatro Mario del Monaco). She sang Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde with the Mexico City Symphony and Brigitta in Die tote Stadt with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra.

A frequent concert soloist, Deborah's performances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Sydney Symphony under Simone Young, celebrating the reopening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall (broadcast live on ABC TV and recorded for Deutsche Grammophon), and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with West Australian Symphony and at Singapore's Esplanade Theatre. She has sung Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder (Sydney Symphony), Verdi’s Requiem (Sage Concert Hall, UK and Orchestra Wellington), Elgar’s The Kingdom (Melbourne Bach Choir), Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (Queensland Symphony), Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), Handel’s Messiah (New Zealand Symphony Orchestra), and the Wesendonck Lieder (Orchestra Wellington).

Her recordings include The Love for Three Oranges with Opera Australia (Chandos, cond. Richard Hickox); and Der Ring des Nibelungen with Staatsoper Hamburg (Oehms, cond. Simone Young) and Hong Kong Philharmonic (Naxos, cond. Jaap van Zweden).

Deborah received critical acclaim and a Green Room Award nomination for her performances as Clytemnestra (Elektra, Victorian Opera) and as Erda and Waltraute in Der Ring des Nibelungen (Melbourne Opera).

Sinéad Campbell Wallace is a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, the National Opera Studio, and the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme.

She appears on leading international opera stages, including the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, Irish National Opera in Dublin, Scottish Opera, and Wexford Festival Opera. Her repertoire includes the title roles in Salome and Tosca; Chrysothemis in Elektra; Elsa in Lohengrin; Senta in Der fliegende Holländer; Mimì in La bohème; Angelica in Suor Angelica; Leonore in Fidelio; Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites; Agathe in Der Freischütz; and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes.

She recently performed Leonore in Fidelio at the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest, Chrysothemis in Elektra at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites at the Semperoper Dresden. During the 2026–2027 season, her engagements include Irene in Rienzi at the Semperoper Dresden and Freia, Gutrune, and the Third Norn in Wagner’s Ring cycle at the Paris Opera.

Wolfgang Koch is one of the most important dramatic baritones of the Opernwelt In the 2026/27 season, Wolfgang Koch will sing the title role in Alban Berg's Wozzeck at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under Thomas Guggeis. He will take on the role of Alberich in a semi-staged version of Wagner's Siegfried under Daniel Harding in Rome and will present Telramund in Lohengrin under Sir Mark Elder at the Palau de les Arts Valencia.

He will be seen as Jochanaan in Salome and at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich as Klingsor in Parsifal. Concert engagements will take Wolfgang Koch to the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko as the Broom Maker in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel , and to the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra under Simone Young.

Wolfgang Koch's repertoire encompasses the major baritone roles of the German and Italian repertoire. Among his most important engagements of recent seasons are the title role in Verdi's Falstaff at the Hamburg State Opera, Telramund in Lohengrin at the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden, and in the new production at the Festspielhaus Baden. He has sung Falstaff at both the Bavarian and Vienna State Operas. Wolfgang Koch sang Dallapiccola's Il prigioniero under Kirill Petrenko with the Berlin Philharmonic.

One of his signature roles is Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten), which he has sung in a new production at the Vienna State Opera under the direction of Christian Thielemann and in Baden-Baden under Kirill Petrenko. He has also performed this role as a guest artist in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and at the Salzburg Festival. The Bavarian Kammersänger enjoyed great success as Michele in Puccini's Il trittico at the Bavarian State Opera. At the Vienna State Opera, he sang the title role in a new production of von Einem's opera Dantons Tod . Zu seinem vielfältigen Repertoire zählen ferner Holländer (Der fliegende Holländer), Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde), Telramund (Lohengrin), Mandryka (Arabella), Graf (Capriccio), Jochanaan (Salome), Pizarro (Fidelio), Förster (Schlaues Füchslein), Prometheus (Die Vögel), die Titelpartien in Mathis der Maler und Lear, Borromeo und Morone (Palestrina) als auch Doktor Faust von Busoni.

In addition to the aforementioned houses, Wolfgang Koch also performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Opéra de Paris, the San Francisco Opera, the Oper Frankfurt, at the Theater an der Wien and in Tokyo.

In addition to his operatic work, Wolfgang Koch is a regular guest on the world's most important concert stages, for example with Schoenberg's Jacob's Ladder with the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko. Numerous CD and DVD releases exist, including Der Ring des Nibelungen from Hamburg (Alberich), the productions Lear (Reimann) and Palestrina (Pfitzner) from Frankfurt, Palestrina, Doktor Faust and Lohengrin from Munich, Parsifal and Die Frau ohne Schatten from Salzburg and Parsifal (Barenboim and Tcherniakov) from Berlin.

Kyle Stegall’s flexible and stylish artistry has been a powerful presence on concert and opera stages around the world. Celebrated for the astonishing diversity of his repertoire, he lends the same penetratingly emotive artistry to music spanning Bach evangelists, leading tenor roles in the works of Mozart and the masters of the Bel Canto Era, and operatic world-premieres. 

Acclaimed for bringing new music to life, Mr. Stegall’s forthcoming album of song sets by living composers for Centaur Records will include Harry Sdraulig’s Visions of Judgement, Adolphus Hailstork’s Four Romantic Love Songs, Anne Cawrse’s Songs of Sorrow, Rosephanye Powell’s Miss Wheatley’s Garden, and BE Boykin’s Desert Songs. Kyle was lauded for ‘delivering the entire role with tonal sweetness and expressive urgency’ (San Francisco Chronicle) when he created the role of ‘Tomasso’ in Laura Schwendinger’s Artemisia, in a production supported by the national endowment for the arts. 

On the concert stage, Mr. Stegall has performed as guest soloist with ensembles across the world under celebrated conductors such as William Christie (Les Arts Florissants), Manfred Honeck (Pittsburgh Symphony), Masaaki Suzuki (Bach Collegium Japan), Matilda Hofman (Left Coast Chamber Ensemble), Stephen Stubbs (Boston Early Music Festival), Mark Dupere (Philharmonie Austin), Matthew Dirst (Ars Lyrica), Nic McGegan (Philharmonia Baroque), Dana Marsh (Washington Bach Consort), and Kathleen Allan (Amadeus Choir), among many others.

Known especially for his portrayals of the Bach Evangelists, Mr. Stegall studied under legendary evangelist singer James Taylor at the Institute for Sacred Music, Yale University. There, he was a member of the highly selective Artist Diploma program, a program which admits and graduates no more than two artists per year.  He was given Yale’s Margot Fassler Performer’s Award following his debut at Lincoln Center-Manhattan singing evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion. Performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion pepper every season, along with performances of cantatas with the American Cantata Collective project, which aims over its seasons to perform the complete cantata cycles of JS Bach in an historically informed consort arrangement. 

In the opera theater, Mr. Stegall’s repertoire is distinguished for its breadth and his stagework for its depth.  Whether performing repertoire of the early Baroque, the leading tenors of Mozart and Bel Canto masterpieces,  or character tenors in the works of Wagner, Kyle is a popular choice for his ability as a singer-actor to ‘absorb viewers into the action so that they became characters in the drama themselves, something which is rarely achieved in opera’ (San Francisco Classical Voice).

Mr. Stegall’s flexible singing makes him a popular artist for stagings of Baroque gems.  His most recent recording with Boston Early Music Festival of Henri Desmaret’s Circé was recorded for Radio Bremen Studios, and then premiered with stage direction by Gilbert Blin at the Cutler Theatre. Artistically and vocally secure in the haute-contre repertoire of the French Baroque, Mr. Stegall was written up by Opera News when he was engaged as a guest artist with the Juilliard School to sing the title role in their production of Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie, for the ‘clarity and urgency’ brought to the role as ‘a handsome, dashing Hippolyte’ while Musical America called Kyle ‘a first-rate, genuine haute-contre.’

A committed recitalist, Mr. Stegall was twice invited to be a performance fellow with the Britten-Pears Programme at the Aldeburgh Music Festival. There, he studied Schubert song with Christoph Prégardien, and Britten song with Ian Bostridge.  He has since performed all works by Britten written for tenor and piano, as well as the Horn Serenade, notably under the direction of Maestro Kathleen Allan. Mr. Stegall and Fortepianist, Eric Zivian hold a long-standing relationship with the Valley of the Moon Music Festival, where they have performed a wide-range of underrepresented Romantic chamber repertoire.  Their album Myrtle and Rose drew international attention, launching the duo’s reputation as distinctive interpreters of song, Gramophone calling Kyle ‘a passionate and engaged communicator.’

Fortunate to have been mentored by such artists as Caroline Helton, Martin Katz, Ann Harrell, and Ted Taylor, Mr. Stegall commits himself to the development of young artists through Masterclasses and vocal coaching.  He is a proud alumnus of the Universities of Yale, Michigan, and Missouri.

Australian mezzo-soprano Margaret Plummer was engaged as a principal artist at the Vienna State Opera for eight seasons. During this time Margaret performed a vast range of repertoire for the company including Hänsel (Hänsel and Gretel), Mercedes (Carmen), Waltraute (Die Walküre), Flosshilde (Das Rheingold and Gőtterdämmerung), Second Norn (Die Gőtterdämmerung), Blumenmädchen (Parsifal), Siebel (Faust), Varvara (Katya Kabanova), Tebaldo (Don Carlos), Page (Salome), Fenena (Nabucco), Meg Page (Falstaff, also for Hamburg State Opera), Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Wood Sprite (Rusalka) and Fjodor (Boris Godunov).

On her return to Opera Australia this year Margaret will star in the New Year’s Eve Gala and as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel in the Sydney Summer Season. She will then travel to Adelaide to appear in John Adams’ El Nino: Nativity Reconsidered for Adelaide Festival, before returning to Vienna where she will be heard as Waltraute and Second Norn in Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung, and Clover in Animal Farm at the Vienna State Opera. Later in the year she returns to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to perform the roles of First Norn and Flosshilde in Götterdämmerung, Simone Young conducting.

Margaret’s most recent engagements include Prince Charming in Opera Australia’s Cinderella (Cendrillon). Her continuing association with the Vienna State Opera has also seen her undertake the roles of Adelaide (Arabella), Martha (Iolanta), Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Emilia (Otello), Annina (Der Rosenkavalier), Charlotte (Werther), Genevieve (Pelleas et Melisande) and Kitchen Boy (Rusalka).

Other significant engagements for Margaret have included her debuts at La Scala Milan as Auntie in Peter Grimes, and at the Bayreuth Festival as Blumenmädchen and Second Knappe (Esquire) in Parsifal. She has also been engaged as Carmen (title role) by Longborough Festival, Charlotte (Werther) and Marguerite (La damnation du Faust) for the Tiroler Landestheater, Innsbruck, in Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with the Vienna Philharmonic and Haydn’s Theresienmesse with the Savaria Symphony Orchestra.

Prior to winning the 2014 Vienna State Opera Award, Margaret performed extensively with Opera Australia including performances in Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour as well as in regional touring productions. She was also heard as Hexe (Hansel and Gretel) with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, as Phoebe (Castor et Pollux) and Diane (Iphigenie en Tauride) for Pinchgut Opera, as Dorabella (Così fan tutte) for Pacific Opera and in Mozart’s Requiem with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Margaret holds a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Kanen Breen made his international debut, in 2003, in the role of Rodolfo, in Baz Luhrman’s Broadway production of La Boheme in New York.

He has been a principal artist for Opera Australia over many years singing an extensive range of roles including Camille in The Merry Widow, Nanki Poo in The Mikado, Truffaldino in The Love For Three Oranges, Florville in Il Signor Bruschino, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte and Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore, Sellem in The Rake’s Progress, Marco Palmieri in The Gondoliers, Dr. Caius and Bardolf in Falstaff,  Pong in Turandot, Andres/Cochenille/Pittinaccio/Frantz/Nathanael in The Tales Of Hoffmann, Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Nadir in The Pearlfishers, The Duke and Borsa in Rigoletto, Count Albert in Die Tote Stadt, the title role in Albert Herring and Rev. Horace Evans in Peter Grimes, the Sorceress in Dido & Aeneas and Damon in Acis & Galatea, Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus, Guillot in Manon, Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Count Elemer in Arabella, Pliable and Lord Lechery in The Pilgrim’s Progress,  Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Squeak in Billy Budd, Vitek in The Makropulos Affair and Johnny in the company’s world premiere seasons of Bliss at the Edinburgh Festival. His performances of Emilio in Handel’s Partenope were awarded a Helpmann Award.

He was originally a member of the Young Artist Program at Opera Queensland, his subsequent appearances for the company including Nanki Poo, Nadir, Monostatos, Ramiro in La Cenerentola and Sir Richard Dauntless in Ruddigore. Also the role of Andy Warhol in the company’s season of Philip Glass’s The Perfect American in the program of the Brisbane Festival.

For State Opera of South Australia his roles include Peter Quint in Turn of the Screw and Dr. Studz in How to Kill Your Husband.

He was first engaged by Victorian Opera for its premiere season of Through the Looking Glass and has since appeared as The Beadle in Sweeney Todd, Uncle Ernie in The Who’s Tommy and the premiere seasons of Banquet of Secrets and Richard Mills’s ‘Tis Pity while includes a return to Peter Quint in the company’s 2026 season of Turn Of The Screw.

For Opera New Zealand he has appeared as Nanki Poo and Governor/Vanderdendur/Ragotski in Candide.

Breen is also regularly engaged by Pinchgut Opera, in 2021 appearing in the title role of Rameau’s Platée, performances of which Arts Review wrote, ‘…a staggeringly exceptional performance…Breen’s ability to mount every aspect of the punishing vocal demands with rich characterisation is testament to his passion and commitment. With the goods to inhabit a wide-ranging musical landscape, Breen gives his audience an up-close look at one of the country’s most talented performers.’ His other appearances for the company including Erice in L’Ormindo, Arnalta/Nutrice/Famigliari in  L’Incoronazione di Poppea and the Sorceress in Dido & Aeneas.

Other engagements have included the Melbourne Festival’s production of Jonathan Mills’s The Ghost Wife, repeated at the Adelaide and Sydney festivals and in London at the Barbican’s Bite02 festival, the Witch Of Endor in the Adelaide Festival’s season of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera production of Handel’s Saul, his performances receiving a Helpmann Award. For the Malthouse his roles have included Wilhelm in Tom Wait’s The Black Rider for the Malthouse, the Sydney Morning Herald describing his performance as ‘extraordinary’, and Meow-Meow’s The Red Shoes.

And on the musical theatre stage, his credits include the Gordon Frost Organisation’s Australian production of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, appearing in the lead role of Willy Wonka and the role of Siegfried in the 2025 Sydney Festival production of Siegfried & Roy – The Unauthorised Opera.

His recent concert engagements include Carmina Burana with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Philharmonia Choir.

Australian tenor Virgilio Marino has established himself as a regular presence in the national operatic landscape. He has a long-standing relationship with Opera Australia, where his recent performances have included Remendado in Carmen, Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro, Gastone in La traviata, and the Dean of Faculty in Cinderella, with earlier appearances as Pang and Pong in Turandot, The Abbé in Adriana Lecouvreur, Goro in Madama Butterfly, Andres in Wozzeck, Borsa in Rigoletto, Cassio in Otello, Uldino in Attila, and Camille in The Merry Widow. In 2026, he returns to the company as Borsa, Pang, Goro, and Camille.

Beyond Opera Australia, Virgilio was a principal artist with Opera Queensland, where he sang Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Rodolfo in La bohème, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, The Duke in Rigoletto, Alfredo in Die Fledermaus, and Malcolm in Macbeth, alongside character roles such as Pong, Jaquino in Fidelio, Roderigo in Otello, Spoletta in Tosca, Gastone in La traviata, Njegus in The Merry Widow, and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte. Additional Australian engagements have brought him to West Australian Opera as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, to Sydney as Howard Boucher in Dead Man Walking and to State Opera South Australia as Jaquino, Don Ottavio, and Harry in La fanciulla del West. He has sung Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro and Gastone for the Brisbane Festival.

Internationally, Virgilio made his professional debut at Theater Regensburg in Germany, performing The Duke in Rigoletto and the title role in Oberon. He has also appeared in Japan as Ferrando in a new production of Così fan tutte, presented by the International Foundation for Arts and Culture in collaboration with Opera Australia, and with Southern Opera New Zealand as Rinuccio. In Italy, he performed Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle in Milan.

On the concert platform, Virgilio has been heard in major choral and symphonic works across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. His repertoire includes Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia and Orchestra of the Music Makers in Singapore; Verdi’s Requiem with the Melbourne Symphony and Sydney Philharmonia; Mozart’s Requiem with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra; Enescu’s Vox Maris with the Melbourne Symphony; Handel’s Messiah with Queensland Choir; and Shepherd in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex for the New Zealand Festival.

Virgilio studied voice at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Mannes College of Music in New York, where his operatic work included Fenton in Falstaff, Prunier in La rondine and Alfredo in La traviata. He undertook further study in Italy focusing on the bel canto repertoire and was a semi-finalist in the Concorso Riccardo Zandonai in Riva, Italy.

Tenor Andrew Goodwin has appeared with opera companies in Europe, the UK, Asia and Australia, including the Bolshoi Opera, Gran Theatre Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, La Scala Milan, the National Centre for the Performing Arts Beijing, Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera and Sydney Chamber Opera.

On the concert platform he has toured with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra with Maestro Temirkanov, performed with the Sydney, Melbourne, West Australian, Queensland, Tasmanian and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and has given recitals with pianist Daniel de Borah at the Wigmore Hall, at the Oxford Lieder, and at the Port Fairy, Huntington, Coriole, Bendigo, Huntington and Canberra International Music Festivals.

Andrew will feature in recital at both the Bendigo and Orange Chamber Music Festivals this year, return to Melbourne Bach Choir as Evangelist in St. Matthew Passion and to Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in Creation. He also joins the cast as Steuermann in West Australian Symphony’s presentation of The Flying Dutchman (Asher Fisch conducting), the Sydney Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem with Stephen Layton conducting and finishes his year with the Tasmanian Symphony in Messiah.

Andrew’s roles for Opera Australia include Fenton (Falstaff), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Novice (Billy Budd), Janek (The Makropulos Secret) and Tamino (Die Zauberflöte). He has also sung Tamino, Alfred (Die Fledermaus) and Lensky (Eugene Onegin) at the Bolshoi, with which he toured extensively throughout Europe and Asia. Further international appearances have been as Silvio in Martin Y Soler’s L’Arbore di Diana in Barcelona, as Gomatz in Mozart’s Zaide with The Classical Opera Company, London and as Avvakum in the world premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s Boyarina Morozova at the Moscow State Conservatory. Closer to home Andrew has performed the title role in Stravinky’s The Rake’s Progress with Auckland Philharmonia, Boris (Katya Kabanova) with Victorian Opera, Nadir (The Pearlfishers) for State Opera South Australia, Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) Adelaide Festival, and Egeo (Giasone), Florival (L’amant jaloux), Orpheus (L’anima del filosofo) and the title role in Artaxerxes (Hasse) for Pinchgut Opera.

Most recently, Andrew returned to the opera stage and Adelaide Festival as Renaud in Stravinsky’s The Fox for the Festival’s presentation of The Nightingale and other fables; to West Australian Symphony in the role of Alfred (Die Fledermaus) and the world premiere of Stanhope’s Mahāsāgar; to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Mime (Das Rheingold), the Narr in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder and Britten’s Serenade for Tenor and Horn, and to the Adelaide, Queensland, West Australian and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras in Mozart’s Requiem. He has also been heard with Sydney Chamber Choir in Bach’s Mass in B minor; in Carmina Burana with Melbourne Symphony (also in Singapore); Messiah with Brisbane Chamber Choir, Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony; St. Matthew Passion with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Monash University Orchestra and Choir; Elijah with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs; Creation with Victoria Chorale; and Britten’s War Requiem for Brisbane Festival. Andrew also featured at the Four Winds Easter Festival at Bermagui, at Opera in the Arboretum, Pearl Beach, and in Flowers of Peace in Canberra.

Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 continues to feature prominently in Andrew Goodwin’s diary, recently performing with the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Germany and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular guest with the Melbourne Bach Choir, The Canberra International and Sanguine Estate Music Festivals and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

Andrew’s recordings include Schubert’s Die schőne Müllerin and Winterreise and When yesterday we met (songs of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky) with Daniel de Borah for ABC Classics, and Artaxerxes (Hasse), Giasone (Cavalli), L’ámant jaloux (Gretry) and L’anima del filosofo (Haydn) with Pinchgut Opera.

Born in Sydney, Andrew studied voice at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under the direction of Professor Lev Morozov, graduating with a Bachelor of Music. He has also studied with Robert Dean in the UK. During his studies Andrew won a number of awards and scholarships including the Tait Memorial Trust Scholarship; 2nd place in the Yelena Obraztsova Singing Competition in St. Petersburg; the Martin Bequest Travelling Scholarship; the Sir Robert Askin Operatic Travelling Scholarship; and the Australian Opera Auditions Committee Joan Sutherland Richard Bonynge Scholarship. He has also received support from the Australian Music Foundation and ARS Musica Australis.

Alexander Lewis has forged a unique international career that spans opera, musical theatre, and concert performance. Equally at home in classic and contemporary repertoire, he has appeared on major stages including The Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Komische Oper Berlin, Santa Fe Opera and Opera Australia.

His operatic repertoire ranges from 20th-century masterpieces to romantic and contemporary works. He has performed the title role in The Nose for Opera Australia, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and The Metropolitan Opera (HD Live Broadcast); Laca in Jenůfa for Santa Fe Opera; Flask in Moby Dick with Washington National Opera; and Danilo in The Merry Widow for Opera Australia, West Australian Opera and State Opera South Australia. Other notable roles include Gritsko in The Fair at Sorochyntsi and Hoffmann in Les contes d’Hoffmann with Komische Oper; Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with West Australian Opera; and John Wormley in the world premiere of Crossing for the American Repertory Theatre in Boston and BAM’s New Wave Festival in New York. At The Metropolitan Opera, he has also appeared as Borsa in Rigoletto and as St Brioche in The Merry Widow (HD Live Broadcast).

A celebrated crossover artist, Alexander has received acclaim for his work in musical theatre. In Candide, he has taken the title role for State Opera South Australia and with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, as well as the Governor/Vanderdendur for Opera Australia and Victorian Opera. He performed Tony in West Side Story for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, which garnered a Helpmann Award nomination; Tateh in Ragtime for The Production Company; Buddy in Follies and George in Sunday in the Park with George for Victorian Opera; Enoch Snow in Carousel for Houston Grand Opera; Anatoly in the Australian national tour of Chess; Anthony in Sweeney Todd for Opera Australia; Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera for the Really Useful Group; and Frederick Barrett in Titanic with Seabiscuit Productions.

On the concert platform, Alexander has sung the tenor solos in Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 in Tokyo, Handel’s Messiah with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with The Omaha Symphony. He performed Petite Messe Solennelle for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and H.K. Gruber’s Gloria – A Pig Tale for the New York Philharmonic’s Festival of New Music. Other highlights include G’Day USA at Carnegie Hall and Andres in Wozzeck with Orchestra Wellington. He joins Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for St John Passion in the 2026 season.

Alexander is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts’ Music Theatre Programme, the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, and The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Jonathan Lemalu is a New Zealand-born Samoan who holds a Bachelor of Laws (Otago University) and an Artists Diploma from the Royal College of Music where he won the Tagore Gold Medal.

Jonathan has sung at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, English National Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, Oper Frankfurt, Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric, San Francisco Opera, as well as the Salzburg, Baden-Baden, and Edinburgh Festivals with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Roger Norrington, Ivor Bolton, Charles Dutoit, Alexander Joel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Edward Gardner, and Patrick Summers.  Roles include Osmin Il Seraglio, Rocco Fidelio, Leporello Don Giovanni, Sarastro Die Zauberflöte, Nick Shadow The Rake’s Progress, Hunding Die Walküre, Bottom A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Collatinus The Rape of Lucretia, Colline La Bohème, Dulcamara L’Elisir d’Amore, Queequeg Moby Dick, Weit Pogner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Nourabad Les pêcheurs de perles. 

Upcoming operatic highlights include Mr Grinder The Zoo with ENO and Sacristan Tosca with RBO. Recent highlights include Rocco Fidelio at Garsington, Mayor Jenufa at the RBO, Bartolo Le nozze di Figaro at Opera North, Doctor La Traviata, as well as Sarastro and Speaker Magic Flute for ENO; Seneca L'incoronazione di Poppea and Banco Macbeth  for Grange Festival Opera; Don Fernando Fidelio for Glyndebourne; Tiresias Oedipus Rex for Opera Philadelphia and Sagristano Tosca for Liceu. Concert performances include Brander La Damnation de Faust with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome cond. Dutoit, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra cond. Kazuki Yamada and LPO cond. Edward Gardner; The Seasons with the Academy of Ancient Music and Handel’s Samson for the BBC Proms both cond. Laurence Cummings.  

In 2022, Jonathan was made an RCM Honorary Fellow, a patron of New Zealand Opera and an ONZM in the Queen’s Jubilee Honours for services to opera. In 2026, he was appointed as Deputy Head of Vocal and Opera at Royal College of Music.

New Zealand-born bass Jud Arthur is a longstanding and highly respected presence on the Australasian operatic stage. He has sung more than 40 roles for Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, Victorian Opera, State Opera South Australia, Opera Queensland and New Zealand Opera, spanning a wide range of repertoire from Mozart and bel canto through to Wagner and contemporary opera. In 2026, he sings Verdi’s Requiem for Opera Queensland/Queensland Ballet and appears in the World Premiere of George Palmer’s The Drover’s Wife.

Jud has a particularly close association with Opera Australia, where his roles have included Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Timur in Turandot, Banquo in Macbeth, Colline in La bohème, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, The Bonze in Madama Butterfly, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor. He has also appeared with the company as Ramfis and The King in Aida, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Pistola in Falstaff, Nourabad in The Pearl Fishers, Candy in Of Mice and Men, Ribbing in Un ballo in maschera, and Ben in Madeline Lee, among many others.

A career highlight was creating the roles of Hunding and Fafner in Opera Australia’s 2013 Der Ring des Nibelungen, performances that attracted critical acclaim. He has continued to be closely identified with Wagnerian repertoire, returning to Fafner in Das Rheingold for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Simone Young.

With other companies, Jud has appeared as Banquo, Nourabad, Raimondo and Commendatore for New Zealand Opera; Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Hobson in Peter Grimes and Bartolo for Opera Queensland; Raimondo for Victorian Opera; and Raimondo, Zaccaria (Nabucco), Sarastro and Banquo for West Australian Opera.

On the concert platform, Jud has performed the Requiems of Verdi, Mozart and Fauré, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s The Creation with all the major Australasian symphony orchestras.

Jud’s singing of the New Zealand National Anthem is featured regularly at international sporting events, particularly Rugby Union Test matches involving the All Blacks, and he had the honour of performing at the launch of New Zealand’s America’s Cup defence.

Prior to his operatic career, Jud was a state rugby player for Otago in New Zealand’s national competition, later playing professionally for the Mirano Rugby Club in Italy. He is also a qualified farrier and a former New Zealand Under-21 Show Jumping Champion.

Helpmann Award-winning Australian baritone Warwick Fyfe is widely acclaimed for his powerful stage presence and vocal versatility across a diverse repertoire.

In 2023, he returned to Opera Australia as Amonasro (Aida) and Alberich (Der Ring des Nibelungen), and to Melbourne Opera as Wotan/The Wanderer in their landmark Ring Cycle. His 2024 engagements included Scarpia (Tosca) for Opera Australia, Vodnik (Rusalka) for West Australian Opera, and Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder with the Sydney Symphony. In 2025, he makes his role début as Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) for Melbourne Opera, and performs Vodnik for Opera Australia, Ferrando (Il trovatore) for West Australian Opera, and Alberich (Siegfried) in concert with the Sydney Symphony.

Other notable appearances include Beckmesser (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Sancho Panza (Don Quichotte), Geronio (Il turco in Italia), Barone di Trombonok (Il viaggio a Reims), and Klingsor (Parsifal) for Opera Australia; Alberich (Das Rheingold) for the Japan Philharmonic and Tianjin Symphony; Athanaël (Thaïs) and Amonasro for Finnish National Opera; Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia) for Victorian Opera; Peter (Hansel and Gretel) and Wotan (Die Walküre) in Singapore; Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) for the Adelaide Festival; and Pizarro (Fidelio) in Melbourne and Perth.

A long-standing principal artist with Opera Australia, Warwick’s past roles include the title roles in Rigoletto, Falstaff and Der fliegende Holländer, as well as Mandryka (Arabella), the Four Villains (The Tales of Hoffmann), Dr Schön (Lulu), Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Papageno (The Magic Flute), Germont (La traviata), Leporello (Don Giovanni), and Pizarro.

His extensive concert repertoire spans work with all major Australian symphony orchestras, as well as the Warsaw Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Orchestra of the Music Makers (Singapore), Orchestra Wellington and Auckland Philharmonia. Highlights include Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Mass in B Minor, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Mozart’s Requiem.

Warwick received a Helpmann Award in 2013 for his portrayal of Alberich in the Melbourne Ring Cycle and was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2015 to study Wagnerian technique in Germany, the UK and the USA.

With a voice described by Bachtrack as ‘gloriously lyrical,’ Australian baritone Samuel Dale Johnson hasestablished a reputation as one of the leading young baritones of today.

This season, Samuel will return to his native country to make debuts with Opera Australia and State Opera of South Australia. In addition, he will return to the Melbourne Symphony in Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with conductor Xian Zhang and will make his debut with the Kymi Sinfonietta in Finland.

In the 2023–2024 season, Samuel made his debut with the Royal Danish Opera as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly under the baton of Paolo Carignani, returned to Scottish Opera to perform Figaro in a new production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, and to the Deutsche Oper Berlin for numerous roles including the Father in Hänsel und Gretel, Ping in Turandot and Angelotti in Tosca.

In concert, Samuel appeared with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for Messiah, and appeared again with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for Beethoven’s Symphony No.9. From 2017–2023, Samuel was a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin where his recent roles included Escamillo in Carmen, Figaro in Il barbiere, the title role in Don Giovanni, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Marcello in La bohème, Heerufer in Lohengrin and Angelotti in Tosca, with conductors including Donald Runnicles, Matteo Beltrami, Ivan Repušić and Paolo Arrivabeni.

Other recent highlights include house debuts with Opéra de Rouen Normandie and the Glyndebourne Festival, both as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a concert debut with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland for Carmina Burana with Music Director Jaime Martín.

Previous highlights of recent seasons include Samuel’s US debut as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro at the Santa Fe Opera with Music Director Harry Bicket, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with both the Bordeaux Opera and Zurich Opera, the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin for Opera Holland Park and Scottish Opera, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte for Northern Ireland Opera and Samuel’s Japanese debut as the Count Le nozze di Figaro at the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival.

Samuel is an alumnus of the renowned Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, where his numerous roles included Moralès in Carmen, Silvio in Pagliacci, Albert in Werther, Leuthold in Guillaume Tell with Antonio Pappano, and Baron Duphol in La traviata. While at Covent Garden, Samuel made his London Symphony Orchestra debut in Tom Ades’s orchestral work Brahms, conducted by the composer.

Samuel graduated with a Master of Music from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, where he was a recipient of the RJ Hamer Opera Scholarship with the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust. In2013 he was awarded 1st Place in the prestigious German Opera Award from the Australian Opera Foundation. Other awards include the Dr Francesco Castellano Operatic Italian Award and the Mostyn Hanger Award for an Outstanding Performance in an Operatic Production.