Growing up in the industrial town of Newcastle, opera wasn’t something I was exposed to. No-one in my family listened to it. It wasn’t talked about in schools, pubs or surf clubs. I didn’t speak the languages being sung. But the first time I experienced it live, I understood why people dedicate their lives to it.
At 18, I found myself working in the props department of Opera Australia productions at the Arts Centre Melbourne. While also studying theatre production at the Victorian College of the Arts at the time, these productions encapsulated everything I wanted the arts to be. Sets towered over you. Costumes were exquisitely extra. Voices vibrated through your entire body as worlds appeared before your very eyes.
