A soprano from Wentworth Falls is in the running to be Australia’s best emerging opera diva at the Dame Joan Sutherland Award competition next month in Queensland.
Tabatha McFadyen is one of seven contestants lining up for the finals in Noosa on July 22 for a chance at the $15,000 prize.
The biannual competition is regional Australia’s most prestigious opera award founded by the Noosa Federation of the Arts (NFA) to help further the careers of Australian opera singers aged between 20 and 34, in all categories from soprano to bass.
“I’m thrilled,” she told the Gazette. “It’s a prestigious panel for whom I have a deep respect, so to have them imply that they enjoy what I do by putting me through is a tremendous honour.”
McFadyen is a multi-award winner. She won the Richard Bonynge award in 2015 and was recently accepted into an elite training program at the Wales International Academy of Voice to study with renowned tenor Dennis O’Neill.
NFA artistic director and judge Brad Jarrett, an ex Opera Queensland artistic administrator, said the calibre of singers this year was “exceptional”. McFadyen auditioned in Brisbane in June – when 26 entrants were whittled down to the final seven.
The most recent winner, mezzo, Jade Moffatt (2014) is currently studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, UK, and is making a name for herself on the London stage.
McFadyen’s hoping this may be her defining moment too.
“Any competition that has such a generous amount of prize money on offer can really offer you a leg-up in a notoriously difficult profession.
“To continue doing the amount of training that’s necessary to become a full-time opera singer, one generally has to travel overseas for further studies, and finances can be a real hindrance for many of us. It’s wonderful that opportunities such as this one exist to give us the chance to be helped along.”
She is one of four NSW finalists who will pit their voices, against two finalists from Queensland plus a singer from WA in this competition.
“The singing community in Australia becomes a small world after a while, so I’ve worked with nearly all of these singers and indeed, studied at the Queensland Conservatorium with a couple of them.
“They’re an absolutely stellar group of singers, and as much as a competition like this requires a huge amount of personal dedication and focus, it’s also an all too rare chance to catch up with your mates.”