Sunday Arts Magazine

24 Sep 2020

Yarra Valley Opera Festival – Australia’s First On-Line Opera Nigel Huckle talks to David.

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Yarra Valley Opera Festival – Australia’s First On-Line Opera Nigel Huckle talks to David.

Gertrude Opera is thrilled to announce
the program for the Yarra Valley
Opera Festival, Australia’s first ever
online opera festival, running from 16-25
October 2020.

“As insurmountable as the concept of an online opera festival seemed back in March, and despite
the temptation to sit out 2020 until we can perform for live audiences again, I believe my job is to
guide our artists and company through all this uncertainty by demonstrating flexibility and
adaptability,” says Gertrude Opera’s Artistic Director Linda Thompson. “Nothing compares to the
live theatre experience, but we’re enjoying exploring what we can achieve through the digital
medium. It’s a steep learning curve and we’re inspired by the possibilities of what opera can be, in
connecting with old and new audiences.”
The Festival opens on the 16th of October with a Gala concert featuring performances from
company singers over the past eleven years, and hosted by Thompson and Maestro Brian Castles
Onion. Some of the artists performing from their homes around the world include Hadleigh Adams
(San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera), Stacey Alleaume (Bregenz Festspiele, Royal Opera

House Muscat, OA) Sophie Yelland (Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Twice-
Grammy nominated baritone John Marcus Bindel (Metropolitan Opera), Na’ama Goldman (Israeli

Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Grange Opera) and Sarah Herman-Heltzel, who sang Offred
in Gertrude Opera’s premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale.