| Sydney Chamber Opera | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sydney, Australia |
| Genres | Contemporary opera, chamber opera |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Website | sydneychamberopera.com |
Sydney Chamber Opera is an opera company based inSydney, Australia. It is a resident company atCarriageworks.[1] The company was founded in 2010 by Louis Garrick and Jack Symonds.[2] Its first production was in February 2011 and it has since produced between two and four 20th- and 21st-centurychamber operas each year. Its repertoire typically consists of world premieres of Australian operas and recent international works receiving their Australian premieres, including stagings ofsong cycles or non-traditional stage works.[3]
Sydney Chamber Opera began with the world premiere ofNotes from Underground by Jack Symonds and Pierce Wilcox, an adaptation ofDostoevsky's novel at the Cellblock Theatre, Darlinghurst.[4]The Cunning Little Vixen,The Lighthouse,Owen Wingrave,Exil,His Music Burns,Mayakovsky,Fly Away Peter,An Index of Metals andO Mensch! were presented atCarriageworks andI Have Had Enough,In the Penal Colony andClimbing Toward Midnight atNational Institute of Dramatic Art.[5]Through The Gates was a performance for the 18thBiennale of Sydney at Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay amidst a large-scale installation by Belgian artistHonoré δ'O [fr][6] andVictory Over the Sun was another site-specific commission by the 20th Biennale of Sydney for performance onCockatoo Island, reimagining an early-twentieth centuryFuturist work with Western Sydney artistJustene Williams.[7]His Music Burns,[8]Passion[9] andO Mensch! byPascal Dusapin,[10] andBiographica[11] were presented in the 2014, 2016 and 2017Sydney Festivals.Passion was a revival of a production byPierre Audi.Fly Away Peter toured toArts Centre Melbourne in association withMelbourne Festival in October 2015,[12] and in 2018 the previous year's production ofThe Rape of Lucretia was co-presented byVictorian Opera andTasmanian Symphony Orchestra at theDark Mofo Festival.[13]
WP= World premiere; AP= Australian premiere
Jack Symonds is the artistic director.[19]
Huw Belling is principal artistic associate. Danielle Maas, Mitchell Riley,Jane Sheldon, James Wannan and Pierce Wilcox are artistic associates.[3]
The company has typically engaged stage directors from a theatre background, often making their operatic debut, e.g.Sydney Theatre Company artistic directorKip Williams.[20] The company has also been noted for developing talented young singers.[21]
