Victorian Opera Receives 2016 Melbourne Award

Victorian Opera received the City of Melbourne's highest honour with a 2016 Melbourne Award for Contribution to Profile by a Corporation.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle expressed, "Congratulations to Victorian Opera on their 2016 Melbourne Award for Contribution to Profile by a Corporation." He continued, acknowledging that "Victorian Opera is a vital part of what makes Melbourne the arts and culture capital of Australia."

Victorian Opera's Executive Producer Libby Hill (pictured with Lord Mayor Robert Doyle) accepted the award on behalf of the company at Saturday evening's award ceremony. She notes: "Receiving a Melbourne Award is such a humbling acknowledgment of Victorian Opera's work and our commitment to staging opera across our great city's stages. As a company, we work tirelessly to deliver productions of the highest standard and aim to intrigue, inspire and delight audiences in Melbourne and beyond."

Hill continued: "We express our earnest thanks to the City of Melbourne, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood and to all those involved with the Melbourne Awards for this award. Our great thanks as well to Creative Victoria, The Robert Salzer Foundation and to our Patrons and corporate partners for their ongoing support that makes our work possible."

Established in 2005, Victorian Opera has evolved to become a state icon and national leader in the Australian operatic landscape. Recognised as an important part of Melbourne's artistic and cultural life, the company has earned a strong reputation for its development of new Australian work, diverse repertoire, artistic excellence and attracting the most talented local and International Artists.

In order to ensure audience accessibility, Victorian Opera offers the lowest average ticket price of any professional opera company in Australia and provides tactile tours and audio description for the vision impaired, and relaxed performances for children of varied abilities.

The company is firmly committed to the future of opera and supports this endeavour with an extensive Education Program for students from primary to tertiary. It has inspired over 500 young singers through its youth opera program, developed over 30 emerging artists, and its Education Program reaches over 7500 students and teachers annually through incursions and excursions to experience opera.

Victorian Opera's Managing Director Andrew Snell comments: "We are absolutely delighted to have received a Melbourne Award. We have been truly humbled by the recent acknowledgements of our work in Melbourne, across regional Victoria and on a national level."

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