West Australian Opera Launches 2022 Season

In 2022, West Australian Opera celebrates stories of hope, passion and purpose in a program that offers audiences a range of experiences. From opera at the company's home at His Majesty's Theatre to performing in iconic West Australian venues, Government House Ballroom and the WACA Ground.

"Our dream is to speak to the heart through the human voice", says Executive Director Carolyn Chard AM. "We want to share the joy of music through opera and the powerful stories opera tells. We are uniquely and proudly Western Australian and we bring audiences and artists together to celebrate sung stories that are relevant to our people, time, and places. The 2022 program is filled with works that embody this vision. In 2022, we look forward to welcoming you to the theatre, the ballroom, the WACA ground, schools and regional Western Australia."

West Australian Opera's 2022 season will open with Bizet's masterpiece Carmen performed in an arena spectacular at the WACA Ground complete with fully staged set, chorus, children's chorus, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and pyrotechnics. Mezzo-soprano Ashlyn Tymms will play the titular character and lead an outstanding Western Australian cast including Paul O'Neill and Prudence Sanders. Carmen is presented in association with Perth Festival will be playing for two nights only from February 25-26.

In April, the company returns home to His Majesty's Theatre for Tchaikovsky's Iolanta. This world premiere production is a collaboration between West Australian Opera and the vision impaired community of Perth, who have updated the libretto, and developed a moving production that tells the story from the blind heroine, Iolanta's point of view. The title role will be sung by Western Australian soprano Elena Peroni.

In May, two diva sopranos, Emma Pettemerides and Naomi Johns, will face off in The Duel at Government House Ballroom. In this production audiences will get up close and personal in the surrounds of Government House Ballroom and enjoy an intimate dinner, which channels the 1786 standoff by composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Mozart.

In July, the company will stage a production new to Perth with Opera Queensland 1970's setting of Puccini's beloved Tosca. Soprano Maija Kovalesvka makes her West Australian Opera debut as the titular character.

Following from the success of The Nightingale and Koolbardi wer Wardong, West Australian Opera will present the third opera for young people in October with Our Little Inventor. An operatic retelling of author Sher Rill Ng's beloved book of the same name, Our Little Inventor is a moving story about how some of the biggest and brightest ideas start from the smallest of places. This world premiere will charm young ones and those who are young at heart.

West Australian Opera will close out the season with a brand-new production of Verdi's La traviata. Under the direction of Sarah Giles and featuring Samantha Clarke and Paul O'Neill as the star-crossed lovers, La traviata will delight opera lovers and new audiences.

Following the resounding success of its inaugural season, West Australian Opera are delighted to announce the regional tour of Koolbardi wer Wardong. The critically praised opera which follows the Nyitting story of how Koolbardi (the magpie) and Wardong (the crow) came to be, will be performed at Albany Entertainment Centre, Goldfields Arts Centre and Esperance Civic Centre in 2022.

Of the stories being told in 2022, Ms Chard says: "At the core, these stories cause us to reflect on the human condition, to ponder our fears, our flaws, our trials and our triumphs. Recent times have proven just how resilient we can be, and this passion and hope we carry is the foundation of the 2022 season."

West Australian Opera's Artistic Director, Christopher van Tuinen says: "Opera, at its best, reflects both the timelessness of great art and the trials, joys, and loves of modern life. This connection between the old and the new feels more relevant as we look back across the last couple of years and remember old freedoms and cherished connections. We also think about new ways of gathering and sharing, with the understanding that nothing can replace the feeling of being in the same room with powerful music, stories and voices."

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