# Sydney Chamber Opera

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{{Short description|Australian opera company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name         =
| image        =
| origin       = Sydney, Australia
| genre        = Contemporary opera, chamber opera
| years_active = 2011–present
| website      = [https://www.sydneychamberopera.com/ sydneychamberopera.com]
}}

'''Sydney Chamber Opera''' is an opera company based in [Sydney](/source/Sydney), Australia. It is a resident company at [Carriageworks](/source/Carriageworks).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://carriageworks.com.au/residents/|title=Residents|publisher=[Carriageworks](/source/Carriageworks)|access-date=2016-06-02}}</ref> The company was founded in 2010 by Louis Garrick and Jack Symonds.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/the-wide-eyed-impresarios-taking-on-a-proud-tradition/news-story/dfd98fce3321b6f39fa0735f4e815b33|access-date=9 March 2024|title=The wide-eyed impresarios taking on a proud tradition|author=Tim Douglas|date=2 August 2013|newspaper=[The Australian](/source/The_Australian)}}</ref> Its first production was in February 2011 and it has since produced between two and four 20th- and 21st-century [chamber opera](/source/chamber_opera)s each year. Its repertoire typically consists of world premieres of Australian operas and recent international works receiving their Australian premieres, including stagings of [song cycle](/source/song_cycle)s or non-traditional stage works.<ref name="About">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sydneychamberopera.com/about/|title=About|website=sydneychamberopera.com|access-date=2024-03-09}}</ref>

== History and repertoire ==
Sydney Chamber Opera began with the world premiere of ''Notes from Underground'' by Jack Symonds and Pierce Wilcox, an adaptation of [Dostoevsky's novel](/source/Notes_from_Underground) at the Cellblock Theatre, Darlinghurst.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/auspicious-launch-of-an-impressive-production-20110221-1b2dv.html|title=Auspicious launch of an impressive production|newspaper=[The Sydney Morning Herald](/source/The_Sydney_Morning_Herald)|date=21 February 2011|access-date=2016-06-02}}</ref> ''[The Cunning Little Vixen](/source/The_Cunning_Little_Vixen)'', ''[The Lighthouse](/source/The_Lighthouse_(opera))'', ''[Owen Wingrave](/source/Owen_Wingrave)'', ''[Exil](/source/Giya_Kancheli)'', ''His Music Burns'', ''Mayakovsky'', ''[Fly Away Peter](/source/Fly_Away_Peter)'', ''An Index of Metals'' and ''O Mensch!'' were presented at [Carriageworks](/source/Carriageworks) and ''I Have Had Enough'', ''[In the Penal Colony](/source/In_the_Penal_Colony_(opera))'' and ''Climbing Toward Midnight'' at [National Institute of Dramatic Art](/source/National_Institute_of_Dramatic_Art).<ref name=Past>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sydneychamberopera.com/past-productions/|title=Past Productions|website=sydneychamberopera.com|access-date=2024-03-09}}</ref> ''Through The Gates'' was a performance for the 18th [Biennale of Sydney](/source/Biennale_of_Sydney) at Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay amidst a large-scale installation by Belgian artist {{Interlanguage link|Honoré δ'O|fr}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sydneychamberopera.com/?p=758|title=Through the Gates|website=sydneychamberopera.com|access-date=2016-06-02}}</ref> and ''[Victory Over the Sun](/source/Victory_over_the_Sun)'' was another site-specific commission by the 20th Biennale of Sydney for performance on [Cockatoo Island](/source/Cockatoo_Island), reimagining an early-twentieth century [Futurist](/source/Futurism) work with Western Sydney artist [Justene Williams](/source/Justene_Williams).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/sydney/blog/sorry-you-missed-the-best-thing-at-the-biennale-032416|title=Sorry you missed the best thing at the Biennale|website=Time Out Sydney|access-date=2016-06-02}}</ref> ''His Music Burns,''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bachtrack.com/review-jan-2014-sydney-festival-sco|title=Outstanding performances by Sydney Chamber Opera at Sydney Festival|website=[Bachtrack](/source/Bachtrack)|access-date=2016-06-02}}</ref> ''[Passion](/source/Pascal_Dusapin)''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2016/passion|title=Passion: Sydney Festival}}</ref> and ''O Mensch!'' by [Pascal Dusapin](/source/Pascal_Dusapin),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2016/o-mensch/?q=o%20mensch|title=O Mensch!: Sydney Festival}}</ref> and ''Biographica''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/opera/biographica-review--mary-finsterer-and-tom-wrights-story-of-gerolamo-cardano-20170108-gtnq6f.html|title=Biographica review: Mary Finsterer and Tom Wright's story of Gerolamo Cardano|last=McCallum|first=Peter|date=2017-01-08|newspaper=[The Sydney Morning Herald](/source/The_Sydney_Morning_Herald)|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref> were presented in the 2014, 2016 and 2017 [Sydney Festival](/source/Sydney_Festival)s. ''Passion'' was a revival of a production by [Pierre Audi](/source/Pierre_Audi). ''Fly Away Peter'' toured to [Arts Centre Melbourne](/source/Arts_Centre_Melbourne) in association with [Melbourne Festival](/source/Melbourne_Festival) in October 2015,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.festival.melbourne/2015/events/fly-away-peter/#.V0-WmJN97eQ|title=''Fly Away Peter''|website=Melbourne Festival|access-date=2016-06-02}}</ref> and in 2018 the previous year's production of ''[The Rape of Lucretia](/source/The_Rape_of_Lucretia)'' was co-presented by [Victorian Opera](/source/Victorian_Opera_(Melbourne)) and [Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra](/source/Tasmanian_Symphony_Orchestra) at the [Dark Mofo](/source/Dark_Mofo) Festival.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/the-rape-of-lucretia-victorian-opera-tasmanian-symphony-for-dark-mofo/|title=★★★★½ ''The Rape of Lucretia'' (VO & TSO for Dark Mofo)|magazine=[Limelight](/source/Limelight_(magazine))|access-date=2018-09-22}}</ref>

== Past productions ==
=== 2011–2015 ===
''WP= World premiere; AP= Australian premiere''

* ''Notes from Underground'' (Jack Symonds / Pierce Wilcox) – WP dir. Netta Yashchin (2011)
* ''[The Cunning Little Vixen](/source/The_Cunning_Little_Vixen)'' ([Leoš Janáček](/source/Leo%C5%A1_Jan%C3%A1%C4%8Dek) arr. [Jonathan Dove](/source/Jonathan_Dove)) – AP dir. Kate Gaul (2011)
* ''[I Have Had Enough](/source/Ich_habe_genug%2C_BWV_82)'' ([JS Bach](/source/Johann_Sebastian_Bach) / Jack Symonds) – WP (Symonds) dir. [Kip Williams](/source/Kip_Williams) (2011)
* ''[In the Penal Colony](/source/In_the_Penal_Colony_(opera))'' ([Philip Glass](/source/Philip_Glass) / [Rudolph Wurlitzer](/source/Rudy_Wurlitzer)) – AP dir. Imara Savage (2012)
* ''Through The Gates'' (various songs by [Bach](/source/Johann_Sebastian_Bach), [Barber](/source/Samuel_Barber), [Debussy](/source/Claude_Debussy), [Mahler](/source/Gustav_Mahler), [Poulenc](/source/Francis_Poulenc), [Shostakovich](/source/Dmitri_Shostakovich) et al.) dir. Kip Williams (2012)
* ''[The Lighthouse](/source/The_Lighthouse_(opera))'' ([Peter Maxwell Davies](/source/Peter_Maxwell_Davies)) dir. Kip Williams (2012)
* ''Climbing Toward Midnight'' (Jack Symonds / [Richard Wagner](/source/Richard_Wagner)) – WP dir. Netta Yashchin (2013)
* ''[Owen Wingrave](/source/Owen_Wingrave)'' ([Benjamin Britten](/source/Benjamin_Britten) / [Myfanwy Piper](/source/Myfanwy_Piper)) – AP dir. Imara Savage (2013)
* ''Exil'' ([Giya Kancheli](/source/Giya_Kancheli)) – AP dir. [Adena Jacobs](/source/Adena_Jacobs) (2013)
* ''...pas à pas – nulle part...'' ([György Kurtág](/source/Gy%C3%B6rgy_Kurt%C3%A1g) / [Samuel Beckett](/source/Samuel_Beckett)) – AP dir. Sarah Giles (2014)
* ''Into the Little Hill'' ([George Benjamin](/source/George_Benjamin_(composer)) / [Martin Crimp](/source/Martin_Crimp)) – AP dir. Sarah Giles (2014)
* ''Mayakovsky'' (Michael Smetanin / [Alison Croggon](/source/Alison_Croggon)) – WP dir. Kat Henry (2014) – about the Russian poet [Vladimir Mayakovsky](/source/Vladimir_Mayakovsky)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/stage/portrait-of-the-proletarians-poet-vladimir-mayakovsky/news-story/367d1a76a0f7e686cffa9d1d86abd0a1|access-date=9 March 2024|title= Portrait of the proletarians’ poet, Vladimir Mayakovsky|author=Matthew Westwood|date=25 July 2014|page=14|newspaper=[The Australian](/source/The_Australian)}}</ref>
* ''[Fly Away Peter](/source/Fly_Away_Peter)'' (Elliott Gyger / Pierce Wilcox) – WP dir. Imara Savage (2015)
* ''An Index of Metals'' ([Fausto Romitelli](/source/Fausto_Romitelli) / Kenka Lekovich) – AP dir. Kip Williams (2015)

=== 2016–2020 ===
* ''Passion'' ([Pascal Dusapin](/source/Pascal_Dusapin) / Rita de Letteriis) – AP dir. [Pierre Audi](/source/Pierre_Audi) (revival dir. Miranda Lakerveld) (2016)
* ''O Mensch!'' ([Pascal Dusapin](/source/Pascal_Dusapin) / [Friedrich Nietzsche](/source/Friedrich_Nietzsche)) – AP dir. Sarah Giles (2016)
* ''[Victory Over the Sun](/source/Victory_over_the_Sun)'' (Huw Belling / Pierce Wilcox) – WP dir. Justene Williams/ Pierce Wilcox (2016)
* ''Notes from Underground'' (Jack Symonds / Pierce Wilcox) – WP new version dir. Patrick Nolan (2016)
* ''Biographica'' (Opera by [Mary Finsterer](/source/Mary_Finsterer) / [Tom Wright](/source/Tom_Wright_(Australian_playwright))) – WP dir. Janice Muller (2017)
* ''[The Rape of Lucretia](/source/The_Rape_of_Lucretia)'' ([Benjamin Britten](/source/Benjamin_Britten) / [Ronald Duncan](/source/Ronald_Duncan)) dir. Kip Williams (2017)
* ''The Howling Girls'' ([Damien Ricketson](/source/Damien_Ricketson)) – WP dir. [Adena Jacobs](/source/Adena_Jacobs) (2018)
* ''[https://www.resonantbodiesfestival.org/ Resonant Bodies Festival]'' (featuring [Sofia Jernberg](/source/Sofia_Jernberg), [Rully Shabara](/source/Senyawa_(band)), Deborah Kayser, Sonya Holowell, Mitchell Riley and Ariadne Greif) (2018)
* ''[La Passion de Simone](/source/La_Passion_de_Simone)'' ([Kaija Saariaho](/source/Kaija_Saariaho), [Amin Maalouf](/source/Amin_Maalouf)) with [Jane Sheldon](/source/Jane_Sheldon), soprano; Jack Symonds, conductor – AP directed by Imara Savage (2019)<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/musicshow/kaija-saariaho-finland-simone-weil/10621936 "Finland's premier composer"] by [Andrew Ford](/source/Andrew_Ford_(composer)), ''The Music Show'', [Radio National](/source/Radio_National), 16 December 2018</ref>
*''[Oscar and Lucinda](/source/Oscar_and_Lucinda)'' (Elliot Gyger / Pierce Wilcox) with Jack Symonds, conductor; Patrick Nolan, director (2019)
* ''Breaking Glass'' ([Georgia Scott](/source/Georgia_Scott) / Peggy Polias / Josephine Macken /  [Bree van Reyk](/source/Bree_van_Reyk)) – WP with Jack Symonds, conductor; Danielle Maas and Clemence Williams, directors (2020)<ref name=Past />

=== 2021– ===
* ''Future Remains'' (Double bill ''[The Diary of One Who Disappeared](/source/The_Diary_of_One_Who_Disappeared)'' by [Leoš Janáček](/source/Leo%C5%A1_Jan%C3%A1%C4%8Dek) / ''Fumeblind Oracle'' Huw Belling and Pierce Wilcox) – WP with Alexander Berlage, director (2021)<ref>[https://www.sydneychamberopera.com/2020/11/17/future-remains/ "''Future Remains'' production details" (2021)], sydneychamberopera.com</ref>
* ''Poem for a Dried Up River'' (Music: Jane Sheldon, text: [Alice Oswald](/source/Alice_Oswald)) – AP (2021)<ref name=Past />
* ''In Song'' (Four programs of songs) – some AP and WP (2021)<ref>[https://www.sydneychamberopera.com/2021/05/10/insong/ "''In Song''" production details (2021)"], sydneychamberopera.com</ref>
* ''Awakening Shadow'' (Music from Britten's ''[Canticles](/source/Canticles_(Britten))'' combined with music by Luke Styles) – AP (2022)<ref name=Past />
* ''Antarctica'' (Opera by Mary Finsterer / Tom Wright) – AP (2022)<ref name=Past />
* ''Earth.Voice.Body'' (Triple bill ''The Shape of the Earth'' by Jack Symonds and Pierce Wilcox; ''[La voix humaine](/source/La_voix_humaine)'' by Poulenc; ''Quatre instants'' by Kaija Saariaho and Amin Maalouf) (2023)<ref name=Past />
* ''Gilgamesh'' (Music: Jack Symonds, text: Louis Garrick, based on ''[Epic of Gilgamesh](/source/Epic_of_Gilgamesh)'', directed by Kip Williams) – WP (2024)<ref>[https://www.sydneychamberopera.com/2023/10/23/gilgamesh/ "''Gilgamesh'' production details (2024)"], sydneychamberopera.com</ref>

== Key personnel ==
Jack Symonds is the artistic director.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/louis-garrick-steps-down-as-sydney-chamber-opera-artistic-director/news-story/438192346c029ca81372a12875ed50a1|access-date=9 March 2024|title=Louis Garrick Steps down as Sydney Chamber Opera|author=Ashleigh Wilson|date=21 October 2014|newspaper=[The Australian](/source/The_Australian)}}</ref>

Huw Belling is principal artistic associate. Danielle Maas, Mitchell Riley, [Jane Sheldon](/source/Jane_Sheldon), James Wannan and Pierce Wilcox are artistic associates.<ref name="About"/>

The company has typically engaged stage directors from a theatre background, often making their operatic debut, e.g. [Sydney Theatre Company](/source/Sydney_Theatre_Company) artistic director [Kip Williams](/source/Kip_Williams).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/kip-williams-leaps-from-stc-to-sydney-chamber-opera-and-back/news-story/4dc1ab9d5316b2652aee4128d1709ba9|access-date=9 March 2024|title=Kip Williams leaps from STC to Sydney Chamber Opera and back|author=Matthew Westwood|date=14 November 2015|newspaper=[The Australian](/source/The_Australian)}}</ref> The company has also been noted for developing talented young singers.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Article/325007,live-review-the-lighthouse-sydney-chamber-opera.aspx|title=Live review: The Lighthouse (Sydney Chamber Opera)|magazine=[Limelight](/source/Limelight_(magazine))|access-date=2016-06-02}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official website|https://www.sydneychamberopera.com/}}
* [https://carriageworks.com.au/ Carriageworks]

{{Portal bar|Opera}}
{{authority control}}

Category:Australian opera companies
Category:Music in Sydney
Category:2010 establishments in Australia
Category:Musical groups established in 2010
Category:Performing groups established in 2010

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sydney Chamber Opera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Chamber_Opera) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Chamber_Opera?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.