Featured artists
David Rogers-Smith, Coordinator of Classical Voice
- David Rogers-Smith is the Classical Voice Coordinator at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance. He is a performer, teacher, workshop leader and choral conductor. He is also on staff at Toorak College, Mt Eliza. David’s performance career has seen him appear on opera, musical theatre, concert, oratorio, and cabaret stages and has performed with all major orchestras in Australia (SSO, MSO, APO, OV). David is a clinician for the annual Junior Theatre Festivals in both Australia and the USA - running workshops for several thousand young singers. Musical Theatre credits include over 2,500 performances as Ubaldo Piangi in The Phantom of the Opera; Les Miserables, Chicago, Funny Girl, and Marry Me A LIttle. With Victorian Opera: Sunday In The Park With George, Into The Woods, and Sweeney Todd. Operatic credits include Iain Grandage's The Riders, Paul Grabowsky's Banquet of Secrets, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, the title roles in both Pagliacci and Faust, Carmen, Kirov Opera’s Salome, Gaugin – a synthetic life, From A Black Sky and The Merry Widow.
Judith Dodsworth
- A performer of “extraordinary range and versatility”, Judith Dodsworth is equally at home in opera, theatre, chamber music and concert. She has long been a champion of new and diverse repertoire; following numerous performances, premieres and collaborations in Australia and overseas, she has forged a reputation as one of Australia’s leading exponents of contemporary vocal music. Her operatic roles have included Carmen, Greta (Metamorphosis), Rameau’s Pygmalion,Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot (with Syzygy Ensemble) and premieres of Opiume (Singapore and Hong Kong Festivals), From a Black Sky, A Drone Opera, The Blood Vote, Speechless and Gordon Kerry’s Midnight Son (sung with less than twenty-four hours’ notice). Notable recent performances have included works by Outi Tarkiainen, Kate Soper, Nicholas Lens, George Crumb, Pierre Boulez, Julius Eastman, Jörg Widmann and Kaija Saariaho. With composer Kevin March Judith co-created, performed and toured The Unknown Swimmer, a multimedia song cycle to her own libretto.
Toni Lalich
- Toni Lalich OAM has worked as an accompanist in Melbourne for the past 25 years, performing with professional singers and instrumentalists. After completing her undergraduate studies in Western Australia, Toni studied at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. On her return to Australia Toni completed her Post Graduate studies at the Victorian College of the Arts. In 2011 Toni commenced the position of Company Manager for Short Black Opera and continued with her role as company vocal coach. Established in 2009 by Deborah Cheetham AO, Short Black Opera is a national not-for-profit opera company devoted to the development of Indigenous singers. In 2019 Toni received a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the performing arts, particularly music.
Stuart Maunder
Beginning his career in stage management at the then Australian Opera, Maunder has a long history in opera, as a director and arts administrator. He served in senior management roles at Opera Australia from 1999 to 2008 before being appointed General Director of New Zealand Opera in 2014. He was appointed Artistic Director of State Opera South Australia in 2018. In his time at State Opera, Maunder has proved a passionate advocate for finding a distinctive Australian voice, championing Australian repertoire, developing the next generation of Australian artists while still pursuing a balanced repertoire designed to reach the widest possible audience. His work as a director is highly revered and has ensured Maunder has remained a consistent presence on Australian stages for over three decades. A frequent collaborator with Victorian Opera, Maunder has directed several popular productions including four musicals by Stephen Sondheim (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, A Little Night Music), Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen and a co-production of Richard Meale’s Voss with State Opera South Australia. Maunder’s production of Sweeney Todd was co-produced with New Zealand Opera and toured New Zealand and Australia following its debut in 2015.
Filip Fulco is currently studying his Bachelor of Music at Monash University, where he is specialising in Classical Piano Performance under Robert Chamberlain. With experience accompanying vocal soloists/choirs and instrumental soloists, he is passionate about fulfilling the role of an accompanist. With a particular penchant for vocal music, Filip has been able to explore this repertoire under the tutelage of Dean Sky-Lucas in his studies and his work for the Monash University Choral Society (MonUCS). In addition to his experience at University he has experience accompanying for AMEB exams and school recitals. With his music studies Filip is also completing a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Psychology.