Reception for Opera Queensland

Chair, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Mr Rod Pilbeam and Judy Pilbeam; Dr Philip Aitken and Dr Susan Urquhart, who are responsible for our event tonight; Opera Queensland CEO & Artistic Director, Mr Patrick Nolan; Executive Director Mr Adam Tucker, Directors and staff, benefactors and supporters; Opera Queensland artists, tenor Carlos Bárcenas, soprano Madeleine Stephens, and pianist Alex Raineri, distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen. 

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. 

As proud Joint Patrons of Opera Queensland, Graeme and I recently had the great pleasure of joining many of you in Winton and Longreach for this year’s fabulous Festival of Outback Opera, and we’re now delighted to welcome you to Government House this evening. 

To hear an artist of the calibre of Sumi Jo perform under an open sky, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest concert hall, was an unforgettable experience, and on behalf of all Queenslanders, I thank Opera Queensland for making the decision to give the people of the Central West this unique and inspiring opportunity.  

An initiative of that scale and complexity takes courage. 

When there are so many competing needs and demands in contemporary society, the Arts must fight hard for government and philanthropic support.  

As a consequence, companies tend to avoid artistic risk in order to retain audiences. It’s why ballet companies never stray far from the known Tchaikovsky ballets; it’s why orchestras rarely program contemporary Australian music and it’s why Opera Queensland is one of very few companies to have successfully ventured beyond those boundaries to demonstrate that opera is as vibrant and relevant today as it was in the 17th century when it first emerged as an artform. 

We saw this in 2019 when Glucks’s 400-year-old opera, Orpheus and Euridice, was brought to life in a collaboration with Queensland’s extraordinary contemporary circus company, Circa, and we saw it again last year when the two companies collaborated for a second time to perform Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.  

As one critic said, that production delivered “80 minutes of baroque astonishment”. 

Those two productions also delivered casebook studies in the art of the calculated risk – Orpheus and Eurydice went on to be presented at the Sydney Opera House in January 2024 and again with the West Australian Opera in Perth last October, and next month it is headed for the Edinburgh International Festival.  

Wonderful, then, that Dido and Aeneas is following the same trajectory, with Opera Australia presenting the production in Sydney earlier this year. 

These things do not just happen; they take an enormous amount of planning, effort and financial support, and Opera Queensland would not have been able to achieve what it has without the great generosity and enduring belief of the charitable foundations, sponsors and individual donors who support the company’s vision.  

I know that some of you here tonight have given that support for many years and, as patrons, Graeme and I thank you for your continued generosity. It is critical. 

There was no more telling demonstration of this than when Cyclone Alfred made his unpredictable way down the Queensland coast in March, forcing Opera Queensland to cancel four productions in the planned 2025 Brisbane Bel Canto festival.  

The arts is a precarious business at the best of times and for the company, the singers and the creatives––in fact, for everyone involved in that festival, cancellation meant not only a loss of income, but a loss of exposure, experience, and the opportunity to connect with new audiences.  

Knowing that partners, sponsors and donors would be there to help at that time was vital, and their support continues to be critically important to the company’s mission of making this wonderful artform accessible to a wider audience and taking the joy of opera to all Queenslanders, regardless of their location.  

Thank you for joining us here this evening. In particular, I want to express my thanks once again to Phil and Sue for their support and generosity in making tonight happen, and for their long-term support of Opera Queensland. 

Please join with us in wishing the company and their collaborators every success at the Edinburgh International Festival next month, and for a bright and exciting future. Enjoy tonight.