Bronwyn Douglass
Bronwyn Douglass
[SYDNEY]
Soprano Bronwyn Douglass has been praised for her “rich, warm tone” and “quietly radiant presence” by Limelight Magazine, who also featured her as a “Rising Star” and one of the “Next Generation” of Australian opera singers in 2019. Having undertaken a fach change in 2020, Bronwyn is currently a soprano ensemble singer with Opera Australia and looks forward to announcing more exciting engagements in the coming months.
Since the start of 2021, Bronwyn has had the pleasure of working with Opera Australia in their productions of Ernani, Tosca and Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour La traviata. She was set to perform in Opera Australia's winter season of Attila, Otello and The Tales of Hoffman and the Brisbane season later this year, performing in Aida, Götterdämmerung and covering Sieglinde in Die Walküre. These productions, unfortunately, had to be postponed due to Covid-19.
In 2019, Bronwyn performed in Opera Australia's Don Giovanni, study covered the role of Adalgisa in Melbourne Opera's Norma and sang in concert with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in Chorus Oz: Ode to Joy (broadcast on ABC) and with Teddy Tahu Rhodes in Opera Under the Stars. In 2018, Bronwyn debuted as Rosina in Co-Opera's regional tour of The Barber of Seville. She then proceeded to undertake significant overseas study thanks to substantial awards won in 2017, including two months in London working with teachers and coaches from The Royal Opera and three months in New York working with teachers and coaches from The Juilliard School and The Metropolitan Opera.
Other opera highlights include Olga in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (Co-Opera regional tour), Flora in Verdi's La traviata (Opera New England), Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly (Opera Projects, Sydney), 2nd Witch in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (Brisbane Baroque Festival) and Miss Baggott in The Little Sweep (Australian Festival of Chamber Music).
Concert highlights include Handel's Messiah (Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Philharmonia Choirs), Ralph Vaughan Williams' Tudor Portraits (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs), Beethoven 9 (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Willoughby Symphony Orchestra), Mozart Mass in C (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs) as well as performing as a soloist in opera galas for organisations such as the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Opera Under the Stars and the Brisbane Festival.
Bronwyn holds a Bachelor of Music from the Australian National University School of Music and a Masters of Music from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. She also attended the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School for three consecutive years from 2013-2015 and the Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto in 2018 on scholarship.
Bronwyn is the proud winner of some of Australia's most prestigious awards including the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award and The Opera Foundation for Young Australians Lady Fairfax New York Scholarship. She was also the Amelia Joscelyne Memorial Scholar with the Melba Opera Trust from 2016-2017 which allowed her to work in masterclass with many internationally acclaimed artists including Dame Felicity Lott, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Stuart Skelton, and Yvonne Kenny AM.
TRAINING
Bronwyn holds a Bachelor of Music from the Australian National University School of Music (2012) and a Masters in Operatic Performance from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (2014).
At the Queensland Conservatorium, she performed the role of Forrester’s Wife in The Cunning Little Vixen and received an award for academic excellence and The Queensland Wagner Society Encouragement Award.
While studying at the Queensland Conservatorium, Bronwyn undertook the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School under scholarship for three consecutive years (2013-2015) and The Mediterranean Opera Studio in Italy (2014).
AWARDS
Bronwyn has been the winner of some of Australia's most prestigious awards, including the 2017 Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award and the 2017 Opera Foundation for young Australians Lady Fairfax New York Scholarship.
She has been a prizewinner or finalist in almost all of Australia's largest singing competitions, including the Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Scholarship (2016, 2017, 2019), Herald Sun Aria (2015, 2016), The Opera Foundation for young Australians Deutsche Oper Berlin Award (2018), the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award (2nd runner-up 2016) and the German-Australian Opera Grant (runner-up and encouragement grant 2019).
REVIEWS
'"…her rich, warm tone, clear at the top, subtle at the bottom, and backed by bags of personality – stood out."
Clive Paget - Limelight Magazine
"…with her pinpoint diction and a ripe sense of pathos. Drunken Alice swooped and swayed with a skilful deployment of chest voice, while poor bereaved Jane's distress rang out crystal clear, every note and word true as iron."
Clive Paget - Limelight Magazine
"…a beautiful tone across her entire register, an expressive emotional connection to the arias, and a quietly radiant presence."
Jo Litson- Limelight Magazine
"…her unusual mezzo soprano was composed and beautiful throughout the range"
Heather Leviston - Classic Melbourne