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Emma Matthews
Emma Matthews AM (née Lysons; born 1970) is an English-born Australian lyric coloratura soprano, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage. A Principal Artist with Opera Australia, Matthews has received more Helpmann Awards than any other individual artist, nine Green Room Awards, the Mo Award and the Remy Martin Australian Opera Award. Life and careerBorn Emma Lysons in Manchester, England, she grew up with three younger sisters in Fiji, where her father worked as a maritime pilot,[1] and Vanuatu before moving to Cairns, Queensland, Port Hedland, Western Australia, and finally Perth.[2] There she attended Perth Modern School[3] before studying musical theatre at the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music (part of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, WAAPA), but was persuaded by a teacher to switch to opera. She sang with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Western Australia in 1990.[4] Since her 1991 professional debut with the West Australian Opera and appointment to Opera Australia in 1993, she has appeared in every state of Australia, notably with the State Opera of South Australia, Victorian State Opera and Opera Queensland, in Adelaide, Melbourne as well as frequent appearances at the Huntington Estate Music Festival for Musica Viva from 1994. In 2017 Matthews was appointed Head of Classical Voice at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.[5] She is married to Stephen Matthews, a former chorister and later a stage mechanic with Opera Australia.[2] Matthews was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the performing arts, particularly opera".[6] RolesHer first roles took advantage of her sweet light coloratura voice (capable of a top F6), her good looks, and her acting ability.[7] She has appeared for Opera Australia as:
She has later taken on more challenging roles, often being compared with Joan Sutherland who, with her husband Richard Bonynge, was something of a friend and mentor.[8]
Matthews has also been well received in concerts, with a repertoire from Mozart's Requiem, Haydn Masses, and Handel's Messiah to works by Brahms, Poulenc and Villa Lobos, and Mahler's Symphonies No. 2 and No. 4. She appeared with José Carreras in Sydney 2008, then on New Year's Eve in Mozart's Great Mass in C minor with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Screen appearancesShe appeared, billed as Emma Lysons, in the 1995 Alan John opera The Eighth Wonder about the Sydney Opera House, broadcast on ABC TV the night following its world premiere.[9][10] DiscographyAlbums
Awards and nominationsABC Symphony Australia Young Performers AwardsThe ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards The ABC Young Performers Awards is a classical music competition for young people that ran annually from 1944 to 2015, and again from 2017.
ARIA Music AwardsThe ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.
Green Room Awards
Helpmann AwardsThe Helpmann Awards is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001.[15] Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mo AwardsThe Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Emma Matthews won one award in that time.[26]
References
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