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The Richard Divall Program
Developing opera singers to a professional, performance-ready standard since 2016
About the program
Nearly a decade of extraordinary results
The Richard Divall Program focuses on developing opera singers to a professional, performance-ready standard. Singers are selected for either the Emerging Artists or Developing Artists tier of the program, with the opportunity to reapply for a second year of support. This is a one-year, mid-year intake program — intensive and running throughout the whole year.
As we approach our tenth year, the results speak for themselves. Of the 52 singers supported to date, 39 are in regular remunerated employment as opera singers in Australia and abroad — an outstanding achievement for a program not quite a decade old.
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52
singers supported to date
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39
in regular paid work as opera singers
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~10
years of operations
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What the program provides
- Financial assistance for singing lessons with your teacher
- Opportunities to perform and understudy main stage roles in a professional environment
- Concert and event performances
- High-level coaching for roles being performed and understudied, as well as general repertoire
- Professional rehearsal conditions
- Exclusive masterclasses with visiting artists, conductors and directors
- Language classes — Italian at the Italian Institute of Culture; German at the Goethe Institut Melbourne — plus lyric diction
- Role preparation and stagecraft with 16th Street Actors Studio and guest professionals
- Professional practice instruction and mentoring from senior colleagues
Eligibility
Open age program — no age restriction
Full-time Victorian resident throughout the program
Australian citizen and resident
No relocation or interstate travel costs provided
Not a salaried program — other work commitments accommodated within reason
Contact
Program Director
Suzanne Chaundy
suzanne@melbourneopera.com
German Exchange Scholarship
An opportunity to develop abroad
The Richard Divall Program in association with Rotary Central Melbourne through the New Generations Service Exchange, Rotary International, offers an annual German scholarship (July to September, with some flexibility) providing travel, accommodation and living expenses in Germany for three months, allowing singers to pursue their own development interests in a supported environment.
This opportunity is exclusively open to current and past members of the Richard Divall Program. Recipients to date are Breanna Stuart, Asher Reichman, Rachael Joyce, Michael Dimovski, Louise Keast and Olivia Federow-Yemm.
Applications for the next exchange will be announced when available. Contact Suzanne Chaundy for further information. Note: due to Rotary rules, applicants must be under 30 years of age.
About the program
A legacy of generosity and vision
The Richard Divall Program was created to honour the memory of one of Australia’s most lauded conductors, Maestro Richard Divall, supported by a generous bequest made by Melbourne-born international soprano Sylvia Fisher. Upon her death, Sylvia Fisher made this bequest to ensure the continuing support of the development of new artists of operatic excellence in her hometown, Melbourne. Before Maestro Divall’s death in early 2017, he was closely involved in the planning and creation of this program in collaboration with Melbourne Opera.
Managed by a committee of professional opera artists through Melbourne Opera, The Richard Divall Program aims to develop singers of great potential to a performance-ready standard. It will focus on providing opportunities for emerging opera singers to experience the pressure of intensive role preparation, rehearsal and performance in a professional setting whilst continuing artistic development with tailored high quality coaching, workshops, master classes and mentoring.
“Showcasing the extraordinary talents of emerging and developing artists of the Richard Divall Program in a simple yet spirited staging, the work finds both sparkle and sincerity.”
— Australian Arts Review, on the 2025 production of Così fan tutte
2025 Richard Divall production of Così fan tutte
(L–R) Hartley Trusler, Sidra Nissen, Henry Shaw, Heulen Cynfal, Livia Brash and Joshua Erdelyi-Götz. Photo: Robin Halls
Results
The moment preparation meets opportunity
The program’s performance-ready focus was never more evident than when soprano Emily Szabo stepped in to sing the role of Mimì in Melbourne Opera’s La Bohème in September 2024, receiving high praise from Limelight and Classic Melbourne. That ability to deliver under pressure is exactly what this program is built to develop.
Program members have taken on principal roles and covered major productions including Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Suor Angelica, Samson et Dalila and Don Giovanni, and have gone on to work with Victorian Opera and companies interstate and abroad.
Emerging Artists — 2026 to 2027
Meet the current cohort
NEW EMERGING ARTISTS
Shimona Rose
Read more →
Matthew Avery
Read more →
RETURNING EMERGING ARTISTS
Breanna Stuart
Read more →
Heulen Cynfal
Read more →
Hartley Trusler
Read more →
Developing Artists — 2026 to 2027
Building the next generation
Returning Developing Artists
Soprano
Tenor
New Developing Artists
Soprano
Soprano
Mezzo Soprano
Mezzo Soprano
Baritone
Awards & Achievements
A decade of extraordinary recognition
Awards and achievements by our singers include the Sydney Eisteddfod, the Marianne Mathy Scholarship (Australian Singing Competition), the Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Sydney International Song Prize, the Herald Sun Aria — including the Sylvia Fisher Award, the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Prize, the Richard Divall Prize and the John Fulford Prize — OSA Scholars of the Year, and the Singer of the Year Award (Welsh Male Choir).
Seven of our singers have been selected as Victorian Opera Prizewinners, each receiving a year’s contract with Victorian Opera — the most recent recipients have both been renewed for a second year. Opera Foundation Awards have seen two singers awarded Deutsche Oper contract positions. Further international recognition includes the AIMS Award (Austria), the Margaret Baker Genovesi Travelling Scholarship, the German Australian Opera Grant, the Rotary German Exchange Scholarship, the Dramatic Voices Program Berlin, the Lisa Gasteen Summer School, and the MTO Development Award.
Our singers are in high demand in productions and on the concert platform across Victoria and Australia, have received GRA nominations for performance, and are currently working professionally in Austria, Germany, England and Scotland. An outstanding achievement for a program not quite ten years old.
Past program members
Program history
| 2025–26 | EmergingBreanna Stuart, Joshua Erdelyi-Götz, Hartley Trusler, Heulen Cynfal, Sidra Nissen, Livia Brash (2025 only) DevelopingUma Dobia, Cen Wei, Nicholas Matters, James Penn |
| 2024–25 | EmergingLivia Brash, Rachael Joyce, Emily Szabo, Lily Ward, Caitlin Weal, Amanda Windred, Asher Reichman, Bailey Montgomerie, Henry Shaw DevelopingBreanna Stuart, Joshua Erdelyi-Götz, James Penn, Daniel Felton |
| 2023–24 | EmergingOlivia Federow-Yemm, Rachael Joyce, Asher Reichman, Henry Shaw, Emily Szabo, Caitlin Weal, Amanda Windred, Jordan Kahler |
| 2022–23 | EmergingAlastair Cooper-Golec, Naomi Flatman, Olivia Federow-Yemm, Esther Gresswell, Teresa Ingrilli, Adam Jon, Jordan Kahler, Amelia Wawrzon, Alex Byrne DevelopingAndrew Alesi, Shania Eliassen, Finn Gilheany, James Park, Syrah Torii, Leah Phillips |
| 2021–22 | Alastair Cooper-Golec, Naomi Flatman, Eleanor Greenwood, Teresa Ingrilli, Adam Jon, Jordan Kahler, Amelia Wawrzon |
| 2020–21 | Eleanor Greenwood, Jane Magao, Darcy Carroll, Louise Keast, Michael Dimovski, Georgia Wilkinson |
| 2019–20 | EmergingLouise Keast, Jane Magão, Shakira Dugan, Chloe Harris, Michael Dimovski, Louis Hurley, Darcy Carroll AssociateRebecca Rashleigh, Stephen Marsh |
| 2018–19 | Rebecca Rashleigh, Alison McIntosh-Deszcz, Shakira Dugan, Michael Dimovski, Michael Lampard, Darcy Carroll, Stephen Marsh |
Alumni
Associate Artists
Graduates of the Richard Divall Program who continue to be part of the Melbourne Opera family.
Supporters
The Richard Divall Program is grateful for the support of the Sylvia Fisher Fund, the Ian Potter Foundation, Friends of Melbourne Opera, the Mietta Foundation, and Allan Myers AC and Maria Myers AC. Every contribution helps Melbourne Opera provide this essential program. To find out more, contact Company Manager Robbie McPhee: (03) 9600 2488 or info@melbourneopera.com