Each year the Melba Opera Trust selects a group of Australia’s most promising young singers to receive financial support by way of a scholarship. The value of a Melba Opera Trust Scholarship will vary from year to year and will often be dependant on the needs of the singers in any given year. In 2011, the total value of scholarship funding offered is $60,000, and there are seven recipients.
Scholarship funds are used to underwrite an individual development program for the recipient. The singer works with our expert panel and the General Manager of the Melba Opera Trust to create a balanced, intensive training program for the year, which is apropriate for their current stage of development. The needs of the singer drive their program.
To deliver the individual programs, the Trust then calls on coaches who work with the country’s top opera companies and educational providers, as well as international experts visiting Australia.
Each program must include a balance of:
- vocal development
- intensive language coaching
- stagecraft and movement
- professional development
Scholarship funding can be used towards the cost of a postgraduate program at an approved institution, as long as the program fits within the Trust’s development program criteria and can demonstrate training in each of the four areas listed above.
The financial support means that recipients are able to participate in more frequent and intense coaching, resulting in significant improvements.
Whilst on scholarship with the Melba Opera Trust, each recipient will meet with the panel chair regularly to ensure that they are benefiting from their development program.
Find out more about our scholarship application process.
“The support of the Trust has allowed me to work with the best vocal and language coaches in Australia in preparation for some very exciting performances.” – Jacqueline Porter, holder of the Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship in 2010.
“Through my time with [stagecraft coach] Cameron Menzies, I feel I have developed into a confident performer. My ability to contain my performance anxiety and be switched on from start to finish of a performance has definitely been the major improvement for me.” – Stephanie Gibson, scholarship holder, 2010