SUPPORT

Please contact our office on (03) 9944 2100 for further information on pledging an annual donation.

Please contact our office on (03) 9944 2100 for further information on Melba’s Will Bequest Circle.

Named Endowments provide perpetual support for a scholarship or one of our vital development programs.  A Named Endowment Fund requires a minimum commitment of $500,000 which can be structured through a combination of major gifts, pledges or a legacy commitment through our Melba’s Will bequest program. Acknowledgement of the perpetual fund is at the donor’s discretion.

Please contact our office on (03) 9944 2100 for further information on establishing your own named endowment.

Should you wish to find out more about personally supporting Melba Opera Trust, please contact (03) 9944 2100.

We have a number of dedicated scholarships that are awarded annually to opera singers and repetiteurs of outstanding merit. You may request a preference for your gift to contribute to one of these established scholarships.

AWARDED IN 2019

Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship

The Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship was established in 1931 via Dame Nellie’s will, which bequeathed to the Albert Street Conservatorium the sum of £8,000 or the equivalent $1million in 2019 dollars.  Dame Nellie’s largesse resulted in The Albert Street Conservatorium being later renamed The Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music, which in 20018 became the Melba Opera Trust.

Melba directed through her will that the annual income from the fund be used to support the vocal and professional development of a young, female, opera singer “so that another Melba may arise”.

The Scholarship has been awarded for nearly 80 years and the inaugural recipient under the Melba Opera Trust was soprano Stephanie Gibson in 2009.

Since 2010, the Patrick & Vivian Gordon Award has been awarded in conjunction with the Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship. The inaugural recipient of the Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship and Patrick & Vivian Gordon ward was Jacqueline Porter.

Annie McFarling Opera Scholarship

Annie McFarling was steeped from a young age in the important role of philanthropy.  Her mother, Dame Patricia Mackinnon DBE was a substantial supporter of Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital among others.  It was Annie’s childhood friendship with our Founding Patron, Mary-Jan0e Joscelyne OAM, that drew her to the work of the Melba Opera Trust.   Annie, now retired from a career in public relations, established the scholarship in late 2017.

The inaugural recipient was mezzo-soprano Fleuranne Brockway in 2018.

John & Elizabeth Wright-Smith Scholarship

One of the early public performances by the new Melba Opera Trust was at Domain Chandon in September 2009.  One audience member was especially engaged, exclaiming “Bravo” after the performances.  General Manager Amy Black introduced herself to this man—John Wright-Smith.  John professed his love of opera and introduced Amy to his wife, Elizabeth.  Following many decades as a GP and Gerontologist, John and Liz, a nurse, retired to the Yarra Valley, to pursue their equestrian passion.  John and Liz were ‘early adopters’ of the Trust’s vision. As passionate advocates for music and the arts, John and Liz endowed what was the first scholarship with the newly established Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust.

The inaugural recipient Baritone Nathan Lay in 2011.

Ryman Healthcare Opera Scholarship

Ryman Healthcare was founded in 1984 in New Zealand by a man seeking a retirement home for his mother.  After visiting a number of facilities, he was inspired to establish a better way of looking after people, and one where the care offered would be “good enough for mum”.  More than 30 years later, Ryman Healthcare has grown to become the largest retirement village operator in New Zealand and a significant operator in Victoria.  Ryman Healthcare names their villages after significant individuals and then engaging in philanthropic, community activities related to that individual.  Ryman approached the Melba Opera Trust in 2018 to in relation to naming their latest facility in Brandon, Victoria in honour of Dame Nellie Melba.

In keeping with the company’s philanthropic values, Ryman Healthcare established an endowed scholarship in 2018, and Baritone Samuel Piper is the inaugural recipient in 2019.

Amelia Joscelyne Memorial Scholarship

Amelia Joscelyne was a promising voice student at the Melba Memorial Conservatorium in the late 1980s.  Her tragic death while a student at the Conservatorium motivated the Joscelyne family and wide circle of friends to establish the Amelia Joscelyne Memorial Scholarship in 1989.  Amelia cherished her short time at The Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music and, above all else, loved to sing. This scholarship provides opportunities to other young female singers, in Amelia’s memory.

The “Amelia” has been awarded for 30 years, and the inaugural recipient under Melba Opera Trust was Siobhan Stagg in 2009.

Joseph Sambrook Opera Scholarship

After major international careers in biological research, Professors Joseph Sambrook and Mary-Jane Gething retired to Melbourne, the place of Mary-Jane’s birth.  Joe, in particular, has had a lifelong love of opera, having sung as a boy chorister in the UK for the likes of Benjamin Britten.  Joe and Mary-Jane approached the Trust in 2012 to explore the establishment of a bequest.  As they learned more about the work the Trust, their own experiences with young researchers cultivated a deep appreciation for the value of mentorship for young singers.

Joe and Mary-Jane endowed the Scholarship in 2013 and bass-baritone Jeremy Kleeman was the inaugural recipient of this award, in 2014.

Paulette Bisley Opera Scholarship

Paulette and Warwick Bisley retired to the Yarra Valley following decades of living overseas for Warwick’s career in the international energy and minerals industry.  Warwick and Paulette have nurtured life-long passions for music and the arts, and Paulette’s mother was an accomplished singer.  They were introduced the Trust by another Yarra Valley resident and long-time Melba supporter, Jenny Sutherland, who is Dame Nellie’s grand-niece.  Warwick and Paulette had already established an engineering scholarship at Melbourne University in Warwick’s name, so when they decided to endow a scholarship with the Melba in 2014, they did so under Paulette’s name and in so doing honoured Paulette’s mother, an accomplished singer.

The inaugural recipient of this award was Daniel Carison in 2015.

Eleanor Blakemore Opera Society Scholarship

Lead by its Chair, Valma Allaway, the Opera Society first established a scholarship through Melba Opera Trust in 2013. The society has a membership of over 300 opera enthusiasts and funds underpinning the scholarship are raised annually through member lunches, social activities and fundraising initiatives. They are passionate about helping young opera singers access the development opportunities their talent deserves.

Eleanor Blakemore was a long-standing member of Opera Society and, through her estate, bequeathed a generous fund to grow the Opera Society’s support for this scholarship.

The inaugural recipient was Robert Barbaro in 2013.

Harold Blair Opera Scholarship

Harold Blair AM was born at the Cherbourg Aboriginal Reserve, Queensland. At the age of 17, he was working as a tractor driver at the Fairymead Sugar Mill when trade union organiser Harry Green heard him singing and encouraged him to further his singing abilities. Blair entered a radio amateur hour talent quest in early 1945 and attracted a record tally of listeners’ votes. A group of trade unionists, academics and musicians formed a trust to sponsor his career. He entered the Melba Conservatorium in Melbourne in 1945 and earned a Diploma of Music with honours in 1949. In 1950, Blair was invited to study in the United States by the noted African-American singer Todd Duncan. Blair studied at the Juilliard School, New York. He later became a teacher at the Conservatorium in Melbourne and served on the Aboriginal Arts Board.

The children of John and Gwenda Lloyd established in 1966 the Gwenda and John Lloyd Memorial Scholarship Fund for the purpose of supporting indigenous educational opportunities. In 2011, facilitated by Deborah Cheetham AO and Short Black Opera, the Lloyd Fund trustees transferred the to the Melba Opera Trust’s endowment. The purpose was to establish a scholarship to assist the development of indigenous classical singers of a post-graduate standard.

The inaugural Harold Blair Opera Scholarship was awarded in 2012 to bass-baritone Tiriki Onus.

Ruskin Opera Scholarship

In 2004 Jeremy Ruskin and Roz Zalewski instituted the Alfred Ruskin Recital Award through the Melba Conservatorium of Music. The Award was initially made in memory of Jeremy’s late father, Alfred Ruskin AM who was Chair of the Conservatorium from 1972 until 1996.

When the Melba Opera Trust was established, the Award transitioned to the Ruskin Opera Scholarship and continues to be supported by a loyal syndicate of Roz and Jeremy’s family and friends.  Roz Zalewski-Ruskin has been Chair of Melba Opera Trust since the end of 2017.

The inaugural recipient of the Ruskin Opera Scholarship was Stacey Alleaume in 2012.

Margaret Schofield Opera Scholarship

Margaret Schofield was one of Australia’s leading pianists of the 20th century. Her distinguished career included performances as a soloist, accompanist and an active piano teacher for almost 60 years. Margaret lectured at the Melba Conservatorium of Music in addition to examining for the AMEB and adjudicating many of Victoria’s preeminent eisteddfods and musical competitions. In 1988 Margaret Schofield was awarded the OAM for her services to music and to the community. She continued to teach and play until almost 80 years of age.

In her honour, her children, Andrew and Fiona Cochrane, established the Margaret Schofield Opera Scholarship, initially offered through Melba Conservatorium and more recently offered through Melba Opera Trust. Over the years the scholarship has been awarded in support of concert pianists, opera singers and currently, Melba Opera Trust’s repetiteur scholarship.

The inaugural recipient of the Margaret Schofield was Sophie Yelland in 2010 with Simon Bruckard and Jonathan Wilson sharing the 2016 award with its renewed focus on Repetiteur Scholars.

Mel & Nina Waters Award

Emeritus Professor Mel Waters was the director of The Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music for over a decade and guided the transition from The Conservatorium to Melba Opera Trust. In 2010 the Chairman and Board decided to establish the Mel & Nina Waters Award in recognition of their dedication to The Conservatorium and more recently, Melba Opera Trust.

The inaugural recipient of the Mel & Nina Waters award was Nathan Lay in 2011.