The Australian Contemporary Opera Company (ACOCo) is a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

contemporary

opera company Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, based in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

, Australia. It was formerly known as "Gertrude Opera".

History

The company was established in 2008 primarily as a training repertory company for aspiring

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

s, and

répétiteur A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the person ...

s, directors and designers. It was first named "The Opera School Melbourne" and then "Gertrude Opera". Its creative staff include Linda Thompson (artistic director, 2008–present day, former Head of Classical Voice at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

), Brian Castles-Onion AM (board member and guest conductor). Creative teams have included

Gale Edwards Gale Edwards (born 14 November 1954) is an Australian theatre director, who has worked extensively throughout Australia and internationally. She has also directed for television and film. Professional career Edwards began her career at Adelaid ...

AM (artist in residence, 2019), costume designer Tim Chappel,

Geraldine Turner Geraldine Gail Turner (born 23 June 1950 in Brisbane, Australia) is an Australian actress and singer. She has been a leading performer in Australian musical theatre since the 1970s, and has also been active in plays, recordings, film and tele ...

AM, and Luke Leonard (Monk Parrots, USA). Conductors have included Brian Castles-Onion AM, Tianyi Lu, Patrick Burns,

Benjamin Northey Benjamin Northey is an Australian conductor, musician and arranger. He has been Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand, since 2015.Gertrude Johnson Gertrude Emily Johnson (13 September 1894 – 28 March 1973) was an Australian coloratura soprano and founder of the National Theatre Movement in Melbourne. Early life Johnson was born in 1894 at Prahran, Melbourne. She was the seco ...

incorporating the Studio stage performance program. In 2020 the company changed its name to the "Australian Contemporary Opera Company".

Productions

The company's repertoire spans Australian premieres, new works, and children's/family opera. "mini-festivals" and major productions. In later years, the company has become known for Australian premieres and staging of contemporary works and treatments. In 2015 the company founded Australia's only international opera festival (Nagambie 2015, 2016, Yarra Valley 2018, 2019) International collaborators include Monk Parrots (USA) and

Glyndebourne Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hundr ...

(Glyndebourne Opera Cup).

Selective list of productions

Australian premiere* *''As One'',* ( Kiminsky/Campbell/Reed) 2020 *''

The Enchanted Pig The Enchanted Pig (Romanian: ''Porcul cel fermecat'') is a Romanian fairy tale, collected in ''Rumanische Märchen'' and also by Petre Ispirescu in ''Legende sau basmele românilor''. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Red Fairy Book''. The tale ...

'',* (Dove/Middleton) 2019 *''

The Coronation of Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...

'', (Monteverdi) 2019 *''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', (Verdi/Stopschinski) 2019 (Yarra Valley/New York) *''

The Handmaid's Tale ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which h ...

'',* (Ruders) 2018 *''

Cosi fan tutte Cosi, COSI or CoSi may refer to: * ''Così'', a 1992 play by Louis Nowra ** ''Cosi'' (film), 1996, based on the play * Così (restaurant), an American fast-casual restaurant chain * Compton Spectrometer and Imager, or COSI, a NASA telescope to be ...

'', (Mozart) 2018 *''

The Elixir of Love ''L'elisir d'amore'' (''The Elixir of Love'', ) is a ' (opera buffa) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's ' (1831). The opera premier ...

'', (Donizetti) 2018 *''To Hell and Back'',* ( Heggie) 2018, 2016 *''

Alcina ''Alcina'' ( HWV 34) is a 1735 opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of ''L'isola di Alcina'', an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after during his travels in Italy. P ...

'', (Handel) 2017 *''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

'', (Mozart) 2017 *''

Doctor Miracle ''Le docteur Miracle'' (''Doctor Miracle'') is an opérette in one act by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto, by Léon Battu and Ludovic Halévy, is based on Sheridan's play ''Saint Patrick's Day''. Bizet wrote the work when he w ...

'', (Bizet) 2017 *''

The Consul ''The Consul'' is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera. Performance history Its first performance was on March 1, 1950 at the Schubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as the ...

'', (Menotti) 2017 *''

The Telephone ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', (Menotti) 2017 *'' First Music, then Words'', (Salieri) 2017 *''

Thespis Thespis (; grc-gre, Θέσπις; fl. 6th century BC) was an Ancient Greek poet. He was born in the ancient city of Icarius (present-day Dionysos, Greece). According to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was the first pe ...

'', (Gilbert & Sullivan) 2016 *''the difficulty of crossing a field'',* (

Lang Lang may refer to: *Lang (surname), a surname of independent Germanic or Chinese origin Places * Lang Island (Antarctica), East Antarctica * Lang Nunatak, Antarctica * Lang Sound, Antarctica * Lang Park, a stadium in Brisbane, Australia * Lang, ...

) 2015 *''Tuesdays with Pictures'',* (Williams) 2015 *''Bon Appétit!'',* ( Hoiby) 2015 *''

Coffee Cantata ' (Be still, stop chattering), BWV 211, also known as the ''Coffee Cantata'', is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it probably between 1732 and 1735. Although classified as a cantata, it is essentially a miniature comic ...

'', (Bach) (2015) *''

Trial by Jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant ...

'', (Gilbert & Sullivan) (2015) *''The Magic Flute'', (Mozart) 2014 *''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'', (abr.) (Mozart) 2014 *''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'', (Massenet) 2013 *'' The Juniper Tree'',* (Glass/Moran) 2011, 2013 *''

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is a novel in verse written by Ale ...

'', (Tchaikovsky) 2012 *''

Orpheus in the Underworld ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act " opéra bouffon" at the Thé� ...

'', (Offenbach) 2011 *''Mini Opera Festival: Orpheus returns'', 2011 *'' Loves Luggage Lost'', (Rossini) 2011 * ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

'', (Mozart) 2010 *''

'', (Mozart) (2009) *''

The Old Maid and the Thief ''The Old Maid and the Thief'' is a radio opera in one act by Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti. The work uses an English language libretto by the composer which tells a twisted tale of morals and evil womanly power. Menotti writes in t ...

'', (Menotti) 2009 * ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

'', (Humperdinck) 2009 *'' Acis and Galatea'', (Handel) 2009

Studio - Young Artists (2009 - 2019)

Gertrude Opera runs an annual international Studio Young Artist program, building bridges to new audiences and a platform for professional growth.

Awards and honours

In 2018, and again in 2019, Gertrude Opera won OperaChaser's Outstanding Production by an Independent Company Award for the Australian premieres of ''The Handmaid's Tale'' (Ruders) and ''The Enchanted Pig'' (Dove). In 2020, a Green Room Award for Programming - a world-first online contemporary opera festival. In 2022, Honourable Mention at Tokyo Film Festival for love fail - a co-production with Monk Parrots USA In 2022, Founder and Artistic director Linda Thompson was inducted into the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Education in Melbourne Australian opera companies Performing arts in Melbourne Musical groups established in 2008 2008 establishments in Australia