2005 MATHY AWARDS

Competition returns to the Conservatorium and National Adjudicator to her Alma Mater

The Dean of Sydney Conservatorium of Music Professor Kim Walker and Music and Opera Singers Trust CEO Roland Gridiger are delighted to announce the Australian Singing Competition’s return to the Conservatorium for the 2005 Mathy Awards, with both the Semi-Finals concert and the Finals Concerts being staged there.

The Australian Singing Competition has always had close ties to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music since it was established in 1982 as the result of a bequest from the famous singing teacher Madam Marianne Mathy.  As a member of staff Mathy expressed the wish for the Conservatorium to be represented on the adjudication panels and it is fitting that a former Honours graduate from the Diploma of Opera course, Amanda Thane-Winslade, is this year’s National Adjudicator of the Mathy Awards.  Amanda is also familiar with the new Verbrugghen Hall where the Finals Concert will be held, having sung the soprano solos in Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony at the official re-opening.

Richard Bonynge, who will conduct the *Sydney Symphony for the Finals Concert, encouraged Amanda’s early career with the Australian Opera (now Opera Australia) after she stepped into the role of Violetta in La Traviata to great acclaim.   As a principal artist Amanda went on to sing many of the major lyric soprano roles before leaving to perform overseas with great success.

After many years of residence in UK, Amanda recently returned to live in Australia and will be particularly interested to hear the young talent now being nurtured to follow in her footsteps.  Still youthful enough to remember the challenges faced by a young singer and as a competitor (she was a Finalist in New York for the Metropolitan Opera Competition), Amanda nevertheless has a wealth of experience behind her as a performer, as witness to some of the great performances around the world and more recently as a passionate teacher of young singers.  She is thus well equipped to assess which of the talented classical singers competing have sufficient potential to succeed and, supported by her fellow adjudicators, to award the generous array of prizes and opportunities offered to the young classical singers.

*The performance by Sydney Symphony at the Finals Concert is sponsored by the International Foundation for Arts and Culture (Chairman, Dr Haruhisa Handa).

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