A strapping twenty-two year old baritone from Western Australia, Duncan Rock, won the coveted Marianne Mathy Scholarship in The Australian Singing Competition’s 25^th Anniversary Finals Concert. Staged on Wednesday 1^st November in the Verbrugghen Hall in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the event was held in the distinguished presence of The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC (Rtd) and Her Excellency Mrs Marlena Jeffery.  

In a rather unusual Finals line-up, with no sopranos or tenors, the only female was 22 year old mezzo-soprano Lauren Easton. The other Finalists were Andrew Finden, 22 (NSW) James Homann, 25 (NSW) and Michael Lampard, 20 (TAS).

It is the first time in 12 years that a male has won the scholarship which is worth $30,000 together with an array of other prizes.  The handsome 6’3 singer performed a moving rendition of Finzi’s Fear no more the heat o’ the sun, as well as the Catalogue Aria from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. National Adjudicator Fiona Janes said that Duncan had “all the qualities a singer needs” and remarked on his great vocal potential.

Thrilled to be selected from such a talented group, Duncan felt “deeply honoured” to have had the opportunity of working with Maestro Bonynge, who conducted the Sydney Symphony, and to have been presented with the Mathy Award by Dame Joan Sutherland.

Duncan is concurrently studying Law at the University of WA and Classical Music at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts’ Conservatorium of Music. He is the 2006 Emerging Artist for the WA Opera and is rehearsing Tristan und Isolde while revising for his law exams! The Scottish born baritone hopes for an international career and is particularly keen to sing on the opera stages of the UK as well as in Australia.

Dame Joan’s 80^th birthday was celebrated with gifts presented to her on stage, with the Finalists singing Happy Birthday!