In the course of his 35 year professional career, Warwick Fyfe has amassed a vast repertoire of major roles. He is particularly associated with Wagner and may be the only person to have performed a complete Wotan/Wanderer and a complete Alberich in the same calendar year in this country. He has also sung Hans Sachs, the longest role in the standard repertoire. For his Alberich in Opera Australia’s 2013 Ring Cycle he won a Helpmann Award and his Heerrufer in Lohengrin garnered a Green Room award. He has performed the title roles in The Flying Dutchman, Falstaff and Rigoletto. His longest artistic relationship has been with Opera Australia. He has had a fruitful Wagnerian association with Melbourne Opera and has performed with all the major Australian orchestras and opera companies. He adores comedy and remembers with particular fondness his Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Adelaide Festival.

Maree Ryan, Honorary Associate and former Chair of Vocal and Opera Studies, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading vocal teachers.

As a performer Ms Ryan’s work covered all styles and genres. She performed in opera, oratorio and recital as well as broadcast for radio and television. As a soloist Ms Ryan worked with many leading orchestras under many national and international conductors.

Opera houses at which students have performed or are currently engaged include, among others, Opera Australia; Vienna State Opera; Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Opéra de Reims; Opéra Comique & Théâtre du Châtelet; Deutsche Opera, Berlin & Cologne Opera; Israel Opera; La Fenice; Teatre Regio di Parma; Teatro San Carlo; Teatro dell’opera di Roma & Teatro alla Scala.

Conductors with whom students have performed include: Vladimir Ashkenazy, William Christie, Sir Colin Davis, Simone Young. Adam Fischer, Antonio Fogliani, Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatt, Marc Minkowski, Daniel Oren, Seiji Ozawa, Donata Renzett, Hellmut Rilling, Donald Runnicles, Christian Thielemann and Ralf Weikart.

Stuart Maunder has been directing musical theatre and opera in Australia for over 40 years.

Stuart joined The Australian Opera as Stage Manager in 1978, becoming a Resident Director in 1981.

In 1992 he joined the Royal Opera House (UK) as a Staff Director while continuing to direct in Australia, UK, France and the USA.

In 1999 he was appointed Artistic Administrator of Opera Australia, then Executive Producer from 2004-08.

In 2012, Stuart was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for service to the performing arts, particularly with Opera Australia, as an artistic director, and as a mentor to emerging artists."

From 2014 to 2018 Stuart was General Director of New Zealand Opera, before returning to Australia to join State Opera South Australia as Artistic Director.

In October 2023, Stuart became Artistic Director of Victorian Opera.

In 2023 was the proud recipient of the MOST Lifetime Achievement Award.

Stephen Grant is Head of Voice at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and director of the vocal ensemble e21. His has performed with Europes best-known early music ensembles, performing widely and making over 30 CD recordings (for BMG, deutsche harmonia mundi, Harmonia Mundi France, Wergo & Arcana). His interest in both early and contemporary repertoire has led to premieres of works by Saariaho (Paris), Fritsch (Bonn), Staub (Köln, Göteborg & Saarbrücken), Cheetham (Marupna) and Thomson (Hobart). His work has led to festival performances in the Sydney & the Melbourne Festivals, and in Melbourne’s 2023 RISING Festival.

His passion for historical vocal performance led to his doctoral work on the music of the German composer Heinrich Schütz and he is currently working on a translation of a handbook for opera singers and directors with the German opera director Beverly Blankenship. He has taught voice workshops in Germany, Switzerland, Norway, the USA, Canada and Australia. His teaching incorporates a combination of perspectives through his work as a singer, conductor and Feldenkrais Practitioner, and he has been on staff at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music since 1999.

British born, Lisa Harper-Brown, grew up and studied in Perth and recently returned home after living and working overseas for 23 years. A University of Western Australia alumna and former young artist with West Australian and Opera Australia, she is the recipient of many prizes in the
fields of performing and academia. Lisa successfully divides her time between her two great passions: Performing and Teaching.

As a performing artist, Lisa has appeared throughout Australia, New Zealand and Germany, as well as Italy, Spain, Netherlands and the UK. Lisa possesses a vast concert repertoire, and is recognised for her ability to cross genres and styles. During 2025, she made her debut with Freeze
Frame Opera, in performances of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking.

Having taught for over 35 years across three continents in a huge variety of educational settings, Lisa’s extensive ‘on-stage’ experience, technical understanding and knowledge of languages, make her a highly sought-after Voice Teacher, Choral Trainer, Conductor, and Adjudicator. As the newly appointed Chair of Classical Voice at UWA Conservatorium, she is very proud to be sharing her knowledge and expertise in support of a new generation of talented performing artists.

Australia’s most highly awarded soprano, Emma Matthews is a seven-time Helpmann Award winner and Head of Classical Voice and Opera Studies at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Emma starred as The Cunning Little Vixen at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and with Opera Australia. Her extensive repertoire with the national company further includes the title roles in Lulu, Lakmé, and Lucia di Lammermoor, alongside Amina (La sonnambula), Violetta (La traviata), Gilda (Rigoletto), Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Morgana (Alcina), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Marie (La fille du régiment), Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Leïla (The Pearl Fishers), Rosina (The Barber of Seville) and the four heroines in The Tales of Hoffmann. She was recently welcomed back as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.

Her discography features Mozart Arias and Agony and Ecstasy (ABC Classics) and Emma Matthews in Monte Carlo (Deutsche Grammophon/ABC Classics).

Performing as a tenor soloist with symphony orchestras, chamber music groups and choirs, Dr Paul McMahon is one of Australia’s leading exponents of eighteenth-century repertoire, particularly the Evangelist role in the Passions of J. S. Bach. Performance highlights include Bach’s Johannes-Passion with the Australian Chamber Orchestra under Richard Tognetti, Bach’s Matthäus-Passion with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra under Roy Goodman, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung for Sydney Philharmonia under Richard Hickox, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Masaaki Suzuki and Mozart’s Requiem with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under Manfred Honeck. Paul has appeared as soloist in concert for Opera Australia and in the festivals of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For Opera Queensland he sang Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni and for Pinchgut Opera he sang Arbace in Mozart's Idomeneo, as well as roles in Handel's Semele, Purcell's The Fairy Queen, Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Charpentier's David et Jonathas. He has recorded critically-acclaimed discs for Decca and ABC Classics, given concerts for broadcast on BBC Radio 3, ABC Classic FM and the MBS network, and toured regularly throughout Australia, Asia and Europe as a member of vocal ensemble, The Song Company (1997–2001). Paul holds a PhD in music and is a member of the vocal staff at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.