Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/111460
profile opera houses in every town. So some Australians who want to make it will go overseas to establish themselves, but quite often they come back." In fact, Luke has every intention of coming back, and when he does he plans to make amends for his absence by importing a few skills and pearls of wisdom, special delivery straight from Cologne. "I want to bring back what I've learned and give to the community that way," he says. Long-term, Luke has aspirations to teach opera and perhaps even set up his own school. If so, he'd be paying homage to two of his greatest inspirations, his parents, who are both schoolteachers. "They work harder than anyone I know," he says. "They taught me that you don't always do something for the money, you do it for the outcomes." Perhaps teaching would also be Luke's way of paying it forward. Without repeated pushes (of a most gentle and loving nature) in the direction of opera, Luke may never have realised his passion. He speaks with great fondness about his first classical voice teacher in Brisbane, Joseph Ward OBE. "I started out not really liking opera," Luke admits, reminiscing about the concessions that both he and Joseph made about song choices. "He worked really hard to get me interested in it. At first he'd give me a lot of art songs, but gradually he weaned me off those and got me into opera." From Luke's possible veterinary career to his initial dislike of opera, it almost seems like opera found him, not the other way around. Now that opera is his passion, he's busy addressing his greatest challenge as an opera singer: making the music, the stories and the characters accessible. "I think opera is more accessible in Europe, not only because it's embedded in their history, but also because it's socially recognised as a way of challenging and educating people," Luke explains. "In Germany opera is a government-funded initiative because of its enriching capacity. In Australia we've never had that level of funding; the arts is always one of the first areas to get funding cuts. In that regard opera is less accessible here, and that's one of the things I'll be focusing on at some point." In 2011, Luke performed at Taste of the Liverpool Plains, a food and wine event in northern NSW. He has also performed arias in Tamworth and plans to take his transcendent voice to other towns around Australia in an effort to challenge, educate and make accessible the magic that is opera. "The end goal is to have some effect on the audience," Luke says. "I'd like people to go away from a show thinking about things." XX Opera in Australia Winner of Opera Foundation Australia's New York Scholarship in 1993, Australian soprano Amelia Farrugia knows firsthand how far the support of Opera Foundation Australia can go. An enduring star of the Australian opera scene, Amelia is also now on the board of directors of Opera Foundation Australia. What is the future for opera in Australia? Now that some of the best Australian and international opera performances can be seen in cinemas all around the country, more people will have access to this amazing art form and fall in love with it. We're also seeing school kids embrace opera through Opera Australia's schools program, which tours the country annually. In your own words, how would you sell opera to the uninitiated? Opera is the supreme art form because it encompasses amazing vocal prowess and power, dramatic talent, and skills in movement and communication. What is your personal favourite? I love Bizet's Carmen because of the beautiful score and the French music. You can see this spectacular opera at Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour from March 22 to April 12. www.operafoundationaust.org.au