MEDIA RELEASE: HANDA OPERA ON SYDNEY HARBOUR 2015 Tickets now on sale for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour 2015: Aida Milijana Nikolic will play the princess Amneris, in Aida. Photo courtesy Opera Australia. Tickets are now on sale for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour: Aida – one of Sydney’s most spectacular annual events. The fourth year of Opera on Sydney Harbour is set to be the biggest yet with the season extended to a month. The show features the full Opera Australia Chorus on stage together with international singers, and a magnificent live orchestra beneath! Ticket prices start at $79 and travel packages from destinations around Australia and New Zealand, are available now on Wotif.com. Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour: Aida will run from 27 March to 26 April 2015. Audiences will enjoy the entire opera-themed experience of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, with its comfortable harbour-side seating, wide range of on-site dining and drinking options, magnificent harbour views and lavish, fully staged opera featuring nightly fireworks. The stunning “Platinum Club” – a pop up dining room and bar set amongst the tree tops – will again offer fine dining before the show, as well as drinks at interval. Dinner and show packages will be available with variable components that may include 3-course dinner, interval drinks and program plus performance. Sydney-siders can arrive at the site by Water Taxi for the most glamorous night out. Pick up points will again be around Sydney Harbour, dropping guests at Boy Charlton Pool, just metres from the entrance to Opera on Sydney Harbour. Visitors to Sydney can choose a travel package to suit them, from Wotif.com who are offering a range of options to suit budgets and requirements. Choose your hotel standard, your seat reserve and more to tailor-make an Aida package to suit. These are available from destinations across Australia and New Zealand. Director Gale Edwards (who received rapturous acclaim for Opera on Sydney Harbour: Carmen in 2013) and Designer Mark Thompson are now well into the creative process for the event, working on concept, set and costume designs that will bring this magnificent story to life in this unique setting. The Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour stage is unlike any other in Australia. It is almost two and a half times larger than any indoor theatre stage in the country, visible from 360 degrees (great sneak peeks for ferry travellers!). With no backstage areas, wings or rigs, and utilizing a very steep slope - to ensure premium visibility for all guests - it presents a mighty task for designer Mark Thompson. 1 “The real challenge for a production on this scale”, he says, “is to retain the private and intimate exchanges in the love scenes, while saturating the senses during the famous Triumphal March, and wrenching as much emotion as possible from the finale!” With a wealth of experience gleaned from designing over 60 major theatrical productions and work for many major events including Sydney’s NYE celebrations, he is sure to deliver a spectacle that packs a punch emotionally and aesthetically! The Aida cast includes African American soprano Latonia Moore as the captured Aida in a foreign land. Ms Moore is a regular performer at The Met in New York, and has performed the title role of Aida to vast acclaim across the globe (including Sydney Opera House in 2012). Alternating in the role is Italian soprano Daria Masiero, who is well known to Sydney audiences from her performances at the Sydney Opera House in recent years. Model-turned-soprano Milijana Nikolic, who dazzled in the role of Carmen in 2013, will make a welcome return to the water-top stage in the role of Princess Amneris. Helpmann Award-winning singer Jacqueline Dark alternates in the role, bringing her own unique depth and dynamism to the character. Sharing a magnetic stage presence, Ms Nikolic and Ms Dark will bring heightened drama to the love triangle at the centre of Aida. Two renowned international tenors share the role of the Radamès, the Captain of the Guard: Italian Roberto Aronica making his debut with Opera Australia, and American Arnold Rawls, who performed with the company in 2013. Lyndon Terracini, Artistic Director of Opera Australia said “Aida is the ultimate grand opera, and we hope this spectacular new production designed for this unique outdoor setting will delight more visitors than ever in 2015. There is simply no better way to experience this harbour side city!” Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour: Aida runs 27 March to 26 April 2015 www.opera.org.au www.wotif.com/packages/aida Bookings Creatives Adult tickets from $79 (fees may apply) Conductor Brian Castles-Onion Opera Australia Box Office (02) 9318 8200 / www.opera.org.au Director Gale Edwards Travel Packages: Lighting Designer Matt Scott www.wotif.com/packages/aida Choreographer Lucas Jervies Performance information Cast Performances at 7.30pm Tuesday to Sunday 27 March to 26 April 2015 Aida Latonia Moore Daria Masiero Radamès Roberto Aronica Arnold Rawls Amneris Milijana Nikolic Jacqueline Dark Fleet Steps, Mrs Macquarie’s Point, Sydney Site opens at 5pm for pre-performance drinks and dining Set & Costume Designer Mark Thompson Performed in Italian with English subtitles Amonasro Michael Honeyman Warwick Fyfe Media enquiries Imogen Corlette National PR & Communications Manager Opera Australia (02) 9318 8327 / 0410 520 776 imogen.corlette@opera.org.au Ramfis David Parkin Conal Coad The King Gennadi Dubinsky High Priestess Eva Kong Messenger Benjamin Rasheed With Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and Opera Australia Chorus