Celebrating Women in Opera and Art Song

Name: Celebrating Women in Opera and Art Song
Start: 2026-05-17T05:00:00+10:00
End: 2026-05-17T06:30:00+10:00
Location: Miranda Uniting Church

Schedule

Sun May 17 2026 at 05:00 am to 06:30 am

UTC+10:00

Location

Miranda Uniting Church | Kirrawee, NS

Join us for an inspiring afternoon that honours the voices, stories, and artistry of women in classical music. 💃🎶❤️
Featuring acclaimed musicians - sopranos Paola Monroy and Natalia Melnik and pianist Claire Howard Race, this concert showcases a rich selection of operatic arias and art songs by women composers and about women’s experiences across cultures and eras. From lyrical intimacy to dramatic brilliance, Celebrating Women in Opera and Art Song offers a powerful tribute to the creativity and expression of women on the concert stage.
⏰️ Program duration: 90 minutes (with a 20-min interval)
🧁☕️ Complimentary afternoon tea will be offered in the interval.
🗓 Sunday, May 17th 2026, 3 pm
📍 Gymea-Miranda Uniting Church
15-17 Central Rd, Miranda NSW 2228
🎫🎫🎫Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DJNQS
🐦 Early Bird Prices (end January 20th)
General Admission - $30
Concession & Children 6-16 yo - $25
Children under 6 yo - free
Groups of 10 - $230
🎫 Regular online booking
General Admission - $33
Concession & Children 6-16 yo - $27
Children under 6 yo – free
Groups of 10 - $250
🎫 At the door
General Admission - $40
Concession & Children 6-16 yo - $35
Children under 6 yo – free
About the performers:
Dr. Natalia Melnik (soprano) was born in Moscow and moved to Sydney in 2013. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, with her research focused on making Russian vocal music more accessible to non-Russian-speaking singers. Natalia is the founder of the “Russian For Singers” project that helps hundreds of singers from around the world explore Russian vocal music. In 2017-2019, Natalia sang the roles of Valeria in Alessandro Scarlatti’s “La Caduta De’ Decemviri”, Marcella in “Boheme a piacere”, Princess Tamara in the play “Demon”, Clara Schumann in “Happy Birthday, Clara!”. During 2021-2025, Natalia created and performed a number of chamber concert programs. Natalia’s recordings are available on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming platforms.
Paola Monroy (soprano) is a most versatile singer and a passionate advocate for Latin American music. She completed her music degree at the University of Andes, Bogota in 2010, and has participated in international workshops and masterclasses with renowned artists, including Maestro Andreas Scholl, Giovanni Reggioli, Lenine Santos, Dona Voughn, Beatrice Benzi. She gained extensive experience as an opera and oratorio singer in Colombia before coming to Australia in 2012, where she started to work under Wendy Dixon's lead giving many concerts like ther Art gallery of NSW 2013 and 2014 series. She has been selected as the soprano soloist for the main event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Instituto Cervantes Sydney in 2019, chosen to perform a series of concerts to celebrate the life and work of important Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos sponsors by the Brazilian embassy 2019, as well as the soprano soloist for the premier of M. Palmeri's 'Misa Tango' presented by Coro Austral 2022. Paola has performed in Canberra at the Australian National Centre for Latin American studies ANU and The Mosman art Gallery 2018, Jakarta Indonesia 2019, Sydney 2019, Melbourne 2019, National Museum of Colombia 2020, Enlighten festival Canberra 2022, National Multicultural festival Canberra 2023 as part of her work to promote the Latin American and Ibero American repertoire through Asia pacific working closely with embassies for this purpose. Paola is the founder of 'Art song for All' project.
Claire Howard Race (piano) obtained her Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours in Piano Performance with teacher Colin Spiers, and the University Medal from Newcastle Conservatorium, NSW. She continued her postgraduate piano accompaniment studies at the Canberra School of Music and then the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, where she was awarded the Broadwood Junior Piano Accompanist Fellowship. She subsequently earned a Master of Music in Performance and Research with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music, London, studying accompaniment with Malcolm Martineau and Iain Ledingham.
She has performed to acclaim in song recitals with artists including Deborah Humble, Mariana Hong (Hye Seoung Kwon) and Ghillian Sullivan. From 2017 to 2021 she held the position of Assistant Chorus Master and Principal Rehearsal Pianist for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, and in 2021 performed in the two pianos and percussion arrangement of Carmina Burana. Performances have included Ola Gjeilo’s Luminous Night of the Soul for the Sydney Festival, and the Sydney premiere of Eric Whitacre’s The Sacred Veil at Sydney Opera House, together with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, cellist Julian Smiles & conducted by the composer.
Her pianism has been described as “an exceptional display” (Limelight Review), “truly superb playing” (Deborah Humble) and “beautiful music making, timing and texture and patience” (Simon Keenleyside). Claire has recorded for ABC Classic playing music by Australian composer Paul Smith and pursues a passion for chamber music working with the Sirius Chamber Ensemble. She has recently been appointed as College Accompanist to Pymble Ladies’ College, Sydney.