Mietta Song Competition & Melba Foundation
The Foundation supported the biennial Mietta Song Competition supports the performance and wider appreciation of the Art Song in all its diversity. Awards are provided to Australian singers that assist development of skills and provide opportunity for study and performance in Australia and overseas.
The Mietta Song Competition (formerly known as the Mietta Recital Award) had its origins in the small venues of Port Fairy, where Len Vorster and the late Michael Easton created the Spring Music Festival, and in Mietta’s, the Melbourne restaurant in which the late Mietta O’Donnell and her partner Tony Knox established a salon of all the arts, and especially music. In 1995, the four, supported by the distinguished singer, Lauris Elms, initiated an award to foster art song, that intimate partnership of voice and piano.
The annual competitions were conducted by Mietta from 1995 until her untimely death early in 2001 and, from 1996, were known as the City of Melbourne Song Recital Award. The Mietta Foundation, formed to honour Mietta’s memory and continue her activities, enabled a renamed Mietta Song Recital Award Committee to revive the competition in April 2003. It has since been held in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2016.
Art song is a demanding discipline, requiring perfect cooperation between singer and pianist in matching word and music, and communicating both to the audience.
From the beginning, the Award aimed to assist singers to develop these skills, in Master Classes conducted by distinguished performers at the time of the competition, and, by providing opportunities for study and performance in Australia and overseas, to further their careers.
For more information » miettasongcompetition.com.au
The Melba Foundation was established to promote Australia’s finest classical musicians and artists in the national and international music world – to help the best contemporary Australian musicians, the Nellie Melbas and Joan Sutherlands of today, develop a profile and continue to build musical careers on an international stage.
The Melba Foundation funds the fine music label, Melba Recordings, to produce and distribute recordings that have earned accolades around the world. During its first thirteen years Melba Recordings has supported and recorded several established Australian artists – including the conductors Richard Bonynge and Simone Young, and singers Cheryl Barker and Stuart Skelton – as well as an increasing number of emerging talents like tenor Steve Davislim, violinist Ray Chen, cellists Pei-Jee and Pei-San Ng, and many others.
The Foundation supported Melba Foundation in taking Australian music culture to the world and creating a legacy for future Australians. The beneficiaries of this initiative are Australia’s musicians, artists, orchestras and performing arts organisations. Melba Recordings catalogue includes many world premiere releases designed specifically to interest the international market.