Siobhan Stagg is a final year music student at the University of Melbourne, where she is majoring in vocal performance under the tutelage of Merlyn Quaife. She has received numerous Faculty of Music awards, including the Mona McCaughey Scholarship (2008), the Dame Nellie Melba Prize (2007) and the Lady Turner Exhibition Prize (2006).

In 2007, Siobhan was Australian Music Events’ joint ‘Scholar of the Year’, performing solo at Opera in the Alps (Beechworth), Opera by the Lock (Mildura) and Opera in the Market (Melbourne). Her live performance at Opera in the Market is recorded on ‘The Best of Opera (in the Alps/ by the Lock/in the Market)’, an album released by Australian Music Events in 2008.

In 2008, Siobhan made her operatic debut at the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, singing the role of Martha in iOpera’s Australian premiere of the Fleischmann/Shostakovich one-act opera, Rothschild’s Violin.  Earlier that year, Siobhan was the soprano soloist in concert with The Bach Choir (of London) and the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic for their performance of the Faurè Requiem at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne. In May, music reviewer for The Age, Clive O’Connell, praised Siobhan’s ‘fresh vocal quality’ after a performance of lieder she gave as part of the Millenium Concert Series in Lara.

As well as her solo pursuits, Siobhan is passionate about choral and chamber music repertoire. She has performed and recorded extensively with the Choir of Trinity College, University of Melbourne. Recent tours have included New Zealand and the USA (2008) and Malaysia and Singapore (2007). She is featured on the choir’s two most recent ABC Classics albums, ‘Mystical Songs: Choral Music of Vaughan Williams’ and ‘Southern Star’. Siobhan also sings with the newly formed vocal ensemble, The Consort of Melbourne.

January 2009