Master's Short Biographies

Marilyn Richardson

Soprano, Marilyn Richardson, was born in Sydney and studied singing and piano at the Conservatorium of Music there. After obtaining her Diploma in Singing, a Churchill Fellowship enabled her to study in Europe from 1971.

In opera, Marilyn Richardson made her international debut in Basel in 1972 singing Lulu and Salome to rave reviews. Roles include: Aida, the four soprano roles in The Tales of Hoffmann, Marschallin in Rosenkavalier, Eva in Die Meistersinger, Lisa in Pique Dame, Leonora in Fidelio, Sieglinde in Die Walkuere, Elsa in Lohengrin, Katya Kabanova, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the Countess in Figaro, Tosca, Desdemona, Isolde and Laura in Richard Meale's Voss., Pamina, Fiordiligi, Poppea, Violetta, Marguerite, Mimi, Butterfly, Senta, Jenifer in Tippett's Midsummer Marriage and the soprano leads in Janacek's The Excursions of Mr Broucek.

Marilyn Richardson has performed all the Chopin songs in Polish, Bartok in Hungarian, Magabunda by the American composer Schwantner and the popular Gorecki Symphony No 3 for the Adelaide and Melbourne Festivals. The Australian composers Richard Mills, Larry Sitsky, Nigel Butterley, Richard Meale and Phillip Brancanin have composed for her. She is a Co-ordinator and Voice Teacher for the Australian National Academy in Melbourne, and coaches Opera Queensland's Young Artists

Stephen McIntyre

Stephen McIntyre is known nationally and internationally as one of Australia's most eminent pianists.

Born in Melbourne, Stephen McIntyre's teachers included Ada Freeman, Nadia Boulanger, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Guido Agosti. He was head of the Piano department at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne from 1975 to 1993. His cycle of the complete piano music of Ravel won the National Critics Award.

Stephen McIntyre has performed as a concerto soloist with all major ABC orchestras; he has toured extensively with Russian violinists Valery Klimov, Viktoria Mullova, and Nelli Shkolnikova, and renowned Dutch cellist Anner Bylsma.

Stephen McIntyre was a founding member of Australian Chamber Soloists, Principal Artistic Advisor for Musica Viva during 1995/96, and Director of the chamber music program for the Melbourne Festival from 1998-99.

Stephen McIntyre is Associate professor in the Faculty of Music at the University of Melbourne. In 2003 he received the Sir Bernard Heinze Award for distinguished contribution to music in Australia.

Denise Shepherd

Denise Shepherd was born and educated in France. She first obtained her degree from the Sorbonne University in Paris, then entered the Paris Nationale "Conservatoire de Musique". She sang operas, particularly in Strasbourg, Zurich and Basle. She studied interpretation with Pierre Bernac, Francis Poulenc and (though he was very old then) Reynaldo Hahn.

In 1952 she met Roy Shepherd (later distinguished Reader in the Faculty of Music at Melbourne University), in Paris, and they married in 1953.

In 1963 she began teaching French at Melbourne Grammar School, where she stayed for eighteen years.

In 1982 she became the French coach at the Victoria State Opera, and now works with Opera Australia. She enjoys helping young Australian Performers with the interpretation of French songs and operas, particularly graduating and Master's degree singing students from the VCA and Melbourne University (Faculty of Music).

Graham Pushee

Graham Pushee, is a highly acclaimed counter tenor who has made guest appearances at many of the world's leading opera houses including La Monnaie, Brussels; La Scala, Milan; Staatsoper Berlin; Houston Grand Opera; Los Angeles Opera; Bayerische Staatsoper Munich; Paris; Barcelona; Geneva; Opera de Lyon; Cologne; Frankfurt and Salzburg. He has become particularly known for his characterisations of many of the heroic roles of George Frideric Handel and of lyric roles in the early 17th Century repertoire.

His early studies were with David Parker in Sydney. In 1977 he received the Churchill Fellowship Special Award, which allowed him to continue his vocal studies in London with Paul Esswood, and in Basel at the Schola Cantorum, Basiliensis.

In 1992 he made his debut with Opera Australia in the role of Ruggiero in Alcina, which he sang in subsequent seasons in both Sydney and Melbourne. Singing the title role of Julius Caesar, he made his debut at the Paris Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and in performances for Opera Australia in Melbourne and Sydney, for Opera Queensland, and at the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe and in Boston. In 1994 he made his first British appearance as Andronicus in Handel's Tambourlaine at Opera North in Leeds, conducted by Roy Goodman, a role that he has subsequently performed with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert in London, Paris and Halle. This performance has since been released on DVD and CD.

Other performances have included A Midsummer Night's Dream in Leipzig, Wiesbaden, Karlsruhe and Turin; new productions of Dido and Aeneas and Orpheus in the Underworld at Frankfurt Opera; Samson in Hamburg; Rinaldo in Geneva; Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria in Lisbon; Der Geduldige Sokrates at the Heidelberg Castle Festival; L'Orontea in Basel; Orpheus and Eurydice at the Bad Hersfeld Festival; the world premiere of the pop opera Freudiana in Vienna; in Joseph at the Maryland Handel Festival in Washington DC; Arsamenes in Xerxes for Victorian State Opera, Grand Theatre de Geneve and Cologne Opera House. He has also performed in Handel's Saul in Stuttgart and Frankfurt under the baton of Helmuth Rilling, and appeared at the Royal Opera de la Monnaie in Brussels as Endimione in the new production of Cavalli's La Calisto with Rene Jacobs, a role which he has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, France, and since performed in Berlin, Barcelona, Montpellier, Lyon and Salzburg. In 1999 he returned to Australia to sing the title role in Rinaldo in Sydney and Melbourne for Opera Australia.

As well as operatic repertoire he regularly performs oratorios, in particular with Melbourne Chorale including Solomon and Athalia, and with the Sydney Philharmonia, in Samson and Messiah. Graham has also performed with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra in concerts in the Art Gallery of NSW and on tour in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. His recording of Handel arias with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra won the Best Australian Recording and Listeners' Choice Awards at the 1995 ABC Recording of the Year Awards. A CD of Vivaldi solo motets and psalms was released in May 1998. In 1995 he won a Mo Award for "Operatic Performer of the Year", and the Green Room Award. His performance in Julius Caesar for Opera Australia is available on video and CD.

Recent performances have included Andronico in Tamerlano at the Komische Oper, Berlin; Endimione in La Calisto at the Berlin Staatsoper, and recitals with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Chamber Orchestra. His 2003 performances included the role of Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Sydney Winter season for Opera Australia, Messiah in Melbourne with the Melbourne Symphony and Endimione in La Calisto at the Wiener Festwochen for La Monnaie Brussels.