LIVIA BRASH
SOPRANO
BIOGRAPHY
Livia Brash's passion for classical music was ignited at age 3 upon hearing a Mozart violin concerto on the radio. By high school, she was playing violin semi-professionally but soon shifted her focus to singing, aspiring towards an operatic career.
Livia is an Emerging Artist with Melbourne Opera as part of the 2024-25 Richard Divall Program, where she will be singing La Zelatrice (Suor Angelica), and covering Musetta (La Boheme) and Eva (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg). She was previously based in Germany for five years, where she was a member with Düsseldorf Lyric Opera, appeared as Sieglinde in Dramatic Voices Berlin's film of Die Walküre and was sponsored by the Wagner Society NSW.
Livia attended the prestigious Georg Solti Accademia in Italy, where she was under the tutelage of mentors such as Maestro Richard Bonynge AC CBE. During her time in Europe, she performed the title role of Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda as part of the London Bel Canto Festival with the London City Philharmonic Orchestra and appeared in recital in London. She was set to make her debut in title role of Verdi's Aida at the WIN Entertainment Centre Stadium in Australia (cancelled)
In the year before she relocated to Germany, Livia made five role debuts, appearing in the title roles Alcina and Tosca, Mimi (La Bohème), and toured Australia as Rosina/Bertha swing (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). The same year, she also made solo appearances with the Canberra Symphony, Lake Macquarie Philharmonic, Willoughby Symphony and Central Coast Philharmonic orchestras.
She has performed as a soloist in Austria with the AIMS Symphony Orchestra, with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and orchestra at City Recital Hall Sydney, was guest artist for the Canberra Choral Society and Canberra Wind Symphony for their Last Night at the Proms event at Albert Hall, and performed at the Christmas Eve service at Sydney Town Hall. During her time as a Young Artist with Pacific Opera, she performed at the Sydney Opera House and the Chatswood Concourse.
In addition to her significant stage experience, Livia has also won several awards from Australia's most prestigious singing Competitions. She won the Opera Foundation for young Australians Dalwood-Wylie AIMS Award, and the AIMS Sundell Award, which allowed her to receive tuition at the Vienna State Opera. She was also a finalist in the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Competition two years in a row, coming third and second place respectively, as well as being named a finalist in the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition. She has also been a semifinalist for the German-Australian Opera Grant and reserve finalist in the Sydney Eisteddfod.
Livia holds a Masters of Music Studies (Opera) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where she was the recipient of the Geoffrey Rothwell Scholarship and the Joan Bonamy Scholarship. She completed a Bachelor of Music (Classical Voice) from the Australian National University.
She has performed at numerous diplomatic and vice-regal events and has been featured as a soloist in performances for Enlighten Festival, the Sydney Operatic Society, a sold-out concert concert for China’s Three Tenors in the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House, and Canberra Carols by Candlelight.
REPERTOIRE
Bellini
- Beatrice (Beatrice di Tenda)
Britten
- Nancy (Albert Herring)
Handel
- Alcina (Alcina)
Monteverdi
- Euridice (L'Orfeo)
Mozart
- Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni)
- Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte)
- Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito)
- Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte)
Puccini
- Musetta (La Bohème)
- Mimi (La Bohème)
- Tosca (Tosca)
- La Maestra delle Novizie
(Suor Angelica)
- La Zelatrice (Suor Angelica)
Purcell
- Titania (The Fairy Queen)
Verdi
- Aida (Aida)
- Leonora (Il trovatore)
Wagner
- Eva (Die Meistersinger)
- Sieglinde (Die Walküre)
Williamson
- Mrs Dards, Duchess of Devonshire (English Eccentrics)
London Bel Canto Festival- United Kingdom
Australian National University- Australia
Hawaii Performing Arts Festival- USA
Australian National University- Australia
Hunter Opera- Australia
Sydney Conservatorium- Australia
Pacific Opera- Australia (scenes)
Opera Laboratory- Sydney
Melbourne Opera (cover)
Central Coast Opera- Australia
Lyric Opera Central Coast- Australia, Outlaw Opera- Australia
Sydney Conservatorium- Australia
Sydney Conservatorium- Australia
Melbourne Opera
Sydney Conservatorium- Australia
Wollmington Productions- Australia (cancelled)
American Institute of Musical Arts in Graz- Austria (scenes)
Melbourne Opera (cover)
Dramatic Voices Berlin (film)
Sydney Conservatorium- Australia
2019
2012
2018
2014
2017
2016
2018
2017
2024
2018
2018
2015
2024
2016
2019
2017
2025
2022
2015
LISTEN
SUICIDIO!
Ponchielli (La Gioconda)
Recorded August 2023
COME SCOGLIO
Mozart (Così fan tutte)
Recorded February 2023
OR TUTTI SORGETE
Verdi (Macbeth)
Recorded August 2023
DU BIST DER LENZ
Wagner (Die Walküre)
Dramatic Voices Berlin Film 2022
IO SON L'UMILE ANCELLA
Cilea (Adriana Lecouvreur)
Recorded November 2022
AH, MIO COR!
Handel (Alcina)
Recorded 2018 Hawaii Performing Arts Festival
REVIEWS
"Australian soprano Livia Brash has a richly upholstered and luxuriantly coloured lirico-dramtico soprano and
she exhibited range, strength and nuance, rising with considerable power in the ensembles and
showing stamina in arias whose tessitura is frequently high…
Brash’s was an impressive performance of considerable commitment and accomplishment,
and one from which she clearly derived enormous pleasure and fulfillment."
- Opera Today
"Soprano Livia Brash is precociously gifted and ably performed her selections from Verdi with confidence and charm"
- Sounds Like Sydney
"Special guest soloist, Livia Brash, has quite a solid, "meaty" voice with an amazing range...
and excellent control, never forced, effortlessly reaching impossibly high notes"
- City News, Canberra
"The soprano, big-voiced, tall-framed and brassy blonde, Livia Brash, excels...
In a world where sopranos proliferate, this young woman can more than hold her own."
-ClassikOn
"Brash excelled in her role as the eponymous heroine, with her gorgeous voice and fine acting chops really getting a workout...
Brash brought a lovely combination of youthful vulnerability, physical beauty, and a tangible sense of personal power
to her interpretation of the passionate diva. She is well on her way to crafting a Tosca worthy of international attention."
- Holly Champion
"With her lovely soprano voice, Livia Brash sang "Una voce poco fa" with confidence and a great sense of fun...
The soloists displayed impressive voices and technique, as well as thoughtful and believable presentation."
- City News, Canberra
"[Brash] stunned musically too with precision, musicality and serene presence.
Livia is a star with a stunning future ahead of her."
- Professor Stephanie Short
"The most successful was Livia Brash, who has already had considerable operatic experience...
Il est doux from Massenet's Herodiade was vocally and dramatically compelling."
- Richard Gate, Canberra Symphony Orchestra Website
GALLERY
LIVIA BRASH