At some point in their professional life, most Australian opera singers face a conundrum: whether to remain a sizeable fish in a modest pond at home or to launch yourself overseas and try to swim in foreign waters. For Anna Dowsley, the decision to relocate to Germany two years ago came at a time when the world’s artistic currents were at their most turbulent but that hasn’t deterred the Sydney-born mezzo-soprano.

Anna Dowsley
Anna Dowsley performing in Pinchgut Opera’s Bach and Telemann concert, Melbourne Recital Centre, 2019. Photo © Albert Comper.

Last year she managed to make her role debut as Carmen in Nuremberg while simultaneously navigating a global pandemic and juggling new-born baby Madelyn. Meanwhile, a string of bookings in Australia across 2022, including...