For the past six years, Lyndon Terracini and his wife, opera singer Noëmi Nadelmann, have lived in the Orange wine region in Central West NSW, just outside the charming historic town of Millthorpe.

Terracini hadn’t planned to stage an opera festival there, but as he and Nadelmann settled in, memories came flooding back of European festivals, at which he performed early in his career, and a new passion project was born.

Lyndon Terracini in Millthorpe. Photo © Kieran Gilfeather/AAP

While working as the Artistic Director of Opera Australia from 2009 to 2022, Terracini was keen to introduce an annual outdoor opera on Sydney Harbour. Securing the support of Japanese businessman and philanthropist Dr Haruhisa Handa, OA launched the splashy event in 2014.

As Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour established itself, a firm friendship blossomed between the two men. So, when Terracini approached Dr Handa about supporting an opera festival in Millthorpe, he was immediately open to it.

“It’s the sort of thing he really likes and that he’s committed to,” says Terracini. “He founded a university in Cambodia. There are schools that he started where he pays the...