The talented 24-year-old was picked for The King and I while still at Sydney Con. So is she ready for the spotlight?

When did you develop your love for music?

My grandparents bought me a piano when I was four-years-old and I took lessons for nine years but I’ve been exposed to music ever since I can remember. I began singing lessons at the age of 14. My teacher kept pushing art songs and light arias at me. I enjoyed singing them, but it wasn’t until she played a recording of Renée Fleming singing Rusalka’s Song to the Moon that I felt a real passion for opera. I really remember the first opera I saw live – it was Madama Butterfly at the Sydney Opera House with Cheryl Barker as Butterfly. After it finished, I knew I wanted singing to be my career.

What’s the most important thing that you’ve learned during your time at the Sydney Conservatorium?

The biggest lesson, that really changed my singing, and even my life, was to just relax and trust in myself. During my BMus I had terrible performance anxiety and I was very close to walking away, ready to concede that I was in...