Jake Lyle, who played The Phantom in this year’s Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour production of The Phantom of the Opera for Opera Australia, is one of the seven artists selected for OA’s 2026–27 Young Artist Program.

Jake Lyle in rehearsals for The Phantom of the Opera on Sydney Harbour. Photo © Carlita Sari

His fellow cohorts are soprano Lana Kains, mezzo-soprano Sidra Nissen, tenor Christopher Whalley, bass-baritone Daniel Kramer, répétiteur Isobel Archer and director Edwina Strobl.

While OA has run a young artists program in the past, this new iteration – initiated by former Artistic Director Jo Davies and headed by Francis Greep – is supported by Principal Patron Maureen Wheeler, the co-founder of Lonely Planet.

The development pathway program enables the artists to experience advanced training covering vocal coaching, drama and movement classes, and language lessons, as well as international study with renowned coaches. It also includes professional experience and integration into the company.

This year’s young artists come from around the country, and bring a range of impressive operatic experience with them.

Soprano Lana Kains was born in Darwin, where her mother played French horn with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra. While there, she sang in the children’s chorus for OA’s touring production of La Bohème. She completed Bachelor and Master degrees in opera at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has performed with companies including Pinchgut Opera and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Mezzo-soprano Sidra Nissen participated in the Victorian Opera Youth Chorus Ensemble and studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, continuing to refine her technique under Suzanne Johnston. She is an Emerging Artist in Melbourne Opera’s Richard Divall Program and won the 2025 IFAC Handa Singing Competition.

Born in Tamworth, NSW and now based in Sydney, tenor Christopher Whalley completed a Bachelor of Music Performance (Classical Voice) and a Master of Music Studies (Opera Performance) at the Sydney Conservatorium.

Baritone Jake Lyle, who comes from Gladstone in Central Queensland, graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Honours) in Classical Voice from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. In 2025, he was an Emerging Artist in Residence with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

Bass-baritone Daniel Kramer graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium with a Master of Music Studies (Opera Performance) and was one of Opera Queensland’s Young Artists in 2025–26.

Répétiteur Isobel Archer was the youngest ever graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium, having been accepted into the Bachelor of Music program at age 15. She has featured as a radio host of 2MBS Fine Music Sydney, and her debut album of solo piano music will be released this year.

Edwina (Eddy) Stobl is an Australian-Austrian director who grew up in Sydney. After studying History at University College London, she trained in directing and dramaturgy at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and directed Jonathan Dove’s opera Itch as Young Artist Associate Director at Opera Holland Park in London.

Jem Herbert, Leon Vitogiannis and Chelsea Burns, three of Opera Australia’s 2025–26 Young Artists performing at OA’s Great Opera Hits concert, Sydney Opera House, 2025. Photo © Neil Bennett

The incoming Young Artists will join the graduating class of 2025–26 in a concert at the Sydney Opera House on 2 August. The six artists who completed OA’s renewed Young Artist Program are soprano Chelsea Burns, mezzo-soprano  Shikara Ringdahl, tenor Elias Wilson, baritone Leon Vitogiannis, répétiteur Jem Herbert and director Claudia Osborne.

They will perform a sparkling selection of arias, duets, trios, quartets and quintets, spanning music from Claudio Monteverdi to Gian Carlo Menotti, accompanied at the piano by Archer and Herbert.

Head of Opera Australia’s Young Artist Program, Francis Greep said, “This is a special occasion and a real passing-of-the-torch moment, with our current Young Artists performing alongside the incoming cohort as they are welcomed into the program. It’s a chance to celebrate the artists who are about to embark on the next stage of their careers, while introducing audiences to a new generation of operatic talent beginning their journey with Opera Australia.”

Opera Australia will present Young Artists in Concert at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House on 2 August at 2pm. More information here.