Launching in July, a new long-form podcast titled So You Think You Can Belto? aims to empower emerging artists with access to the direct knowledge and relayed experiences of established opera practitioners.

It features Australian singers who have relocated abroad and holds a mirror to the opera world, so that artists can make informed choices about auditions, competitions and other career-related decisions as they find their way in the industry.

The season begins on 3 July* with lyric coloratura soprano Jessica Pratt. Limelight was granted an exclusive preview of the interview and it contains eye-opening insights on a range of topics from the gender pay gap to semantic considerations when singing in a foreign language, industry prejudice against having children and feuds with conductors.

The lineup also includes Vienna Volksoper soprano Alexandra Flood, as well as mezzo-sopranos Anna Dowsley and Margaret Plummer, who sang with the Vienna State Opera for eight seasons and makes her Bayreuth debut this year.

Jessica Pratt, Alexandra Flood, Margaret Plummer and Anna Dowsley. Photos supplied

So You Think You Can Belto? is the brainchild of soprano Jessica Harper and baritone Jeremy Boulton – two emerging Australian artists...