Victorian Opera has announced the winners for its 2026 Opera Prize, which honours emerging talent in the operatic field. Sopranos Rachael Joyce and Alessia Pintabona and baritone Bailey Montgomerie will join the company in January of next year to work as ensemble and principal artists across mainstage, education and special programs throughout the year.

Rachael Joyce, Bailey Montgomerie and Alessia Pintabona. Photos courtesy of Victorian Opera

The three will also undertake mentorship with Head of Music Phoebe Briggs and Artistic Director Stuart Maunder.

Rachael Joyce was praised for her “her clear, ringing soprano and lively movements” in Patricia Maunder’s Limelight review of VO’s currently-running Boojum!. She has also featured in VO’s Mansfield Park, Lyric Opera of Melbourne’s Biographica, BK Opera’s Un Mari à la Porte and Melbourne Opera’s The Marriage of Figaro. She claimed First Prize in the 99th Herald Sun Opera Competition.

Both Joyce and Bailey Montgomerie are second-time Opera Prize winners.

Montgomerie performed in VO’s recent Katya Kabanova, and starred in the company’s education program The Lyrebird’s Voice. They have also performed with the Song Company as an emerging artist, the Consort of Melbourne and in Lyric Opera’s Biographica, for which they were nominated...