A deep crimson-red sky marbled with purple scudding clouds racing in the outback winds is the incredible backdrop for an inspirational evening of opera. For Dark Sky Serenade, the stage is set for an unforgettable night high on top of a huge mesa plateau – The Jump-Up, in the Western Queensland outback at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs.

Banjo, a bipedal Megaraptor (Australoventor), and Matilda, a massive quadrupedal Titanosaur (Diamantinasaurus), peek around the stage under the vast Australian sky. During the Cultural Conversations at Winton’s iconic North Gregory Hotel, Opera Queensland CEO and Artistic Director Patrick Nolan described how the concert had been fashioned to highlight the relationship between the landscape and music.

Dark Sky Serenade. Photo © Omar Nolan Photography

Renowned Australian composer and Darwin Symphony Orchestra’s new Artistic Director and conductor, Richard Mills, characterises the outback as a repository of myths and the Dreamtime. As opera describes our experiences as humans through stories, opera in the outback speaks to everyone through the landscape, especially in Winton, on the land of the Koa people. 

Five soloists, pianist Narelle French, Camerata – Queensland’s esteemed Chamber Orchestra, and the University of Queensland Pulse Chamber Ensemble are poised, ready to deliver the unique outback operatic experience.

The world premiere of K. Mak’s Dark Sky Soundscape was commissioned by OQ, celebrating Winton as Australia’s first international Dark Sky Sanctuary, protecting the pristine night sky from light pollution. Unfortunately, the dramatic clouds draw a curtain over the stars, but the atmosphere is nonetheless profound. 

The lights are snuffed, creating a dark, sacred space lit only by a faint crescent moon. A low rumbling bass and repeating arpeggiated strings chime out across the wilderness with a hint of Pachelbel’s Canon hidden within.

Dark Sky Serenade. Photo © Omar Nolan Photography

OQ Young Artist mezzo-soprano Aylish Ryan from Toowoomba is spectacular in each of her roles. She commands the stage as a histrionic Dorabella in Ah, scostati! … Smanie implacabili from Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Both the wind and Camerata’s strings whirl and fuss about her, but she will not be placated from her ‘implacable torments’. Likewise, in Bizet’s Habanera from Carmen, she postures and pouts whilst belting out the aria as a woman who will not be tamed, attacking every note with the ferocity of a tiger.

Both sopranos, Katie Stenzel and OQ Young Artist Madeleine Stevens, are excellent. Stenzel’s difficult coloratura soprano in Donizetti’s Quel guardo il cavaliere from Don Pasquale shows masterful breath control in the bel canto style, as all three women strut in front of the men.

The UQ Pulse Chamber Ensemble is a worthy accompaniment, singing with skill and gusto both during the evening performance and in their own earlier lunchtime concert. There is the promise of many more potential OQ fledglings waiting in the wings.

Kiwi and Tongan tenor Filipe Manu is already flying high since being the first Pacific and Australasian singer to win the prestigious Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition in 2024. Internationally renowned, he recently returned from performances in Barcelona and Monte-Carlo. 

Manu’s classic voice chimes throughout the outback in Verdi’s famous aria as Alfredo in Lunge da lei … Dei miei bollenti spiriti from La traviata, the sky transitioning from a rosé to a vivid claret for an unparalleled outback sunset.

Former scientist, now-baritone James Roser’s delivery is equally sonorous, excelling in Questo amor, vergogna mia from Edgar, which Puccini described as a ‘miserable stew’. The mournful strings are sublime and Roser’s warm, amber-like timbre is overwhelming.

This unique magical evening closes with Banjo Patterson’s iconic bush ballad Waltzing Matilda, composed in 1895 at Dagworth Station near Winton. Thomas Bulch’s catchy Craigielee melody is treated to an inspired musical arrangement by Mills, giving it an ethereal quality by including a lovely woodwind interlude. It tenderly encapsulates the ‘Fair Dinkum’ Aussie outback spirit, with a ripper performance under the shadows of the dinosaurs, Matilda and Banjo.

Opera Queensland’s 2026 Festival of Outback Opera runs 11–17 May.