A deep crimson-red sky marbled with purple scudding clouds racing in the outback winds was the incredible backdrop for an inspirational evening of opera. For Dark Sky Serenade, the stage was 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. Patrick Nolan, the CEO and Artistic Director of OQ, described during the Cultural Conversations at Winton’s iconic North Gregory Hotel, how the concert was 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, characterised 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 were 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 drew a curtain over the stars, but the atmosphere was nonetheless profound. 

The lights were snuffed, creating a dark, sacred space lit only by a faint crescent moon. A low rumbling bass and repeating arpeggiated strings chimed 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 was spectacular in each of her roles. She commanded the stage as a histrionic Dorabella in Ah, scostati! … Smanie implacabili from Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Both the wind and Camerata’s strings whirled and fussed about her, but she would not be placated from her ‘implacable torments’. Likewise, in Bizet’s Habanera from Carmen, she postured and pouted 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, were excellent. Stenzel’s difficult coloratura soprano in Donizetti’s Quel guardo il cavaliere from Don Pasquale showed masterful breath control in the bel canto style, as all three women strutted in front of the men.

The UQ Pulse Chamber Ensemble were 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. Already internationally renowned, Manu recently returned from performances in Barcelona and Monte-Carlo. 

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

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

The unique magical evening closed with Banjo Patterson’s iconic bush ballad Waltzing Matilda, composed in 1895 at Dagworth Station near Winton. Thomas Bulch’s catchy Craigielee melody was treated to an inspired musical arrangement by Mills, giving it an ethereal quality by including a lovely woodwind interlude. It tenderly encapsulated 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.