Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to acknowledge the arrival of Coast Opera Australia to the Central Coast and the fantastic work done by their artistic director and CEO, Angela Brewer, in promoting opera and the arts in our local community. Coast Opera Australia is the first professional opera company to operate on the coast, and I was delighted to attend its season launch earlier this month. In the short time the opera company has been on the coast, Angela and her team have been able to bring world-class operatic talent to our region as well as provide opportunities for aspiring performers from our regional to showcase their abilities. Some of the fantastic artists Coast Opera have already brought locally include award-winning baritone Jose Carbo, emerging artist Vivienne McLaren, who last year won the Lee Casey Memorial Award from the Bouddi Foundation for the Arts, and Australian mezzo-soprano Sally-Anne Russell.

Angela's 20-year professional opera career saw her perform around the world, and, as of last year, she established Coast Opera Australia as a way to keep local professional artists on the coast. Angela's story reflects so many in my electorate of Robertson, where business owners are either starting or moving businesses into our region so they can provide more opportunities to local people and allow talent to stay on the coast. This has allowed local people to live and work closer to home instead of having to leave for Sydney and elsewhere to seek those opportunities. So I do want to commend Angela and the team at Coast Opera for their fantastic work bringing opera and the arts to our region. (Time expired)