Profile
Anna–Louise Cole’s stunning 2022 début as Turandot for Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House thrilled critics and audiences alike. Limelight Magazine spoke of her “glorious lush voice with rich depth and warmth. Her top notes are brilliant, but she is impressive across her entire register.” Sounds Like Sydney said “it was a tremendously poised performance from this young artist, who impressed with her deep musical sensitivity, dramatic talent and mastery of her precociously powerful voice. Her voice has laser-like focus but loses none of its beauty either in solo or when it rises like a shaft of light above the ensemble, chorus and orchestra.”
Future engagements include Brünnhilde in Opera Australia’s Der Ring des Nibelungen – after singing Sieglinde in earlier performances of Die Walküre. In 2022, she appears as Chrysothemis in Elektra for Victorian Opera and as soprano soloist for Sydney Philharmonia.
Anna–Louise Cole is an Australian young dramatic soprano, and a former member of Opera Australia’s Moffat Oxenbould Young Artist Program.
For Opera Australia, Anna–Louise made her title role debut as Aïda for Griffith Opera on the Beach in 2017. She has also performed the roles of Crobyle in Thaïs, Gerhilde in Die Walküre and Dritte Norn in Götterdämmerung in the 2016 Melbourne Ring, and was nominated for a 2017 Green Room Award for best Female in a Supporting Role for these performances.
In 2018 Anna–Louise made her debut in the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House as a soloist in Opera Australia’s Great Opera Hits concert series. In 2019 Anna–Louise continued regular concert appearances for Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House, with the Opera Australia Orchestra at Mazda Opera in the Domain, broadcast live on ABC Classic FM and with Orchestra Victoria at Mazda Opera in the Bowl.
For Opera Australia, Anna–Louise has understudied the title roles in Turandot, Aïda and Salome, Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Elsa in Lohengrin and the roles of Praskovia Osipovna / Bubliki / Presenter in Shostakovich’s The Nose, among others.
As the winner of Opera Foundation for young Australians Vienna State Opera Award, Anna–Louise worked in the principal ensemble of the Wiener Staatsoper from January–June 2017, where she performed the role of Melanie in the new Kinderoper Patchwork, and understudied numerous roles including the title role in Tosca, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera). With other companies, Anna–Louise has performed roles including the title role in Tosca, Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte) and der Friedensbote (Rienzi) with companies including the Victorian Opera and Melbourne Opera.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Anna–Louise holds a BA Hons in German and a BMus Hons in Music Performance (Voice) from the University of Melbourne. During her degrees, Anna–Louise also studied at the Kunst Universität Graz, Austria and Karl-Ludwigs Universität, in Freiburg, Germany, through scholarships from Melbourne Abroad and the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst.
Anna–Louise has been a winner and finalist in many singing competitions, including the AIMS and Sundell Study Awards, the Elizabeth Connell International Singing Competition for Dramatic Sopranos, the Herald Sun Aria, the German Opera Scholarship and the Lady Fairfax New York Scholarship from the Opera Foundation for Young Australians.
Anna–Louise has appeared in numerous opportunities on the concert platform and in recital in Melbourne, Sydney and Vienna. Highlights have included performances of the soprano solos in Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and recitals of operatic arias and Lieder, including Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, Lieder by R Strauss and J Marx, and Berg’s 7 frühe Lieder.
For further information please see: https://opera.org.au/
