Choirs have been instrumental in shaping the career arc of former Winmalee Public and High school student, Matthew Avery.

Although Matthew comes from a musical family – both his parents were performers – it was the Winmalee Public School choir that really sparked his interest in singing, and music in general.

“When I was in year 5 and year 6, they had school choirs, and there was going to be a big event where you got to sing at the Opera House and I thought that sounded great,” Matthew said.

“It was absolutely fantastic. We performed in the [Opera House] concert hall, and I think everyone had a great time.

“I was not very academically or sports oriented, so music was something that helped me feel that I could belong to a group and contribute in a way nothing else could; to be part of the school community and feel a sense of pride that my contribution was valuable to the school.

“Through being involved in the choirs, I developed a love of harmony and working together as a team to create something that was beautiful for people in the choir and audiences as well. I learned about the positive impact singing could have on listeners. Magic.”

Some years later, choral singing again would prove to be pivotal in launching Matthew’s professional opera career when Opera Australia offered him a contract to perform in the chorus for its production of Verdi’s Atilla at the Opera House.

“That was in 2021; it was absolutely amazing and it ran for about three months,” Matthew said.

In between, Winmalee High School played a crucial role in Matthew’s career development, when in Year 8, he secured the second lead role in the school’s production of Les Misérables.

“I was shying away from music somewhat until I went into high school,” he said. “I still liked music, but I decided the best way to do that, singing and being at the front of the stage, was to be in the school band so I learned to play the trumpet.

“They had a big music program at Winmalee high school,” he said. “They had three bands - Training, Intermediate and Concert band - and I was in all three of them; and after Les Miz, they formed a jazz band, and I dropped into that too.

“It had to be after Les Miz when I thought this is something that I really want to do.”

Another “more challenging” school musical, Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, was followed by performing in shows with the Blue Mountains Musical Society.

“I think the whole thing just instilled a love of theatre in me,” Matthew said. “At that point it was something that I really quite enjoyed. It was fantastic to be performing all this amazing music.”

After leaving school, Matthew decided on a “not straightforward” path to a professional music career by joining a group in the USA called the Young Americans where he furthered his musical training and toured parts of the USA and Europe over two years.

“The Young Americans had this school program,” he said. “They go into a town and over a three-day period, they would teach the kids a show and on the third day, they would put on that show and then rinse and repeat for some months.

“I did a US tour to start with. We did a lot of California, but we also went to Arizona, Nebraska and Utah. And then my second tour, we were mostly in Germany, but we also went to Estonia, Poland, Latvia and the Netherlands.”

Upon his return to Australia, Matthew started performing in Eisteddfods before linking up with a “fantastic” music teacher and the head of the Young Artist Program at Opera Australia, Donna Balson, who taught him “how to take my voice to the next level”.

More than a decade later, and following his breakthrough role in the chorus of Atila and minor roles for Opera Australia in Carmen, Turandot and La Boheme, Matthew this year secured his first principal role in the Sydney Philharmonic Chorus Production of Aida at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.

“In Aida I was asked to perform the role of the King of Egypt which is not an insignificant role,” he said. “It was incredible to be asked. It was an incredible performance and there were 750 people in the chorus.”

Matthew also represented Australia at the Belvedere International Opera Competition in Latvia and won a scholarship to The American Institute of Music Studies in Graz, Austria, “considered to be the best summer opera program in the world,” he said.

As for the future, Matthew’s just been offered a role as an Emerging Artist for the Richard Divall Program in association with Melbourne Opera.

“This means I will be taking on covers (understudies) for roles with Melbourne Opera and working with industry professionals to develop my career further,” he said. “This is a great honour and very exciting opportunity.”

Matthew’s “dream” is to be performing major roles in Europe and Australia.

“I understand that one of my favourite roles, Escamillo in Carmen - that role is somewhat in demand - and I would just love to be able to be in Europe or here performing Escamillo or really anything they ask me to perform as a lead,” he said.

Opera Petites

Winmalee Public and High schools have played a pivotal role in Matthew’s opera journey.

“There were a lot of things I learned about music, that I couldn’t learn from my parents, from being in the bands at school,” he said. “These skills have really helped me enormously in the work I do at the moment with sight reading and harmonising.

“What it might have done is instil an appreciation of ensemble music. One of my favourite things in opera is the ensemble; all of these different voices coming together to create incredible music.”

As a result, Matthew decided to give something back by joining Opera Petites; a program founded by an opera colleague, Phoebe Humphreys, and designed to introduce opera to public school students.

“I got involved with it through the Opera Company; Phoebe Humphreys is also a full-time member of the chorus and so from performing shows with her I got to know her a bit and she asked if I would be interested in doing some school shows and I said 'absolutely',” Matthew said.

“It spreads music that I love to the younger people. Music can inspire. Not everyone will be interested in opera. That’s just the way that music goes but some kids absolutely will be and I want to be a part of that.

“I think music, in a word, touches them. It reaches them. It’s kind of an international language in a way. Even if you don’t understand Italian or don’t understand German or whatever the language may be, if it is performed well, then it will reach you."

Phoebe, who is also Opera Petites artistic director, describes the program as “an immersive musical arts experience for junior education".

“Our shows are written alongside the curriculum, appropriate for years K-6, which explore the foundational elements of Opera and Classical song, in a fun, collaborative and informative way,” she said

“Turning each school into a stage for the day. We are very lucky to have a high calibre of professional singers involved in this project, including Matthew Avery, who has been involved in the project for the past two years.

“I always enjoy writing the shows each year with Matthew in mind, as he is such a great asset as a performer, educator and inspirational colleague.”

In June, Matthew was part of the Opera Petites troupe that performed at Bellevue Hill Public School. Other upcoming performances will be at Castle Cove Public school on 11th August and at Newtown North Public School on 15th September.