I am available as both a solo performer in concert, oratorio & opera, and as part of a duo with pianist Maryleigh Hand (please see the navigation bar for ‘Dunstone & Hand Duo’).

 My singing career began in Adelaide, under the guidance of my first teacher, Australian soprano Marilyn Richardson. My first performances were as a concert singer, performing everything from Bach to Schubert to Schoenberg, and even recently composed works. I also performed frequently in oratorio.

My first experiences in opera were as a chorister for the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust and The State Opera of South Australia, with whom I subsequently had a cadetship from the Music Board of the Australia Council. After winning the State Opera Aria, and participating in the world premiere of Richard Meale’s Voss with the Australian Opera, I moved to Sydney, where I was a member of the Australian Opera’s Esso Young Artists Development Program, and later a principal artist.

After study in New York and London, I returned to Australia to take up a freelance career, performing opera, oratorio and concert repertoire. I have appeared regularly with the State Opera of South Australia and other regional companies, and have appeared on a number of occasions as a soloist with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

Amusingly, some of the most memorable performances have occurred under the most stressful circumstances. There was, for instance, the occasion when I was rung at 8am by the conductor of the Sydney Philharmonia, Antony Walker, enquiring if I knew C.P.E. Bach’s Magnificat and Mozart’s Requiem. Although I had never sung these works, he was quite insistent that I sing them in the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House that very evening. The scheduled soloist had become ill. The result: sight-reading the works in the morning with the orchestra and performing that night! Never have I been so glad of my musicianship skills.

 

1991–2011                  Freelance Opera Principal & Concert Singer

1987–1990                  Member of the Australian Opera

1984–1987                  Member of the State Opera of South Australia

1980–1987                  Freelance Singer

Prudenc E. Dunstone

Prudence E. Dunstone

Singer, Singing Teacher, Musicologist