CONTENT COURTESY AUSTRALIAN CONTEMPORARY OPERA CO.
Linda Thompson — award-winning artistic director, producer, stage director, soprano and founder of the Australian Contemporary Opera Co — was one of 23 remarkable women inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in a ceremony held at the Art Centre Melbourne on 11 October.
“This honour is deeply appreciated. It is an acknowledgement of family, friends, and colleagues who have supported my vision for a place for contemporary opera in Australia, and brought their love, talent, and expertise to the stories we tell,” Linda Thompson said.
Linda has dedicated more than 30 years of professional life to leadership and the development of talent in the opera sector. After a successful career as a principal operatic soprano with Australia’s flagship companies and seven years as Head of Classical Voice at Monash University, Linda founded Gertrude Opera in 2009 as a repertory company, offering a platform for artists to gain professional experience. Rebranded as Australian Contemporary Opera Co in late 2020, the company is now the leading independent producer of contemporary opera in Australia.
In 2020, when COVID shut down live performance, Linda Thompson delivered a 10-day international opera festival online, achieving critical acclaim and winning a Green Room Award for Programming along the way.
“As insurmountable as the concept of an online opera festival seemed, my job as artistic director was to guide our artists and company through the uncertainty by demonstrating flexibility and adaptability. It was critical that we continued to provide employment for our artists and musicians,” Linda said.
Linda joins an illustrious group of ‘opera women’ on the Victorian Honour Roll of Women including Nellie Melba (2001), Simone Young (2001), Gertrude Johnson (2005) and most recently Deborah Cheetham (2015).
“And yes, that’s the same Gertrude Johnson, namesake for Gertrude Opera,” Linda said.
“Continuing her legacy, we award the Gertrude Johnson Fellowship to an emerging artist at ACOCo every year. I’m particularly honoured to join Gertrude Johnson on the Honour Roll.
“It is wonderful that initiatives like the Honour Roll exist to highlight the importance of women’s leadership and recognise lasting contributions to this state. We’ve got a long way to go, especially in the arts sector to change the status quo. We need more female artistic leadership, deciding whose stories are told and who gets to tell them on stage.”
Learn more about the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, or visit the Australian Contemporary Opera Co website.
Image supplied. Credit Matt Nash.
