BY BRIDGET O’BRIEN
Marina Prior left her music studies at university after two years.
It didn’t stop her from picking up more than 30 lead roles on the Australian stages. She’s performed in the Australian premieres of Cats and Les Miserables, recently joined Il Divo, and was acknowledged as one of Australia’s 100 Entertainers of the Century. And now she’ll perform some of her favourite songs as the star of an upcoming show with the 40-piece Canberra Wind Symphony.
And there’ll be fireworks.
In this interview, Marina tells us how she broke onto the music scene and why industry experience is what landed her the success of “Australia’s leading lady of musical theatre”.
You started a Bachelor of Music after your school years, but placed your studies on the back-burner for a professional opportunity. Do you think your career trajectory would have gone in a different direction had you finished your time there? Is there anything that shaped you during study that has impacted the musician you are now?
I left my studies after second year. When I was a student, there were no degrees in music theatre like there are now, so my studies weren’t necessarily geared towards performance.
I think that because of that, and because I left uni early, my training and learning took place on stage in front of a couple of thousand people per night, eight shows a week, for years.
My learning years in theatre were accelerated due to this ‘do or die’ situation. It wasn’t for the faint-hearted, but I think it has been a wonderful (if tough) way to learn.
I was also mentored by great artists such as June Bronhill, Nancye Hayes, and wonderful directors who taught me so much.
What would you advise young singers to be prepared for?
Young singers should be prepared to do lots of hard work.
These days in your career, what aspect would you say still demands the hardest work?
Achieving that ever-elusive life-work balance.
My work as a performer is a huge part of my life, and an extension of who I am, and yet it needs to be in balance with the dynamic of my family.
As a wife, and mother of five, I am always feeding, transporting, counselling, guiding, and involved in every aspect of my children’s lives; as well as being a loving and supportive wife to my wonderful husband.
It is a role that requires complete dedication, and so does being an actor and singer.
Today, young artists in an enduringly competitive industry are learning the necessity of versatility. As an artist who has experienced so many styles, what lessons would you share?
My advice to young artists today would be to see everything you possibly can. Listen and learn from those who have gone before you, and never let anyone dampen your dreams or enthusiasm.
Embrace failure, and learn from it. It is a great teacher!
What do you enjoy about collaborating with ensembles like the Canberra Wind Symphony, and what do you believe is special about a concert performance that strays from the confines of a theatre?
Working with the Canberra Wind Symphony in a beautiful non-theatre setting is a great thrill as an artist, because I am influenced by the different musical colours the symphony brings to familiar songs, and by the setting in natural surroundings. It immediately becomes an event, rather than just another concert.
See Marina Prior with the Canberra Wind Symphony in the first professional production for Wind Ensembles in Australia, 6.30pm February 23 at Mona Farm (with fireworks).
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