Each year, Melba Opera Trust awards eight scholarships to talented young singers and a repetiteur for a fully-funded place in the Melba Program. Since 2012, the Indigenous Opera Scholarship has fully underwritten participation in the Melba Program for an Indigenous singer with exceptional promise. It provides a vital and bespoke professional pathway with a proven ...
Melba Opera Trust
Indigenous Opera Scholarship at Melba Opera Trust

GOAL
$15,000
Field of Interest
- Arts and culture
- First Nations communities
Target Population
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Young people (6-25)

Melba Opera Trust brings together exceptional young artists, world-class professionals and visionary supporters to prepare a new generation of Australian performers in opera, for success on the global stage.
Our core work lies in the preparation of extraordinary young Australian opera singers and répétiteurs from across the country. Our niche approach is to provide high quality, tailored education to a small number of talented artists who we believe have the potential to pursue a thriving career in opera.
We do this through our flagship Melba Program. It is a scholarship funded 12-month career development program which includes tailored artistic development in opera, mentoring in business and professional skills, personal growth and performance experience.
Through the Program Melba Artists are equipped with the practical tools they can apply to any rehearsal room or performance; ensuring they are focused on developing their whole self; their emotional well-being, their business know-how and other highly transferable professional and life skills that set them up for success on and off the stage.
Dame Nellie Melba said “in order to succeed in opera, you have to engage in the business of singing. A beautiful voice is not enough”. This is at the heart of the Melba Program philosophy: our artists are trained to be more than a voice and taught to invest in their own artistic excellence.
Project Summary
Each year, Melba Opera Trust awards eight scholarships to talented young singers and a repetiteur for a fully-funded place in the Melba Program. Since 2012, the Indigenous Opera Scholarship has fully underwritten participation in the Melba Program for an Indigenous singer with exceptional promise. It provides a vital and bespoke professional pathway with a proven track record of success reflected in its alumni and removing a cost barrier to education that allows artists to focus on refining an evident talent.
We are seeking a $15,000 grant to contribute to the annual support of this important scholarship in 2025.
We manage a lean operating budget to maximise dollars invested into the artists and their training. Funding protects a professional pathway with impact to the individual and their communities well beyond the scholarship.
The objectives of the Indigenous Opera scholarship are to:
– Assist development of Indigenous classical singers of a post-graduate standard
– Support programs that promote an understanding of opera as an art-form in Indigenous communities
– Support alumni to become peer mentors to help with cultural understanding
We are currently in the process of naming the scholarship. The process is being led by Scholarship alumni Tiriki Onus, a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung artist, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Indigenous) and Head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Culture at University of Melbourne. Tirki will be joined together by past recipients of the Scholarship and invited elders in the community.
Project Outcomes
The Indigenous Opera Scholarship at Melba Opera Trust protects a rare pathway for young indigenous talented singers and prepares them for a career in the challenging opera industry.
We will know the Melba Program has had an impact for Indigenous artists when we see our artists progress to the following career opportunities or further professional development:
- Performance roles with opera companies, symphony orchestras or concert recitals. For example, the current recipient Nina Korbe, made her principal debut as Maria in West Side Story this year as part of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour. Former recipient and Melba Alumnus, Elias Wilson, performed in The Visitors with Victorian Opera in 2024.
- Opera competition success to fund further study or living expenses to enable said further study or to work as a freelance artist.
- Selected for a place in a young artist program with an opera company in Australia or opera house overseas.
- Acceptance into further formal study abroad eg. Royal College of Music, London.
- Recognition that this industry is not for them; but leaning into the transferable Melba Program skills for their next professional pathway.
A treasured outcome of the Indigenous Opera Scholarship is confidence artist develop to own their Indigenous culture through the lens of opera and music. Importantly, the leadership and success by Indigenous artists in a largely European art form demonstrates to others in community that origin or background is not a barrier to pursuing dreams.
Budget Breakdown
TOTAL BUDGET: $80,000
FUNDING
Funding source | Amount |
---|---|
Besen Foundation (unconfirmed) | $10,000 |
Melba Opera Trust- Allocation from Investment Income (confirmed) | $12,000 |
Individual donors (unconfirmed) | $18,000 |
Melba Opera Trust - operational contribution (unconfirmed) | $25,000 |
Funding gap (unconfirmed) | $15,000 |
EXPENSES
Expense item | Amount |
---|---|
Mentor Program Delivery for artists (flights, accommodation, per diems, room hire, catering, industry expert mentoring fees and superannuation) | $60,000 |
Individualised artistic preparation costs (coaching, language, diction, additional mentor sessions) | $10,000 |
Performance program | $6,000 |
Administration (portion of salary and super for program staffing) | $4,000 |
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