ICONIC: MUSIC OF THE 1920’S
Presented by Opera Scholars Australia in collaboration with the 2027 Scholars cohort
Original Image - ACMI archival
Creative Team
Director: Alexander Lewis
Conductor/Presenter: Guy Noble
Professional Artists and Mentors: Johanna Allen and Samuel Dundas
Young artists: 2027 OSA cohort, announced in December
Producer: Bec Dundas
Accompanied by: The Capitol Orchestra
Supporting Partnership: RMIT University
The program will explore the remarkable musical landscape of the 1920s, a decade of transformation in which the boundaries between opera, operetta, musical theatre and popular culture became increasingly fluid. Audiences will encounter works and excerpts written during this extraordinary period, bringing together the sophistication of European opera and operetta with the emerging sounds, rhythms and theatrical language of the modern age.
Featuring music from composers such as Puccini, Strauss, Korngold, Lehár and Gershwin, alongside repertoire from the musical theatre of the era, the performance will illuminate a decade in which the classical and popular worlds collided — a musical world of glamour, romance, comedy, tragedy, sophistication and exuberance.
At its heart, this project is about connection across generations. Established artists of international standing will share the stage with emerging singers from Opera Scholars Australia, creating opportunities for mentorship, collaboration and artistic exchange while giving audiences the rare opportunity to hear established and emerging Australian artists side by side.
The planting of a seed…
Alexander and Bec took a site visit earlier this year to the newly refurbished Capitol Theatre, alongside Andrew Stephens, who has in recent years been reimagining the original 1924 Capitol Orchestra in to a band of skilled musicians of today, made up of local volunteer artists who see immense potential in the growth and evolution of this orchestra and who share in our vision to activate this sensational site with music, dance, culture and life.
As we begin this partnership with the orchestra, we will collaborate on the creative formation of a musical program, bringing together music and cultural influences of the era.
The creative process for this work will include a week-long uni holiday intensive with the creative team, investigating the cultural impact of the era and historical significance of the location, Wednesday evening rehearsals across a 3-month period with the cohort and collaborators. Finally, we will engage in key rehearsals with our professional artists and mentors in the lead up to the staging and culmination of the project.
Performance experiences that are life changing and career supporting…
Our young people emerge from tertiary institutions or come to OSA during their studies to receive expert training, mentoring and performance skills that transcend music. We regularly engage in intensive periods that prepare artists for performances and give them broad skill development in acting, movement, fight choreography, yoga and mindfulness, voice anatomy and physiology and group ensemble work.
This not only prepares them for the work we undertake and bolsters their skills, but it is also filling significant gaps from the current tertiary music landscape.
OSA aims to provide education and training through a modern lens of opera, encouraging young people from all social demographics to engage with our program and breaking down barriers of cost through reducing fees to participate and offering annual scholarships to those who otherwise would not be able to join.
Image from Turning Points - 2025 OSA Project
Mentoring the next generation of skilled arts workers…
Many of our artists are also curious about developing skills in Directing, Producing, Writing and Arts Management. Through projects like these, we are able to scaffold this learning and skills development across the duration of the project. In 2026, OSA has been invited into the cohort of organisations by The Betty Amsden Foundation. Betty in her later years was a key supporter of OSA and championed our vision right to the end. With the support of the BAF, we will submit a mentoring program grant in October to provide vital mentoring to 3 young artists across the ICONIC Project - January through to April - providing skills building in their area of interest - with opportunities to shadow Alexander, Bec and our guest artists throughout the creative process. OSA has also received funding from BAF for their 100th year celebrations in 2026, for what would’ve been Betty’s 100th Birthday. This has allowed us to offer free tickets to 100 young people to our show Baroque to Broadway, premiering at Hawthorn Arts Centre in December. We are looking forward to continuing this relationship into 2027.
Image of Mai Wan Chan - who was apart of the 2024/2025 OSA Cohort and became our administrative assistant and Voices Unleashed outreach Program Facilitator before relocating to Paris to pursue music.
The recently refurbished Capitol Theatre, Naarm/Melbourne
“$20 million refit makes Capitol place of education by day, culture by night” - The Sydney Morning Herald
Now, 20 years after it was bought by the university for use as a lecture theatre, five years after it was closed due to safety concerns, and two years after a campaign was launched to raise funds for its restoration, the magnificent 580-seat venue has been re-opened, minus the "Theatre" but with a promise to "retain its cinematic heritage and take a leap beyond".
The 18-month-long restoration was overseen by Six Degrees architects and Hutchinson Builders, at a cost of more than $20 million. It has breathed new life into the interior, which was designed by husband-and-wife team Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin and unveiled in 1924 with a screening of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments.
And while much of the original 2000-seat picture palace was lost in a compromise deal in the 1960s that led to the development of the ground-floor Capitol Arcade, lead architect Peter Malatt says there was still plenty worth preserving.
"About 80 per cent of the building was still there in some form," he said. "It was about getting that to sing as much as possible, and to bring in beneath that a layer of 21st century functionality."
-Karl Quinn, The Sydney Morning Herald
ICONIC will take place in late April, 2027 - in partnership with RMIT University and generously supported by OSA’s dedicated donor/patron program. OSA has been predominantly funded by the generosity of our long term supporters. The fluctuation of this stream of income in recent years has urged the organisation to diversify our financial support and with the support of Creative Australia, we would be able to implement crucial planning for our 2027 program with the guarantee of this important venue and artists’ involvement.
Thank you.