ROBERT MACFARLANE
tenor
Robert Macfarlane studied at the Elder
Conservatorium in Adelaide and subsequently
at the Hochschule für Musik, ‘Felix Mendelssohn-
Bartoldy’, Leipzig as winner of the Thomas Elder
Overseas Scholarship.
Recent engagements include his directorial debut
– Radamisto (Handel) for Apollo Opera Collective, and performances
including Britten’s Peter Grimes (Bob Boles) with Sydney Symphony
Orchestra; Bach’s St Matthew Passion (Evangelist) with the Royal School
of Church Music and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs; Britten’s Saint Nicolas
Cantata at St Peter’s Cathedral; Ned Kelly (Steve Hart) with Lost and
Found Opera; Messiah for Willoughby Symphony Choir, New Zealand
Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Choral Society and Perth Symphonic
Chorus; with The Song Company for Brett Dean’s Hamlet at the Adelaide
Festival; and Beethoven & Beyond with Auckland Choral Society.
2018 saw Robert co-create More Guilty than the Poet for Cirkidz, perform
the roles of Kunz Vogelgesang in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for
State Opera South Australia, Ulrich Eisslinger in Die Meistersinger von
Nürnberg for Opera Australia and Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos with
Simone Young conducting in Brisbane.
Robert made his European Opera Debut as Ircano in Hasse’s Semiramide
in Graz and Leipzig. Further appearances include Tybalt in Boris Blacher’s
Roméo et Juliette (Opera de Lyon); Monostatos (The Magic Flute) for
West Australian Opera; Orfeo (Peri’s Euridice) for Woodend Winter Arts
Festival; the title role in Rameau’s Pygmalion for the Peninsula Festival;
Beppe (Pagliacci) and 3rd Jew (Salome) for State Opera South Australia;
Acis (Acis and Galatea) in Malaysia and Singapore; and Echo and Pastore
in L’Orfeo with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.
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