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Jacqueline Dark

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Jacqueline Dark
Born1967/1968
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Died (aged 55)
Sydney, Australia
Other namesJacqueline Moran
OccupationOpera singer (mezzo-soprano)
Years active2000–2023
Websitejacquelinedark.com

Jacqueline Lisa Dark (also Jacqueline Moran;[1] 1967/1968 – 3 October 2023) was an Australian operatic mezzo-soprano.

Life and career

She was born in Ballarat and attended the University of Ballarat from 1986 to 1988, receiving a Bachelor of Science (Physics) and a Graduate Diploma of Education in 1989.[2]

Dark trained at the Victorian College of the Arts where she received first class honours in the Graduate Diploma of Opera in 1995.

Performance

Dark performed with Opera Australia, Victorian State Opera, was young artist for Opera Queensland in 2000. At the Vienna State Opera, she performed the roles of Giovanna in Verdi's Rigoletto, Grimgerde in Wagner's Die Walküre, Annina in Verdi's La traviata, Mercedes in Bizet's Carmen, and Il Pastore (shepherd) in Puccini's Tosca.

Her 2013/14 Opera Australia schedule included Emilia in Verdi's Otello, Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Filippyevna in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Meg Page in Verdi's Falstaff, Lady Billows in Britten's Albert Herring and Fricka in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.[3] In 2012, Jacqueline Dark appeared as Herodias in Opera Australia's new production of Salome by Richard Strauss. and won the Green Room Award for Outstanding Principal Female in Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni.

Her repertoire also includes the roles of the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos by R. Strauss, the title role and Mercedes in Carmen, Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte, the title role and Tisbe in Rossini's La Cenerentola (for which she won another Green Room Award), Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Rosmira in Handel's Partenope, both Second and Third Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Marcellina in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Maurya in Riders to the Sea), Mrs Herring in Brittens Albert Herring, Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto, Lucilla in Rossini's La scala di seta, Marianna in Rossini's Il signor Bruschino, Annina in Der Rosenkavalier by R. Strauss, Pitti-Sing/Katisha in The Mikado, and Mary in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer.

Dark performed the role of Sally Lowe in the world premiere of Lindy and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Iolanthe for Opera Australia, and covered the role of Pearl in the world premiere of Richard Mills' Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. At the 2027 Adelaide Festival, she sang the soprano title role in the Australian premiere of Rufus Wainwright's opera Prima Donna, with Kanen Breen as the Journalist.[4]

She also performed in music theatre, cabaret, theatre restaurant and the concert podium. She appeared as a soloist with groups including the Melbourne Chorale, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (concert series), Orchestra Victoria, the Australian National Academy of Music, the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. She performed the alto solo in Rossini's Stabat Mater for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Dark joined the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra along with Trisha Crowe, Michael Falzon, Amanda Harrison and others to record I Dreamed a Dream: Hit Songs from Broadway for ABC Classics in 2013.[5]

Personal life

Dark and "her best friend", Kanen Breen, who is gay, co-parented her son.[6]

Dark died on 3 October 2023, at the age of 55, having been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer the year before.[7]

Major roles

Major roles performed by Dark include:[8]

Recordings

For Opera Australia and CinemaLive – DVD and CD recordings:

  • The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
  • Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss)
  • The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan)
  • Don Giovanni (Mozart)

For Opera Australia and ABC:

  • Lindy (Henderson)

For the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and ABC Classics (as part of a compilation)[5]

For Greg Gould’s album of duets, 1998:

Awards

Among Dark's awards and major prizes are two Green Room Awards for her role of Tisbe in Opera Australia's La Cenerentola (2004) and as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in 2011, an overseas study grant by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust (2001), the Vienna State Opera Award (2000), 3rd place in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions finals (1999), as well as a finalist in McDonald's Operatic Aria (1999, 2000), Herald Sun Aria (1998, 2000), National Liederfest (2000), Covent Garden National Opera Studio Scholarship (1998). She has won the Ringwood Aria 1997, Geelong Aria (1997), Fletcher Jones Memorial Aria (1994), Shell Aria (1993), Victorian Theatre Guild Award (Performance of Distinction) (1989), Encore Award for Performance of Excellence (1986).[2] Dark won the award for Best Female Performer in a Supporting Role in an Opera at the 2013 Helpmann Awards for her role as Herodias in Opera Australia's Salome[9] and nominated in the 2014 Helpmann Award Best Female Performer in a Supporting Role in an Opera category for The Melbourne Ring Cycle.[10]

Dark launched the 2007 season at Her Majesty's Theatre in her home town of Ballarat as Dorabella in Così fan tutte.[citation needed]

Notes

  1. ^ "Lindy" (PDF) (performance flyer). Opera Australia. October 2002. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Dark, Jacqueline Lisa", Federation University Australia Honour Roll
  3. ^ "Jacqueline Dark". Opera Australia. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  4. ^ Tracey Korsten (19 March 2017). "Festival Review: Prima Donna/Rufus Does Judy". Glam Adelaide. Retrieved 5 October 2023.; Louise Nunn (14 March 2017). "Rufus Wainwright brings Prima Donna and Rufus Does Judy to the Adelaide Festival". The Advertiser. Adelaide. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b "I Dreamed a Dream – Hit Songs From Broadway". ABC Music. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  6. ^ Stephen Lacey (22 June 2013). "Two of us: Jacqui Dark and Kanen Breen". The Sydney Morning Herald (interview). Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  7. ^ Blake, Jason (4 October 2023). "Opera star and cabaret singer Jacqueline Dark has died". Limelight. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  8. ^ Jacqueline Dark, profile at Opera Australia, Jacqueline Dark, performance schedule at OperaBase
  9. ^ "2013 Helpmann Award Winners". Stage Whispers. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Helpmann Awards 2014 Nominations" (PDF). Helpmann Awards. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
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