The Board of Opera Australia has renewed Lyndon Terracini’s contract as Artistic Director for another three years, as the company celebrates his 10-year milestone in the role. The former baritone was appointed by OA in 2009. In 2017, his contract was renewed for a second time taking him to the end of 2020. He will now serve until the end of 2023.

“When I started, it’s no secret that [the Company was in] a pretty dire situation and I thought I’d be able to do what I wanted to do, and what I thought needed to be done, within five years. But it’s taken probably up until last year to really get everything where it should be. Since I started in 2009, we’ve tripled our turnover and tripled our audience,” Terracini tells Limelight.

Lyndon Terracini. Photograph © Keith Saunders

The turnover and attendance has increased so dramatically, he says, because of the broader range of events that he has introduced including Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour and musicals presented with commercial producer John Frost, as well as the leading international singers and conductors he has managed to attract to the company.

It’s a long way...