27 July 2021

Caitlin Wans, a Year 12 student at Our Lady of Sion College, Box Hill, has been accepted into the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute summer singing program.

The talented singer, who will be performing in Victorian Opera’s Youth Opera, The Friends of Salamanca, has been the fortunate recipient of this exclusive online experience. Caitlin shares her reflections on the journey for this extraordinary opportunity:

I applied for this program back in January. The process of being accepted into the program included a general application, writing two essays and submitting two performances. There are two Opera Institute sessions and I am completing the second session. The first session happened a few weeks ago. In total, there are 54 students from all around the US and three international students. I am one of two successful Australian applicants and I will be the only non-US citizen in my session.

Throughout these next two weeks, I will be taking part in various group classes, including masterclasses, audition workshops, citizen artistry classes, group discussions and Q&A sessions. I will also be working individually with industry professionals to learn and prepare an art song called Il Rimprovero by Rossini.

At the end of the two weeks, I will submit a final recording of my art song to be compiled in a recital. I will also be walking away with professional industry standard training and new knowledge about the industry.