Winning the prestigious Dame Joan Sutherland Opera Award in 2006 was the beginning of a soaring international career for Mirusia Louwerse. The soprano, best known as simply Mirusia (like Madonna), was the youngest winner of the award and at the time was still a student at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.
Following this win, she recorded a demo which led to her being hired by Dutch classical music superstar André Rieu as his star soprano, touring with him for over a decade.
Nowadays Mirusia lives on Brisbane’s bayside with her husband and daughter. She still tours and records. In fact, she is touring right now with the Clarence Valley Orchestra and when I chat to her, she is in Glenn Innes with dates to come in Cobar, Broken Hill and Lightning Ridge where she will perform at a fundraiser for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
We chatted about her forthcoming appearance at the 4MBS Festival of Classics where she is the headline act of the Joan Sutherland Spectacular celebrating 100 years of La Stupenda.
That is on May 31 in the main auditorium at Brisbane City Hall. The concert will celebrate Dame Joan Sutherland and her greatest operatic roles with Mirusia and internationally renowned soprano Eva Kong, tenor Rosario La Spina and Opera Queensland guest singers. They will be supported by the Queensland Choir and Brisbane Symphony Orchestra conducted by Opera Australia’s head of music Tahu Matheson and compered by ABC Classic’s Ed Le Brocq.
For Mirusia it will mark 20 years since she won the Dame Joan award.
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“It was career-changing for me,” she says. “I was in my final year at The Con. It was such a wonderful time in my life.”
She won $10,000, which she says was a lot of money back then, and was planning to go to the US to study.
“That’s when I got that famous phone call,” she recalls. The phone call was from Andre Rieu asking her to work with him. She became his star soprano for a decade.
“Andre knew about the Dame Joan award and used to talk about it on stage when he introduced me,” Mirusia recalls. “I never got to meet Dame Joan because she was living in Switzerland then, but she wrote me a letter, which was nice. So, it’s a wonderful year to be celebrating her.”
Mirusia might not have met Dame Joan, but she did do a workshop with her husband, the famed pianist and conductor Richard Bonynge, who is 95.
“I did a masterclass with him after my win,” she says. “I was so lucky to work with him. After I sang for him, he turned to the audience and said, ‘that’s how it’s done’.”
Wonderful memories – and hopefully Mirusia will share a few of them at the forthcoming concert.
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The 33rd annual 4MBS Festival of Classics presents an abundance of classical music performances across Brisbane and beyond. From solo pianists to symphony orchestras, singers to sumptuous choirs, there’s a concert for every classical music lover. You’ll discover gifted students and global stars in this showcase of Queensland musicians by the hundreds, celebrating the wealth of talent in our state.
The man behind the festival is 4MBS general manager Gary Thorpe, who says this year’s festival is themed, Celebrating the Art of Opera.
‘Opera is one of the greatest art forms that emerged from the Baroque era and has continued to develop over about 400 years’
“We’ve planned the festival as an ideal introduction to this extraordinary artform,” Thorpe says. “There are events devoted to some of opera’s greatest composers, such as Verdi and Wagner, and some of the best-known stars of opera – Luciano Pavarotti and that truly spectacular celebration of Dame Joan Sutherland’s centenary. We also take you back to the beginnings of opera in the Baroque period with the Opera is Born concert.
“For those who prefer their opera without the singing, we have a Piano Marathon – three concerts of piano arrangements of great opera melodies. The marathon features three tuneful concerts at the University of Queensland, the final concert on the day being performed by 4MBS musician-in-residence John Granger.
“Opera is one of the greatest art forms that emerged from the Baroque era and has continued to develop over about 400 years. This year’s festival gives us an overview of the art form. We take you back to its beginnings with Opera is Born with Queensland Baroque Orchestra and soloists Sally-Anne Russell and Tobias Merz.
“Queensland Symphony Orchestra gives us some Rossini, Puccini and Verdi in the Italian Gala that opens the festival.”
Meanwhile, Springboard Opera present Verdi’s Divas and the festival celebrates the impact of Pavarotti in Viva Pavarotti with tenor Paul Tabone in the Old Museum Concert Hall.
Then there is Wagner Day at 4MBS and Wagnerian tenor Bradley Daley’s concert in the St Mary’s Series. Wagner Day will celebrate Wagner’s immense influence on opera with music, theatre and discussion. It will feature talks by pianist and scholar Stephen Ammerson and Wagnerian scholar Peter Bassett, performances by internationally acclaimed heldentenor (German for “heroic tenor”) Bradley Daley (patron of the Wagner Society in Queensland) and 4MBS musician-in-residence, pianist John Granger Fisher.
The day culminates in The Twilight of Richard Wagner, written and performed by acclaimed thespian Eugene Gilfedder, which will give us a dramatic insight into Wagner’s Ring Cycle.
But wait, there’s more. So much more. Check out the program get set for a month of music.
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