West Australian Opera announces 2015 Mentored Artists
West Australian Opera announced mezzo soprano Ileana Rinaldi and baritone Sam Roberts-Smith as the company’s 2015 Mentored Artists.
The Mentored Artist program has been created to assist the continued development of young artists at a turning point in their development. WAO Artistic Director Brad Cohen commented:
“Many opera companies have Young Artist programs, and at their completion the artist is assumed to be fully-fledged and mature. I have identified an intermediate developmental stage for singers, however, where an artist is no longer a novice, but may have encountered circumstances which impede their further growth.
At this delicate stage, they benefit from support and mentoring which can be best provided on a personal basis, and for our Mentored Artist program this year I will be personally advising and supporting Ileana and Sam. I have the greatest confidence in their talent and commitment, and look forward to enabling their participation in coming seasons.”
Audiences will have the opportunity to hear both Sam Robert-Smith and Ileana Rinaldi next month when they perform in Morning Melodies: In Love with Mozart at His Majesty’s Theatre, Wednesday 17 June.