Stopera is pleased to announce that Rebecca Collins is once again to appear with Stopera as Sophie in the Australian premiere of Nigredo Hotel, a Canadian chamber opera being staged in September 2006.

Rebecca is a former member of Opera Queensland’s Young Artist Development Program, where she performed the roles of Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Peep-Bo in The Mikado. She has also appeared as Gilda in Rigoletto for Opera Queensland and Oz Opera, Opera Australia’s touring company. Rebecca made her US debut singing Pat Nixon in John Adams’ Nixon in China for the Colorado Music Festival. She made her principal operatic debut in Australia singing Marzelline in Fidelio for Opera Australia. Other operatic roles include Lydie in Fauré's Penelope and Lucy Lockitt in Britten's The Beggars Opera.

A graduate of ANU and NSW Conservatorium of Music, her scholarships and awards include the National Aria from the Australian National Eisteddfod. She has also pursued further vocal studies in Europe, funded by an Australia Council grant and a Goethe Institut scholarship. Concert performances include soprano soloist in Messiah (Handel), Coronation Mass (Mozart), Nelson Mass (Haydn), A Child of our Time (Tippett), Choral Symphony No 9 (Beethoven), Six Settings for Vespers (Monteverdi) and The Creation (Haydn). She has performed new Australian works with Sydney’s Voiceworks contemporary vocal ensemble, and presented world premiere performances including the soprano solo in Australian composer Sean O’Boyle’s River Symphony.

In 2003 Rebecca Collins performed in recital with pianist David Harper for 4MBS Classic FM and with The Queensland Orchestra, singing Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and selections from Copland’s Old American Songs. She appeared for Stopera in the 2003 Serenades recital series at the National Gallery of Australia and also played two major roles in Stopera's 2003 French Baroque production, cantata. In the 2005 National Multicultural Festival, Rebecca appeared in Stopera’s sell-out Italian opera concert Tutto Italiano, and in the solo recital European Masters, presented by the National Gallery and the ACT Lieder Society. For the 2005 Canberra International Chamber Music Festival, Rebecca was soloist with Stopera and the Haydn Bande in Bach’s Coffee Cantata.

Rebecca starred as Jane in Stopera’s award-winning 2005 Australian premiere of the opera Jane Eyre, by British composer Michael Berkeley and Australian writer David Malouf, receiving national and international critical acclaim for her outstanding performance in this demanding role.