"Ingenious...petite productions for hungry young minds"
- Time Out

Lachlan Massey, Artistic Director

The Children's Opera Project bring young energy to a timeless art form. They are Australian artists creating exciting new opera, in Sydney and on tour! Based in Sydney, their mission is threefold: to be ambassadors for opera, to develop a new repertoire of contemporary Australian opera, and to contribute unique creative learning programs to the established body of music education in Australia.

​Founded under the name Musgrove Opera in 2018, the company celebrated their first season with Pinocchio!, based on the book by Carlo Collodi. The show premiered at the Zenith Theatre on 20 December 2018 before touring South Coast NSW. Their second production, Hansel and Gretel, premiered in 2021 at The Concourse.

In 2022, the company produced a revival production of Fox's 'Sid the Serpent who Wanted to Sing', in their first performance at the Sydney Opera House's Utzon Room. Later in the year the singers presented children's concert 'Heroes' and worked with Aija Draguns', commissioning and premiering her children's opera, Max and Moritz.

In 2024, the company premiered a new production of 'Mulga Bill's Bicycle', based on the story by Banjo Paterson. The production featured over 300 young singers from schools across Sydney in a massed treble chorus, in a performance at The Concourse Concert Hall.

Production History:
  • Mulga Bill's Bicycle (2024) - The Concourse Concert Hall
  • Sid the Serpent who Wanted to Sing (2022, 2023) - Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House & Schools Tour
  • Max and Moritz (2022) - Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House & Schools Tour
  • Heroes (2022) - Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House
  • Hansel & Gretel (2021) - The Concourse Theatre
  • Pinocchio! (2018/2019) - Zenith Theatre & Regional Tour

Soloists

Since its foundation in 2018, The Children's Opera Project's productions have featured some of Australia's most exciting emerging artists, many of whom have gone on to have leading national and international careers.

Sopranos
  • Natasha Gesto (Pinocchio!, 2018 & 2019)
  • Molly Ryan (Sid the Serpent, ​2023, Mulga Bill's Bicycle Studio Recording, 2026)
  • Abbey Thomas (Pinocchio!, 2018 & 2019; Sid the Serpent 2023)
  • Ines Paxton (Pinocchio!, 2018 & 2019, Hansel and Gretel, 2021, Sid the Serpent, 2022, Heroes, 2022)

Mezzo-Sopranos
  • Cassandra Doyle (Max and Moritz, 2022)
  • Elise Nolte (Sid the Serpent, 2022)
  • Vanessa Aigus (Hansel and Gretel, 2021)
  • Ellie Meagher (Heroes, 2022, Max and Moritz, 2022, Mulga Bill's Bicycle, 2024)

Tenors
  • Elias Wilson (Mulga Bill's Bicycle, 2024)
  • Alexander Caldwell (Pinocchio!, 2018, Hansel and Gretel, 2021)

Baritones
  • Leon Vitogiannis (Sid the Serpent, ​2022, Heroes, 2022)
  • Oskar Loofs (Max and Moritz, 2021)

Basses
  • Aidan O'Donnell (Pinocchio!, 2018, Hansel and Gretel, 2021)

Pianists
  • Sally Whitwell (Mulga Bill's Bicycle Studio Recording, 2026) [guest pianist]

Cellists
  • Sophia Chan (Pinocchio!, 2019, Max and Moritz, 2022)