Recently we have received Artist Updates of past winners of the Rockend Berlin New Music Opera Award.

Constantine Costi – opera and theatre director (2015)
When Constantine won The Berlin New Music Opera Award he worked with Komische Oper Berlin’s directing team on the premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin directed by Barrie Kosky. He was revival director for Sir David McVicar’s Vienna State Opera production of Falstaff for the National Centre of Performing Arts in Beijing; and Opera Australia’s production of La Traviata. Constantine directed Karakorum starring David Wenham, Bittersweet Obsessions. In 2019 Constantine’s work with Opera Australia sees him as revival director of Massenet’s Werther, and assistant director on Berg’s Wozzeck and Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims.

Burhan Guner – conductor (2014)
Burhan is currently working on the Massenet opera Cinderella at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He will make a return appearance there next year to conduct their production of Die Fledermaus. He is kept busy conducting various ensembles and orchestras. The highlight this year was conducting a concert featuring all Australian string pieces performed by the Albany Chamber Orchestra.

Priscilla Jackman – director (2017)
In 2018 Priscilla directed Opera Australia NSW schools tour of The Magic Flute, a new work for Musica Viva, which will tour nationally for next 4 years and opened and closed her first Sydney Theatre production ‘Still Point Turning: The Catherine McGregor Story’, which she wrote and directed. She is currently preparing for another show at Sydney Theatre Company in 2019: ‘White Pearl’ by Felicia King. Priscilla is in pre-production for a new Australian play at Ensemble Theatre, opening early 2019 – ‘The Appleton Ladies Potato Race’ by Melanie Tait. Also in 2019 she will direct the Opera Australia ‘Barber of Seville’ Victorian schools tour, and is an Associate Lecturer at NIDA in Performance Practices.

Aleisa Jelbart – director (2016)
In 2018 Aleisa has worked with Sydney Dance Company including Props Design for Antony Hamilton’s world premiere ‘Forever and Ever’ and Costume and Prop Design for the 2018 instalment of New Breed, where she will continue to design costumes in 2019. She has also been working with children and young people through a number of theatre and puppetry workshops with Matriark Theatre, The Australian Museum and The Australian Theatre for Young People.

Cameron Menzies – opera director (2011)
We are delighted that Cameron directed the Lady Fairfax New York Scholarship Workshop this morning and his biography is outlined earlier in the program. 2019 brings Artistic Director, The Classics: Opera for the city of Stonnington. A huge outdoor opera event, designed to being in the round;Madama Butterfly: UK/European Tour; World Premiere of The Selfish Giant based on the Oscar Wilde short story, directed for Victorian Opera 2019 Season.

Carolyn Watson – conductor (2012)
Carolyn Watson is Music Director of the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. Since moving to the United States in 2013 she has led performances with the Austin Symphony, Cape Symphony, Catskill Symphony, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra, Interlochen Philharmonic, Kansas City Ballet, St. Joseph Symphony, Traverse Symphony Orchestra and World Youth Symphony Orchestra. Recruited internationally as Music Director of the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, she won the 2015 American Prize for Orchestral Performance with this ensemble. An experienced conductor of opera, recent engagements have seen Carolyn lead Listen, Wilhemina! for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Hansel and Gretel for Amarillo Opera and Fellow Travelers at Des Moines Metro Opera, along with a production of As One. In 2020 she conducted ‘And Still we Dream’ for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, a production which was featured in the Emmy-Award winning PBS documentary, Higher Octaves: Leading Women in the Arts. In 2019 Carolyn was engaged to conduct the world premiere of Gordon Getty’s opera at Festival Napa Valley, and in 2017 she was one of six conductors selected for the Hart Institute for Women Conductors, where she led the Dallas Opera in two public performances.

A major prizewinner at the 2012 Emmerich Kálmán International Operetta Conducting Competition in Budapest, notable European credits include Infektion!, a festival of modern theatre celebrating the works of John Cage at the Staatsoper Berlin, conducting musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic in Interaktion, a residency at the Israeli National Opera, and assisting Sir Charles Mackerras on his final two productions at The Royal Opera, Covent Garden and Glyndebourne. Additional international conducting credits include the Brandenburger Symphoniker, BBC Concert Orchestra, Budapest Operetta Theatre, Bulgarian State Opera Bourgas, Duna Szimfonikus Budapest, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Kammerphilharmonie Graz, Kodály Philharmonia Debrecen, Mihail Jora Philharmonic Romania, Savaria Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and in Russia, the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic. In Australia she has worked with the Darwin Symphony, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Melbourne Youth Orchestra, Monash Academy Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Tasmania Discovery Orchestra and Willoughby Symphony.

A committed music educator, Carolyn currently serves as Director of Orchestras at the University of Illinois whilst continuing to enjoy an active freelance career throughout the US, Europe and Australia. In 2021 Carolyn was named a finalist in the Arts category of the Australian government Advance Awards, an international award which recognizes leading global Australians of excellence.