Artist Biographies Mirage

Jack Symonds is a composer, conductor and pianist, and Artistic Director of Sydney Chamber Opera. He studied composition at the Royal College of Music, London under Kenneth Hesketh and at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he received the University Medal. His stage works represent “a striking and impressive new operatic voice” (SMH) and he is “one of those performers who seemingly can play anything” (ABR).

He specialises in the performance of new music, including conducting and playing major stage works by Britten, Benjamin, Janáček, Dusapin, Kurtág, Saariaho, Maxwell Davies, Kancheli, Rihm, Gyger, Finsterer, Ricketson among others.

He has recently performed in and made work for the Holland, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide Festivals, Dark MOFO, Sydney Opera House, Biennale of Sydney, Melbourne Recital Centre, National Gallery of Australia. In 2024, His opera 'Gilgamesh' was presented by the combined forces of Opera Australia, Sydney Chamber Opera, Carriageworks, Australian String Quartet & Ensemble Offspring.

Jane Sheldon is a soprano and composer who has established an international reputation for highly specialized contemporary opera and art music for voice. She has worked extensively with composers and stage directors as they create new works and has performed at Lincoln Center Festival, Sydney Festival, Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival, Prototype Festival, Holland Festival, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and Tokyo Festival, as well as the Louvre, the Barbican, and the Guggenheim. She is an Artistic Associate at Sydney Chamber Opera. Described as “riveting” (New York Times), Jane’s compositions focus on the experience of altered or transformative states. Her first album setting the poetry of Rilke, I am a tree, I am a mouth, was listed in the New Yorker’s Notable Recordings of 2022. Its follow-up, Flowermuscle, is out this June. Visit janesheldonsoprano.com for more info.

Blair Harris is considered among Australia’s leading cellists and chamber musicians.
Blair has appeared as soloist and principal cello in both the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
Blair joined the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra as principal cello in 2023.

Blair is also a member of Ensemble Offspring, playing a major role in the commissioning and creation of Australia’s musical future. As a passionate educator Blair holds a position at Monash University as lecturer in cello performance.

Lucy Norton is a storyteller living and creating on Gadigal land. She writes from the intersections of culture, memory, and personal history — exploring themes of love, grief, and everything in between. You can find their work in publications such as Overland Literary Journal, Cordite Poetry Review and Industrial Estate.