Taryn Fiebig.
Camera IconTaryn Fiebig. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Taryn Fiebig: From Churchlands SHS to Opera Australia

Tanya MacNaughtonEastern Reporter

TARYN Fiebig loved music so much that she followed wherever it took her and is now principal soprano at Opera Australia.

It began in the 1980s when Fiebig wanted to join her brother studying at Churchlands SHS.

She was awarded a scholarship to the school’s intensive music course and began playing cello.

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“I look back at those days very fondly,” the Sydney-based Fiebig said.

“They were some of the best years of my life where I made lifelong friends and had excellent teachers who were integral in my appreciation of music.

“I carried on because of those teachers; they infused me with a love of music and inspired me to keep going.”

After graduating in 1989, Fiebig continued her cello studies at UWA and auditioned for the Australia Opera Studio at age 29.

“I never considered being an opera singer, unlike most who have made their mind up by about the time they’re 15,” she said.

“I think I was probably always better singing than I was at cello and sang alongside my cello studies.

“It sort of naturally took over and after I studied for two years at Australia Opera Studio, I went straight to Opera Australia.”

Fiebig will return to Perth to sing at Churchlands SHS for the first time since graduating, in a one night only concert at the school’s 500-seat concert hall.

“I told my old maths teacher I’d like to sing at the school and he said ‘well, let’s organise it’,” she said.

“He talked to the principal and the next thing I know we’d found a date, so be careful what you wish for.”

Fiebig, who will sing and play cello, will be accompanied in From High School to Opera Australia by pianist and long-time friend Mark Coughlan in a program including Mozart, Puccini and Gershwin.

“It’ll be like a musical biography, a real mixed bag,” she said.

“A lot of my school friends said they’ll be coming too, so it will be a bit of a reunion.”

THE ESSENTIALS

What: From High School to Opera Australia

Where: Churchlands SHS Concert Hall

When: Friday, August 19

Tickets: www.trybooking.com/189819