End of year Christmas Concert

CONCERT PROGRAM

Wagner, Stolz, Strauss, Tauber, Lehár and German and Austrian Christmas Carols and songs.

ABOUT BRAD COOPER

Wagner Society in NSW supported Sydney-born tenor Brad Cooper studied with Maree Ryan at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the National Opera Studio in London and with Marilyn Horne at Music Academy of the West, California. Brad continued his development into the German repertoire under the guidance of Siegfried Jerusalem. In the 2024/25 Season Brad returned to Mainfranken Theater Würzburg as Giasone in Cherubini’s Medea and Tambourmajor in Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, while in London he returned to the title role of Siegfried for London Opera Company at St John’s Smith Square.

In October 2025 he performed in the Mozart Requiem at Cadogan Hall - along with Alexandra Flood and Deborah Humble - and is performing the role of Tristan in Tristan und Isolde for Theater Münster (November 2025 - January 2026).

Brad’s future engagements include Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio and Canio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci for Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, and Siegfried for Grange Park Opera’s upcoming production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Recent seasons have seen Brad appear as Siegfried in Melbourne Opera’s Ring Cycle, Apollo in Strauss’ Daphne for Scottish Opera; Agamemnon in Ernst Krenek’s 1930 opera Leben des Orest and Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre for Theatre Münster; Albert Gergor in Janáček’s Věc Makropulos and Aegisth in Strauss’ Elektra for Mainfranken Theater Würzburg.

Brad’s career has featured appearances as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Australia, Oper Köln & English Touring Opera, Albert in Albert Herring for Opera Australia, Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail for Oper Köln, Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio for Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg, Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Holland Park in London, Don Alonse in Grétry’s L’amant jaloux for Opera Comique in Paris, Davey in Jonathan Dove’s Siren Song and Aubry in Marschner’s Der Vampyr for Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam, Emilio in Tutti in Maschera at Wexford Festival and create the role of Clem in Misha Hamel’s Snow White for Nederlandse Reisopera. In 2018 Brad toured throughout China as Radamès in Aida for Australian International Opera.

In concert Brad has performed Jonathan in Handel’s Saul & Beethoven’s 9th for Philharmonia Choirs at Sydney Opera House, Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem with St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir in Sydney, Britten’s St Nicolas at Newcastle Music Festival and Orfeo in Haydn’s L’orfeo under the baton of Richard Bonynge.

Brad is passionate about sharing his love of music across multiple genres and disciplines - his MAGIC FLUTE WORKSHOP has brought the fantastical world of Opera to thousands of children in Australia, while his 2018 choir & band project, TERRA AUSTRALIS, introduced hundreds of students in Ohio (USA) to Australian Music.

He is thankful for and acknowledges the support of Nance Atkinson Trust, Wagner Society in NSW, Tait Memorial Trust, Australian Singing Competition and the Dame Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Scholarship.

ABOUT THOMAS VICTOR JOHNSON

Thomas Victor Johnson is a repetiteur, vocal coach and pianist based in Sydney, where he is currently a repetiteur with Opera Australia and a vocal coach at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Together with his husband, Paull-Anthony Keightley, he is also the co-founder of vioro.co – a creative consultancy studio. He is the recipient of a study scholarship from the Wagner Society in NSW in 2019 and the winner of the Richard Bonynge Accompanists Award at the 2018 Sydney International Song Prize,

Thomas is in high demand as an insightful, refined and sympathetic collaborative artist. He graduated at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he studied piano performance and accompaniment with Natalia Sheludiakova.

Thom was the repetiteur for a staged version of a new production of Die Walküre by the Accademia di Santa Cecilia conducted by Daniel Harding, in the Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome (October 2025).

Between 2019 – 2023 Thomas was on the music staff at Staatsoper Unter den Linden, where he also served as stellvertretender Chordirektor during the 2021/2022 season. In November 2023, he was engaged as a guest repetiteur by Simone Young AM for Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s concert performances of Das Rheingold and in 2024 in Die Walküre.

Thomas has worked with conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Christian Thielemann, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Antonio Pappano, Simone Young AM, Philippe Auguin, Pietari Inkinen, Thomas Guggeis, Speranza Scappucci, Massimo Zanetti, Renato Palumbo, Carlo Montanaro, Guillaume Tourniaire, Patrick Lange, Andrea Battistoni, Anthony Legge, Tom Woods, Maxime Pascal, Giuseppe Montesano, Jonathan Darlington, Antony Walker, Kristiina Poska, Pietro Rizzo, Benjamin Northey, Tahu Matheson, and Christian Badea.