It’s hard to find a memory that doesn’t have music in it – whether it was singing to the radio in the car, listening to music whilst doing our homework, or dancing at a family gathering. Because I was so young when I first started singing, it has always been a big part of who I am. When I first started primary school at 5, the local nuns would take me out of class for singing lessons and I would sing with the church choir on the weekends.
My passion for singing has inspired me to incredible heights. I sang solos at St Mary’s Cathedral, including two Christmas Eve masses. I started performing in operettas and musical theatre at 19, singing Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance in my debut role, and continued to sing at some Sydney’s major venues. My ‘big break’ came in 2012, when I sang the Australian National Anthem at the Boxing Day Test Match against Sri Lanka, a performance I was asked to reprise in 2013 as part of The Ashes series – when Piers Morgan tweeted a tremendous review of my voice.
I was honoured to be the only Australian performer at Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Festival, where I sang for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at the event headlined by Katherine Jenkins and Dame Kiri te Kanawa. I was also the soloist at the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at the Hyde Park Australian War Memorial in London, again performing for members of the Royal Family.
I performed the Australian National Anthem again at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup Grand Final against New Zealand to a broadcast audience of 1 billion people worldwide. Every time I sing the National Anthem for Australia at a sporting match, we win, leading the ABC to name me “Australia’s Good Luck Charm”.
I always dreamed of being a recording artist, and recorded my debut album, ‘First Love’, with Maestro John Foreman and a 70-piece orchestra in Melbourne. ‘First Love’is a beautiful mix of 10 gorgeous songs, including popular/musical tunes with my classical twist - What A Wonderful World, Music of the Night, You’ll Never Walk Alone, I Could Have Danced All Night, Summertime, and operatic arias like O Mio Babbino Caro. I was pinching myself last year when I was backstage with Andrea Bocelli singing ‘The Prayer’ together, so I had to record it for the album!
I chose to name the album ‘First Love’ because that’s exactly what singing has always been to me. I sing from the heart, and strive to make music that touches people the way it touches me.