With her fundraiser, An Afternoon with Coast Opera Australia featuring songs from Disney to Diva just days away, Founder and Artistic Director of Coast Opera Australia, Angela Brewer, has reflected on almost two years of bringing the arts to life on the Central Coast.
A celebrated international diva in her own right, Angela’s career has spanned over two decades and multiple continents.
For 10 years she’s called the Central Coast home and been hungry to establish a dedicated and permanent platform for her craft in the region.
In September 2018 she did just that, debuting her company, Coast Opera Australia (COA), in her hometown of Gosford.
Since then, Angela has brought a contingent of the world’s most revered operatic talent to the region and performed from the Sydney Opera House to La Scala; hosted masterclasses with other local performing arts elites, including John Bell.
She has also brought acclaim to the Coast through a series of grand performances, most recently at the 2019 Melbourne Cup; and helped emerging local talent blossom in a cutthroat industry; all whilst juggling being a mum.
2020 was supposed to be the next chapter in COA’s story and while it’s still being written, COVID-19 has emerged as the villain in this saga.
The arts industry as a whole has been one of the hardest hit by the virus and resulting restrictions, with COA no exception.
As a new enterprise yet to complete its first full financial year of trade, COA was not eligible for existing funding or government support measures available to the arts industry during the pandemic.
“Since restrictions came into effect, we had to cancel six major concerts and over 50 artists scheduled to perform.
“It has been an incredibly difficult time, not just for us but for the arts in general, because at the end of the day funding for a young company comes mostly from ticket sales,” Angela said.
“I don’t believe it’s widely known just how deeply impacted the industry is and I hope in the future government support for the people that have entertained the nation through quarantine will be more forthcoming,” she added.
Like others in the industry, Angela has turned to alternative performance formats to keep COA’s audience engaged, artists and associates working and to generate some semblance of revenue during the pandemic.
They’ve proven to be a lifeline and a learning experience.
“Our first concert, Salute to the ANZACs and now Disney to Diva, have shown me that COA can still produce professional standard events under the most challenging of circumstances.
“Disney to Diva is shaping up to have our largest audience ever.
“Before the pandemic we were performing to just over 320, now an estimated 300,000 people are expected to tune into the livestream.
“That’s quite some growth in a few months.
“It’s very exciting and I can’t thank the Central Coast community enough for supporting us through this difficult time,” Angela said.
An Afternoon with Coast Opera Australia, featuring Disney to Diva will take place at Central Coast Stadium from 4pm on Sunday June 7 and residents can watch the show livestreamed via COA’s website and social media or via coastcommunitynews.com.au.
COA is registered as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) and donations can be made via the company’s website.
Source:
Interview, Jun 2
Angela Brewer, Coast Opera Australia
Reporter: Dilon Luke