Mezzo-soprano Sian Sharp has been singing with Opera Australia for nearly 20 years. Her significant repertoire includes key roles in seminal operas including Il Trovatore, Otello, The Marriage of Figaro, Rigoletto, and Carmen – most recently late last year performing the title role in the much admired production on Cockatoo Island. 

And she’s back singing in the open air once again, as the loyal servant and maid Suzuki for the current production of Madama Butterfly on Sydney Harbour. A reviewer from one of her previous portrayals of this role described her performance as “absolute perfection”, and in this conversation Sian talks about the role and her journey to the world of opera, providing us with an understanding of the differences between a mezzo-soprano and soprano voice, and what she loves about being a mezzo.