Reader Submission: Samuel Johnson

Aussie barihunk Samuel Johnson

Our latest Reader Submission is 25-year-old Australian barihunk Samuel Johnson, the 2013 recipient of the RJ Hamer Opera Scholarship presented by the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust. He is also one of six finalists for the Lady Fairfax New York Scholarship, provided by the Opera Foundation Australia.

Johnson will face off against five other singers in a public recital in Sydney on July 28, after which the winner of the scholarship will be announced. The winner will receive $43,000 and the objective of this much valued Scholarship is to provide a talented and strongly motivated young Australian opera singer the opportunity to study with internationally acclaimed vocal, language and movement coaches in New York. Call 02 9550 9207 for tickets.

Johnson is currently completing his Masters in Operatic Performance, at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. He recently performed the role of Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, a Queensland Conservatorium production for The Brisbane Festival, conducted by Alex Ingram. Johnson was also a national finalist in the McDonald’s Operatic Aria and Italian Awards.

Samuel Johnson's career is taking off

Johnson has appeared in oratorio on numerous occasions in Brisbane and throughout regional Queensland. In 2011, he performed as soloist with tenor Simon O’Neill in the Puccini Gala Concert, with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

While studying, Samuel has performed numerous operatic roles including Styx in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, Taddeo and Silvio in excerpts from Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Peter Quince in Benjamin Brittin’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Father in excerpts from
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, the title role in Handel’s Saul, Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon and the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.

According to a recent article, his dream roles include Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca and Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlos.