Growing up in the Victorian Murray River town of Mildura, Siobhan Stagg had a formative experience when she was about 11. “I was asked to sing Amazing Grace at my grandfather’s funeral, and at the end of the service, a distant cousin who knew much more about music than my parents slipped into my hand a $100 note and a little card that said: ‘This is for your first singing lessons. And please invite me when you sing at the Sydney Opera House.’”

About 16 years later, in 2016, Stagg did just that – for her opera house debut, alongside French-Italian tenor Roberto Alagna. And, on February 8, Stagg will be back on the opera house stage as the starring soloist for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s 2023 season opening gala concert, under the baton of new chief conductor Simone Young.