First Nations tenor Elias Wilson grew up in Western Sydney with parents who were children’s entertainers. Between learning his mother’s choreography at community musical theatre rehearsals and school holidays spent helping his father stage manage the live shows of Play School or Bananas in Pajamas, theatre was part of his every day. Despite this influence, Elias wasn’t bitten by the showbiz bug until he was 22 when, having never seen an opera, George Torbay cast him in the chorus of La Traviata at Opera New England. The music had him hooked, and he knew right away he had to quit his call-centre job to enrol at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. 

Elias studied with Dr Rowena Cowley and sang everything from Monteverdi to Musical Theatre. He finds the joy of music and opera in its diversity and has since played classic romantic roles like Lysander and Nemorino, channelled gravitas and turmoil as an Elder in The Visitors or in excerpts of Peter Grimes, and relished the fun of rule-breaking character roles, adapting Cendrillon’s stepmother for Tenor as a monstrous bearded drag queen. In every role Elias finds something personal – a part of himself to take with him, on-stage and off. 

Elias’ maternal family are Biripi guri and galbaan (Gathang: men and women), with ties from Taree to Walcha NSW. Being white-passing, it wasn’t until pivotal First Nations opportunities with The Song Company, Victorian Opera, Melba Opera Trust and Short Black Opera that he discovered a place on stage for Aboriginal performers to reconcile their own stories with opera’s grand tradition. 

When he’s not singing, you’ll find Elias walking his dog Buddy along the Parramatta River, or travelling across NSW, retracing his ancestors’ steps across country. 

About the program

What have I done to deserve such an artist and man to write for?

So wrote composer Benjamin Britten in 1974 to Peter Pears, his life partner and muse of 39 years. 

Opera Australia’s revamped Young Artist Program is leading the way in training for the next generation of opera professionals. In Britten’s Tenor, Elias Wilson brings us into the world of England’s most important 20th Century composer, Benjamin Britten. 

Britten revived English-language opera with masterpieces like Peter Grimes and Billy Budd, with many written with the voices of his life partner, tenor Peter Pears, in mind. This collection of arias, monologues and songs explores recurring themes in Britten’s music of the outsider, innocence, religious conflict and repressed sexuality. Countertenor Michael Burden joins for Abraham and Isaac, a dramatic scena based on the 15th-century Chester Mystery Play of the same name.  

This intimate production is directed by Benjamin Shostakowski with Music Direction by Opera Australia Young Artist Jem Herbert.  

Sung in English.