Interview with Jessica Blunt

Interview - March 1st, 2026

Quick Questions

• Favourite place in WA:

  Anywhere “down south” – especially Margaret River and Yallingup. Beautiful beaches and amazing wine.

  
  

• Is there an aria you could sing endlessly without ever tiring of it?

  I always enjoy the Queen of the Night’s arias - there’s something new to discover every time you sing them.

  
  

• What’s a dream role you haven’t had the chance to perform yet?

  Zerbinetta from Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. I’ve role studied and worked on it in Austria, but haven’t performed it yet.

  
  

• Opera you think is a bit underrated:

  Australia needs to perform more Strauss!

  
  

• Fun fact about you most people don’t know:

  I have synaesthesia - I see letters and numbers as colours and music as texture and shapes.

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On your 2026 Season

After Violetta, I’m joining the Opera Australia National Tour of Don Giovanni as Donna Anna, as well as some chorus contracts here in Perth and covering Juliette in Romeo et Juliette.

In 2025, I learned I’m capable of sight-reading Verdi as I jumped-in to perform Leonora on the closing night of Il trovatore with West Australian Opera. This year I am hoping to savour the moments of joy within the hard work.

Discovering Violetta

Violetta is a role that will continue to evolve throughout my career - there is so much to uncover. I’m enjoying discovering different vocal colours to match the intensity of the drama. Verdi’s combination of great music and high-stakes drama is what made me fall in love with opera, where you can really explore the capacity of your skills as a singer and actor. I’m looking forward to taking risks to make her pain and joy as authentic as possible, and hopefully audiences find the story and production just as thrilling as it is to sing.

Jessica's Singing Journey

I studied one Master’s degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and then another at the Royal Academy of Music, London. My voice has two halves – a lyric soprano as well as an ease for coloratura. It took quite a few years of training and endless rejections to learn how to make those two halves a whole. Between graduating from formal study and being accepted into the Wesfarmers Arts Young Artist Program with West Australian Opera, I worked intensively at the ‘Stimme, Leib und Seele’ program in Austria for almost a year to really ‘glue’ my voice together. As a result I unlocked a whole new collection of roles and repertoire that I could work on.

On Vocal Evolution

I’m really enjoying Verdi at the moment – it’s a path I didn’t expect my voice to go down. I’d love to add Gilda to my CV! I adore singing Strauss and will always have a soft spot for Mozart. There are definitely a few Mozart ladies I’d like to take on.

On Improving the Australian Opera Industry

Working as an opera singer in Australia is a privilege. To keep opera alive here, I feel it’s important we start exposing kids to opera and classical music from an early age. When I’m not performing, I teach primary school music on the outskirts of Perth and emphasize that it is possible to love playing football as well as enjoy a musical performance. Personally, the thing I love most about working in Australia is being able to come home to my husband, after we made it through several years of long distance while we were both starting our (very different!) careers. Having that balance is so important to me.

Image by Vintage Photography