SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER 2026
WANDERLUST, SONGS OF LONGING, EXILE AND HOMECOMING
A RECITAL BY DEBORAH HUMBLE & SHAROLYN KIMMORLEY AM
2.00pm: Wanderlust, Songs of Longing, Exile and Homecoming
A recital by mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble & Sharolyn Kimmorley AM at the piano
with works by Brahms, Schumann, Wagner, de Falla, Guastavino, Dvorak & Bernstein
followed by afternoon tea
Venue:
St Columba Community Centre
53A Ocean Street (cnr Forth Street)
Woollahra NSW
Tickets:
Members $50, Non-members $60, full-time students $25
ABOUT THE RECITAL
Wanderlust, Songs of Longing, Exile and Homecoming, explores one of the most enduring themes in music and literature; the idea of being drawn to ‘elsewhere.’ Wanderlust is a celebration of a life spent exploring the world. Through songs of adventure and freedom, restlessness and uncertainty, nostalgia and yearning, it is ultimately a reflection on the universal human desire to find where we truly belong.
ABOUT DEBORAH HUMBLE
Welsh/Australian mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble is a former principal artist with both Opera Australia and the State Opera of Hamburg and has sung more than 70 operatic roles worldwide.
She has appeared at venues including the Edinburgh Festival, Salzburg Easter Festival, Festival d’Aix en Provence, Opéra de Lille, Teatro Petruzzelli, Oper Halle, Pfalzbau Ludwigshafen and with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Stuttgarter Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, City of Birmingham Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Music Makers Singapore and the London Mozart Players.
Humble was a recipient of the AOAC Joan Sutherland Award in 2004 and a finalist at the International Wagner Competition in Seattle in 2008. She has been nominated for three Greenroom Awards.
Recordings include Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried (Naxos, Hong Kong Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden) Erda, First Norn and Schwertleite (Oehms, Hamburg State Opera conducted by Simone Young AM), Clarissa in The Love For Three Oranges (Chandos, Opera Australia conducted by Sir Richard Hickox), Marvellous Mezzo-sopranos and Contraltos (Naxos) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 conducted by Simone Young, released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2025.
Recent opera engagements for Opera Australia include La Cieca in La Gioconda alongside Jonas Kaufmann conducted by Pinchas Steinberg and Waltraute and Fricka for three Ring Cycles in Brisbane conducted by Philippe Augin. She sang Erda and Waltruate in three Ring Cycles for Melbourne Opera conducted by Anthony Negus and made two further role debuts with the company as Magdalena in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Dalila in Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila. For Victorian Opera she made two Strauss role debuts as Clairon in Capriccio and Klytamnestra in Elektra. This year this year she made two significant role debuts in the UK; Herodias in Strauss’s Salome and Madame de Croissey in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites.
Recent performances on the concert platform are include Waldtaube in Schonberg’s Gurrelieder, Waltraute in Wagner’s Die Walküre and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simone Young, Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Western Australian Symphony conducted by Asher Fisch, Verdi’s Requiem with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Umberto Clerici, Mahler’s 3rd Symphony with the Auckland Philharmonia, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with the New Zealand Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem with the London Chorus at Cadogan Hall.
Further performances in 2026 include Verdi’s Requiem with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Waltraute in Die Götterdämmerung for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and a solo recital at Adelaide’s Elder Hall.
Early in 2027 she covers 1st Norn and 2nd Norn in the new Barrie Kosky production of Die Götterdämmerung for Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden.
Deborah has been included in the Who’s Who of Australian Women since 2009 and is Patron of both the Wagner Society of South Australia and the Newcastle Music Festival. She is a Music Board member for the Tait Memorial Trust in London and a Mentor for the Dame Nellie Melba Young Artists’ Programme.
ABOUT SHAROLYN KIMMORLEY AM
After studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sharolyn Kimmorley joined the Music Staff of The Australian Opera and has assisted in the preparation of a vast range of works with many distinguished singers and conductors. In 1985 she became Principal Répétiteur for The Australian Opera and in 1987 was appointed Head of Music Staff. From 1994 to 1999 she was the company’s Artistic Administrator, following which she was Opera Australia’s Director of Music Administration until June 2003.
Sharolyn Kimmorley is regarded as one of Australia’s finest vocal coaches and accompanists. She has recorded for ABC Classics, taken part in chamber music concerts and accompanied some of the world’s most distinguished recitalists including Barbara Bonney, Ian Bostridge, Sir Bryn Terfel, and Sir Thomas Allen. In January 2009 Sharolyn became a member of the Order of Australia in recognition of her work as an accompanist and the nurturing and mentoring of emerging artists.
Sharolyn is currently Artistic Manager and Scholar Advisor to Melba Opera Trust.