WARWICK FYFE

Warwick was born in Canberra and obtained his musical education at the Canberra School of Music and the Victoria College of the Arts.  He took part in the Victoria State Opera and Opera Australia Young Artist programs, later becoming a full time soloist with Opera Australia.  Warwick was a McDonald’s Aria winner (1998), and has been the recipient of a Green Room Award (for his Schaunard in La bohème).  Other awards include: the Moniuszko aria prize (Warsaw), a Bayreuth Bursary, the Dame Mabel Brooks, and the prestigious Bayreuth Scholarship (2007). 

In the course of his long association with Opera Australia, Warwick has consistently produced outstanding performances in diverse repertoire, including title roles in Der fliegende Holländer and Rigoletto; Scarpia in Tosca; Wolfram in Tannhäuser; Mandryka in Arabella; Dr Schön in Lulu; Papageno in The Magic Flute; Germont in La traviata; Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier; Amonasro in Aida; Leporello in Don Giovanni; Pizarro in Fidelio; Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia; Pooh-Bah in The Mikado; Schaunard in La bohème; Peter in Hansel and Gretel; Falke in Die Fledermaus; Jupiter in Orpheus in the Underworld; Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro; Frederic in Lakmé; Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; the Herald in Lohengrin; Capulet in Roméo et Juliette; Ottokar in Der Freischütz; Chief of Police in Lady Macbeth of Mtensk; Pantaloon in The Love for Three Oranges; Ping in Turandot and many more.

Warwick has worked with most Australian state opera companies.  In 1998, his Fasolt in State Opera of South Australia’s production of Der Ring des Nibelungen was received with critical acclaim.  For New Zealand Opera’s highly successful production of L’italiana in Algieri, he sang Taddeo.  He also has performed Bartolo in Hong Kong.

In 2011, he sang Bartolo and Pooh-Bah for OA, and appeared as Tonio in Pagliacci for New Zealand Opera.  He returned to OA in 2012 as Germont (La traviata) and Amonasro (Aida), then to New Zealand as Rigoletto.  For Opera Australia in 2013, he sings the title role in Falstaff, Fra Melitone in La forza del destino and Donner in Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Concert engagements include performances with the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, West Australian, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras; the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Symphony Orchestra; the Melbourne Chorale; Sydney Philharmonia; Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society and the Canberra Choral Society.  Innumerable concert works performed include: Orff’s Carmina Burana; Handel’s Messiah; Beethoven's Symphony No.9; Mozart's Requiem; Bach's St Matthew Passion and Mass in B minor; Brahms’ A German Requiem.

Warwick’s recordings include: Opera Australia’s 2011 DVDs of The Mikado, The Marriage of Figaro and Der Rosenkavalier and the ABC DVDs of Operatunity Oz, Opera Australia 50th Anniversary Gala Concert.  CDs include Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes Op.52 (Move Records); The Love for Three Oranges (Chandos); Classic 100 Opera Concert (ABC) and Operatunity Oz (ABC).

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