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The new Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust, launched last night, has initiated the introduction of the first Master of Opera program at The University of Melbourne in 2012 with an establishing endowment fund of $4.3 million. The Trust now has to raise a further $10 million by 2015 in order to secure ongoing annual funding for up to 20 young opera singers each year.
 
Announced by Robert Logie-Smith, Chairman of Trustees, alongside Professor Glyn Davis, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Melbourne, the Trust seeks to make Melbourne the centre of operatic training in Australia. The Trust was established by the sale of the Richmond premises of the Melba Conservatorium of Music, which will close on January 1, 2009 to become the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust and focus on top-level opera training.
 
The Founding Patrons of the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust are Melba’s grand-daughter, Pamela, Lady Vestey and Mary-Jane Joscelyne, long-time Conservatorium supporters.
 
Robert Logie-Smith also announced that the National Library of Australia has acquired the Melba Conservatorium of Music Collection of music manuscripts, sheet music, photographs, programs and clippings which date from 1891 to 2008.  One of the country’s most important collections on the life and times of Australia’s first international diva, the collection links Melba’s story with the history of the Conservatorium and musical training in Australia.
 
“This is indeed an historic moment for us,” said Robert Logie-Smith. “The great diva’s legacy will live on in the Trust, which embodies precisely the same purposes and values that have sustained the Conservatorium for 108 years. The Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust will ensure that promising young Australian singers are fully supported during a crucial phase of their journey towards professional opera careers.
 
“The partnership between The University of Melbourne and the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust will address the two great impediments facing young singers today:  the lack of access to high quality postgraduate training and the absence of substantial financial support. Our partnership is intended to remove these impediments, and, in the process, establish Victoria as home to the best operatic training in the country,” said Robert Logie-Smith.
 
For more information about how to help the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust make a significant investment in opera training in Victoria, telephone (03) 9429 6151.