Vanessa Scammell is an Australian pianist and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

in the field of ballet, musical theatre, concert, and opera.Profile

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a South Australian orchestra based in Adelaide, established in 1936. The orchestra's primary performance venue is the Adelaide Town Hall, but the ASO also performs in other venues. It provides the orchest ...

Career

After growing up in

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

, Victoria, where she was taught by Judy Hall, Scammell graduated in 1992 from the

Melbourne Conservatorium Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

with

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degree (

Honours Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as valo ...

in Piano Performance) and a Bachelor of Music Education. She then continued her studies at the

Sydney Conservatorium The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM) — formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, and known by the moniker "The Con" — is the music school of the University of Sydney. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious music ...

gaining a Graduate Diploma of Music – Opera

Répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

, and worked as rehearsal pianist for the

Victoria State Opera The Victoria State Opera (VSO), based in Melbourne, Australia, was founded in Melbourne in 1962. The company, founded by Leonard Spira, was a move into grand opera by the then amateur Gilbert and Sullivan-oriented Victorian Light Opera Co. The n ...

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, New South Wales, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with t ...

, and other companies. Scammell gained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in conducting studying under Vladimir Vais and

Imre Palló Imre Palló (23 October 1891 in Mátisfalva, Transylvania – 25 January 1978 in Budapest) was a Hungarian baritone, and later opera house manager.Várnai PP. Imre Palló. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London & New York, 19 ...

. She was the musical director for the Australian 2007 tour of ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'' with

Anthony Warlow Anthony Warlow (born 18 November 1961) is an Australian musical theatre performer, noted for his character acting and considerable vocal range. He is a classically trained lyric baritone and made his debut with the Australian Opera in 1980. ...

. She has been the recipient of the Robert and Elizabeth Albert Conducting Fellowship for the

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur an ...

and in 2008 she received the

Brian Stacey Brian James Stacey, (3 December 194625 October 1996) was an Australian conductor who started his career with the Queensland Ballet, the Australian Ballet, and Victoria State Opera, latterly becoming known for his work in Australian musical theat ...

Conducting Award. Scammell was the music director the ABC's TV opera '' The Divorce'', of the

Helpmann Awards The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical theatre ...

for 12 years, for the production of ''From Broadway to La Scala'' which toured Australia and New Zealand in 2017 and 2019 with David Hobson,

Teddy Tahu Rhodes Teddy Tahu Rhodes (born 30 August 1966) is a New Zealand-born operatic baritone based in Australia. He has performed at opera houses in New Zealand, Australia, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, New York City and throughou ...

Greta Bradman Greta Jessie Bradman (born 1979 or 1982) is an Australian operatic soprano. Career Richard Bonynge selected Bradman to sing the title role in a concert performance of Handel's '' Rodelinda'' in 2014. Bradman was the subject of two episodes of ...

Emma Matthews Emma Matthews (née Lysons; born 1970) is an English-born Australian lyric coloratura soprano, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage. A Principal Artist with Opera Australia, Matthews has received more Helpmann Awards ...

, Caroline O'Connor and others; and for the show ''

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

'' with Greta Bradman, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and

The Idea of North The Idea of North are an Australian a cappella vocal ensemble founded in Canberra in 1993, by Nick Begbie (tenor), Meg Corson (alto), Trish Delaney-Brown (soprano) and Andrew Piper (bass). Still active in 2024, but touring less frequently sin ...

at the 2015

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

, presented by

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He appeare ...

. In 2018 she was appointed guest conductor of the

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

Symphony Orchestra with whom she conducted the 1958 opera ''Lake Honghu'' at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

and in the

Melbourne Recital Centre Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) is a venue and organisation for live music in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The organisation programs and presents more than 500 concerts and events a year across diverse range of musical genres including class ...

. Scammell has regularly conducted the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, West Australian, and

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

symphony orchestras. Scammell conducted '' La traviata'' in 2011 for

's Oz Opera touring production."Touring troupe fills opera void"
by Rosalind Appleby, ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'', 1 September 2011 For Opera Australia,

Opera Queensland Opera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981 under the name ''Lyric Opera of Queensland'' after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in ...

and the

West Australian Opera West Australian Opera (WAO) is the principal opera company of Western Australia, and is a resident company at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth. The company formed in 1967 and works in close association with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. ...

,"WA Opera’s first female conductor talks The Merry Widow"
by Leigh Andrew Hill, ''OutinPerth'', 12 July 2017 Scammell conducted

Graeme Murphy Graeme Lloyd Murphy AO (born 2 November 1950) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. With his fellow dancer (and wife since 2004) Janet Vernon, he guided Sydney Dance Company to become one of Australia's most successful and best-known d ...

's production of ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'' in 2017/2018.

Personal life

Scammell is the partner of actor

Craig McLachlan Craig Dougall McLachlan (born 1 September 1965) is an Australian actor, musician, singer and composer. He has been involved in film, television, the music industry and music theatre for over 30 years. He is best known for appearing in the soap o ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scammell, Vanessa Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) University of Melbourne alumni Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumni Australian classical pianists Australian women classical pianists Australian conductors (music) Australian women conductors (music)