Born in Sorrento, Western Australia, lyric soprano Elena Perroni has carved out an enviable career for herself both here and abroad. A recipient of the Festorazzi Scholarship for most promising vocalist, she graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and is now a highly respected interpreter of the Slavic repertoire. Her roles include Dvořák’s Rusalka, with which she made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut, and Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

A self-confessed jazz lover, Perroni made her operatic debut with Opera Philadelphia in Daniel Schnyder’s jazz-infused Charlie Parker’s Yardbird. She performed the role of Doris Parker during the opera’s 2016 season at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, which was broadcast across the United States. Perroni performed the role again in 2017 during the work’s UK premiere at the English National Opera. That same year, she came home for her West Australian Opera debut as Mimi in La bohème. In 2018 she returned again as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata.

Elena Perroni

Elena Perroni. Photo © Rebecca Mansell.

Perroni is now in Perth to perform the title role in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s final opera, Iolanta, which he wrote with his brother in 1892. It is a...