Emma Matthews AM (née Lysons; born 1970) is an English-born Australian lyric coloratura soprano, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage.
Born Emma Lysons in Manchester, England, she grew up with three younger sisters in Fiji, where her father worked as a maritime pilot,[1] and Vanuatu before moving to Cairns, Queensland, Port Hedland, Western Australia, and finally Perth.
[2] Matthews was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the performing arts, particularly opera".
[7] She has appeared for Opera Australia as: She has later taken on more challenging roles, often being compared with Joan Sutherland who, with her husband Richard Bonynge, was something of a friend and mentor.
[8] Matthews has also been well received in concerts, with a repertoire from Mozart's Requiem, Haydn Masses, and Handel's Messiah to works by Brahms, Poulenc and Villa Lobos, and Mahler's Symphonies No.