Melbourne Sun Aria

Three of the most famous winners of the Aria competition are Wagnerian soprano Marjorie Lawrence (1928) and Dames Malvina Major (1964)[2] and Kiri Te Kanawa in 1965.

Others include June Bronhill (1950), Jonathan Summers (1973), Judith Henley (1976), Suzanne Ward (1984), Linda Thompson (1990), Rachelle Durkin (2000), and Nicole Car (2007).

Finalists are accompanied by Orchestra Victoria, conducted by Maestro Richard Divall AO, OBE.

Contestants, who are aged 32 years or under, are required to submit four aria titles from grand opera prior to the competition, and choose one of these to sing in the heat.

The newspaper offered similar prizes for the Bendigo musical, literary, and elocutionary competitions held in May 1925 and every year thereafter to 1936.