Alumni successes at the 2026 Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Awards
Alumni Cassandra Wright (left) and Ella Orehek-Coddington (right) at the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Awards
© 2026 Tracey Lancaster/WinkiPop Media
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Royal Academy Opera (RAO) graduate Cassandra Wright was awarded top prizes at the 2026 Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Awards last week. She was joined by fellow RAO graduate Ella Orehek Coddington, who took home second prize.
The Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award is one of Australia's leading operatic singing competitions. Open to Australian and New Zealand citizens and residents under the age of 32, the competition promotes the bel canto style of singing and repertoire synonymous with Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge, with entrants performing either Mozart or Handel, alongside four other contrasting opera arias. Since being established in 2011, over $1.2million in scholarships have been awarded to young singers.
Cassandra Wright received first prize, Best Mozart Aria Prize, and the Audience Choice Award, for her performances of arias from Rigoletto, Ideomeneo, Louise and La Traviata.
An acclaimed soprano and member of the ensemble at Theater Freiburg, Cassandra saw immediate success after her graduation in 2023 in the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus. She has appeared at prestigious concert venues including Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall and alongside major organisations such as London Philharmonic Orchestra. Since graduating she has released a debut album with Linn Records (July 2024). During her studies at the Academy, Cassandra won the Royal Over-Seas League prize (2022) and the Bampton Young Singers’ Competition (2021).
Next season she will make her role debut as Violetta in La traviata. In October, she will perform in a centenary concert for Dame Joan Sutherland at Australia House in London.
Cassandra Wright performing at the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Awards
© 2026 Tracey Lancaster/WinkiPop Media
As an Australian, this award means a great deal to me and feels like recognition of many years of work, including my time training at the Royal Academy of Music. Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge shaped what it means to be an Australian singer on the international stage, and I'm honoured to receive an award that perpetuates their remarkable legacy.
RAO graduate and mezzo soprano Ella Orehek Coddington also received a Bel Canto Award honour, winning the second-place Richard Bonynge Award. Ella is currently a member of the young artist scheme of the Accademia dell'Opera Italiana and was previously a young artist of the Richard Wagner Scholarship (Bayreuth). In 2026, Ella was a semi-finalist of the Belvedere International Singing Competition and was also awarded second prize at the Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Scholarship. Ella was a Bicentenary Scholar during her time at the Academy.
Ella Orehek-Coddington on stage at the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Awards
© 2026 Tracey Lancaster/WinkiPop Media
Being a finalist of the JSRB Award is very special to me as a young singer. It is one of the largest singing competitions in Australia, and I'm very honoured to be chosen, especially in such an important year for the Foundation - 2026 marks the centenary of the birth of the legendary Dame Joan Sutherland. I felt really supported by the panel at all stages of this competition and encouraged by my fellow competitors. Being awarded second prize, the Richard Bonynge Award, has a special place in my heart as I followed a similar path to Richard who began his studies at Sydney Conservatorium of Music and completed them in London.
The Academy congratulates Cassandra and Ella and wishes them luck in the next steps of their careers.