Photo: © Daniel Spellman

Who’s Piera Dennerstein?

I am a soprano by fach, but at heart I would say I am a performer. I wish to use my voice as a conduit for art, meaning and human expression and I am not so fussed as to the genre or style I sing in order to achieve these performance goals. I do believe that classical technique and experience in opera have given me the best skill set available in order to achieve these goals due to the solid technical foundation and emphasis on acting and expression involved in Opéra. Last year I was given the opportunity to perform in THE RAPTURE with Finucane & Smith which was a show largely about climate change. In this performance I sang opera, pop and gospel styles and was overjoyed to experiment with the tone of my voice, as well as lend my voice to a subject about which I care deeply. I would be artistically fulfilled if I were lucky enough to have a performance career that included diverse and modern work like this that also broached such important contemporary matters.

What piece of music inspires her?

“Depuis le jour” from Louise by Charpentier

What’s she performing on the show?

• Puccini: “Quando m’en vo” from La Boheme
• Beethoven: “O wär’ ich schon” from Fidelio
• Menotti: “Monica’s Waltz” from The Medium