Arts & Culture
13 June, 2026
Young Artist Program a great opera-tunity for Daniel the ‘villain’
An opera singer with strong ties to the region has been accepted into Opera Australia’s prestigious Young Artist Program.
An opera singer with strong ties to the region has been accepted into Opera Australia’s prestigious Young Artist Program.
Daniel Kramer – whose parents Les and Therese live in Tahmoor – is one of only seven artists from across the nation accepted into this year’s program.
He is a regular visitor to the Wollondilly region.
The six artists who completed the 2025-26 program and the seven incoming artists will all be taking the stage at the Sydney Opera House on August 2 for a performance being described as a “passing-of-the-torch moment”.
Three of the outgoing artists will be relocating overseas after the performance to pursue their careers in Milan, London and Berlin.
Daniel told The Southern Wire that he had performed with choirs and bands and in musical theatre during his early school years, but dropped music because he didn’t think he could make a career out of it.
He focused on sciences including physics, biology and chemistry instead.
Daniel said it was a chance encounter between his mother and internationally renowned opera singer Deborah Humble at a function in the Hunter Valley that changed his career path.
Deborah agreed to hear Daniel sing and subsequently took him on board as a student.
The rest, as they say, is history.
“It (music) brings meaning to my life,” he told The Southern Wire.
He went on to graduate from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with a Master of Music Studies (Opera Performance) in 2024.
Daniel said he was “absolutely thrilled” to be accepted into the program after missing out last year.
It has been described as a “flagship pathway” offering advanced training in acting, singing, dancing and language.
Daniel has been performing with Queensland Opera but is looking forward to a full-time return to the harbour city where he grew up.
The 18-month program will be based at Opera Australia’s Opera Centre in Surry Hills but will also include performance at the Sydney Opera House and tours.
Daniel said he was determined to forge a full-time career as an opera singer.
His dream role would be Figaro (from comic opera The Marriage of Figaro) at the Vienna Opera House or with Opera Australia.
Daniel said he was “absolutely typecast” as a bass baritone.
Under the Fach system – a system for assigning opera singers to roles considered suitable for their voices – he typically plays a villain or someone with gravitas such as a priest or a father.
“I love playing a good villain,” he told The Southern Wire.
Daniel said he fell in love with music as a young child after his mother took him to a performance of Pirates of Penzance.
Ironically one of his first roles as a professional opera singer was Samuel in the same opera.
“It was a lovely circular moment,” he said,
While Deborah Humble was instrumental in guiding Daniel into opera, it has been another internationally renowned performer, Donna Balson, who has been his ‘anchor’ in recent years.
Daniel has been training under Donna since 2022.
Donna spent 25 years living, performing and teaching in Germany and the United States before returning to Australia in 2021 to manage the Young Artists Program.
She spent 15 years as senior adjunct professor at Hofsta University in New York and since 2021 has been working as a voice teacher and opera coach at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Daniel is excited about the August 2 performance but said it won’t be his first time on stage at the Sydney House.
He has performed at the iconic venue as part of a choir supporting Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive, which he described as a “unique experience”.
Daniel said children nowadays were being exposed to musical theatre rather than opera because operas tended to be long, expensive to attend and performed in a different language.
Nevertheless, he is confident he has made the right decision.
“Opera will never die.”
Tickets for the August 2 performance are $49 for adults/$39 concession and $5 for students and are available by calling the Opera Australia box office (02) 9318 8200 or online at www.opera.org.au
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