“That was a phone call that changed my life completely,” said singer, Siobhan Stagg, recollecting the day the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra called to ask her to perform “Brahms’s Requiem”.

Siobhan Stagg hails from Mildura, a town in the Australian state of Victoria. She initially studied music at Melbourne University and later at the Wales International Academy of Voice in Cardiff and has been the recipient of several scholarships, including the Australian International Opera Award and the Amelia Joscelyne Memorial Scholarship from the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust.

Since 2013, Siobhan has been a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where her stage roles have included Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Musetta in La Bohème, and Waldvogel and Woglinde in The Ring Cycle, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. On the concert platform, Siobhan has appeared as a soloist at events the likes of the Salzburg Mozartwoche and the BBC Proms, as well as with prestigious ensembles the calibre of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Breandáin caught up with Siobhan backstage at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, where she recalled her journey from a regional Victorian town to performing on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. Coming up on “Tall Poppies, The Podcast”.

Photo: Simon Pauly