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Opera Queensland makes Digital Stage debut with documentary exclusive

Fri 7 Nov 2025

Since 2021, Opera Queensland has taken live music beyond Brisbane to the majesty of Queensland’s outback towns of Longreach and Winton, the inspiration for the Festival of Outback Opera.

QPAC is proud to showcase Opera Queensland as it takes centre stage at home through the brand-new documentary Singing in the Night, available exclusively to Digital Stage.

Opera Queensland Artistic Director and CEO Patrick Nolan gave us the inside scoop on the process of making the documentary and what audiences can expect to see.

“Singing in the Night takes place on Camden Park Station, one of Longreach’s oldest cattle stations. The concert starts as the sun is setting behind the stage and over the course of the performance the sky moves through a myriad of extraordinary colours, before settling into the star-filled night,” he said.

“Then there are the remarkable singers, with the University of Queensland Pulse Chamber Orchestra and musicians from the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. The documentary beautifully captures the relationship between the music, landscape, and the audience. The seamless flow of music and song between these three elements is at the heart of the festival.”

Singing in the Night features interviews with creatives involved throughout the project, including one conducted by Nolan himself with internationally acclaimed soprano Sumi Jo, who he described as a delight to work with.

“We were all a little worried about how this superstar opera diva, who has sung in all the great opera houses of the world, would go in the outback,” Nolan said.

“We had nothing to worry about. Like everyone who visits the outback, Sumi immediately fell in love with the place.

“Her warmth and openness was perhaps the greatest quality I took from the experience, and her awareness of her responsibility as a great diva to look after the generations following in her wake.”

Reflecting on the importance of Opera Queensland’s collaboration with QPAC’s Digital Stage, Nolan expressed his admiration for the dedication of the team involved.

“The quality of Digital Stage is excellent. There is such care and artistry involved in the way Digital Stage presents the work, that the integrity of the live performance is never compromised,” Nolan said.

“The work of the artists is honoured and the audience encountering it online will experience it with as much of the energy of the live performance.

“We want our work to connect with as many people as possible, no matter where they live. Digital Stage makes this possible in the most accessible of ways…with a level of care and excellence that ensures the art is presented at the highest level.”

With streamed performance growing in popularity, some may criticise its potential to remove the audience’s connection to live performance, but not for Nolan.

“I think they are two different experiences. We experience live performance always in a “wide shot”, whereas Digital Stage brings the performers and musicians up close. With the size of television screens these days, it’s almost as if they are in your living room.

“Streamed performance is vital to providing audiences who, for whatever reason, can’t be in the theatre, as close an experience as possible to the real thing.”

Looking to the future, we couldn’t help but ask Nolan what content he’d like to see Opera Queensland collaborate with QPAC’s Digital Stage on next.

“Can I be greedy and say, “all of it”? We are producing so many beautiful productions, and we would be thrilled to share them with audiences on Digital Stage. It would be great for audiences who won’t otherwise have the opportunity to see them to experience them on Digital Stage.”

Whilst we can’t yet reveal what the future holds, one thing is certain; this won’t be the last we see from Opera Queensland on Digital Stage. 

Watch Singing in the Night now for a limited time only. Viewers can download the app from Apple or get it on Google Play to watch wherever you go.

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