Louis Garrick and Jack Symonds established SCO in 2010 and it has rapidly developed into an important and distinctive voice in the Australian music and theatre landscapes.

SCO is critically acclaimed for its innovative programming, musical rigour and strong focus on compelling theatre-making. At SCO we make opera with a 21st-century outlook that resonates with a new, younger audience, and that shows how vibrant and relevant the artform can be.

Each year we stage two to three productions of 20th and 21st-century repertoire. Our program is a balance of specially commissioned work by leading homegrown composers, the latest international operas in their Australian premieres, song cycles and cantatas in unusual stagings, and canonical repertoire reinvigorated by the country’s most daring theatrical talent.