General News
5 May, 2025
Tenor returns to Warracknabeal
What do Rotary, composer Puccini and the Sheep Hills Silos share in common? The answer: tenor with the Australian Opera, Michael Lapina.
Many members of the Warracknabeal and district communities still remember the magical evening held during the bleakness of the Covid epidemic in 2021, when one of the stars of the evening, Australian tenor Michael Lapina, shared a stage at the Sheep Hills Silos with local opera performer Sofia Laursen-Habel.
In the four years since, Mr Lapina has wanted to reconnect with his friends in Warracknabeal and district who supported him at Sheep Hills, and on Saturday May 10, at 7.30pm, he will get his wish as he performs a soiree in the more intimate setting of The General Store in Scott Street, Warracknabeal.
Mr Lapina, over four decades as an opera performer and concert oratorio soloist, has performed in works as varied as Handel's Messiah and Verdi's Requiem, and by composers as diverse as Faure, Mozart, Wagner, Bizet and Pagliacci.
Beyond the stage, he is a passionate supporter of the arts in the community.
Through Rotary International (as a member of Wyndham Rotary Club) he has directed and performed in numerous fundraising concerts, and through Australia Opera has also played a pivotal role in launching the international careers of young Australian opera singers.
Community members can join Mr Lapina by purchasing tickets through Wendy Hewitt on 0427 332 193.
At his request, the evening will be a fundraiser for The Country Education Foundation of Warracknabeal & District which in 2025 is providing post-VCE study scholarships to 13 local students.
Contributed by John Tonkin