The singer and artist manager Romola Tyrrell has died at her Southern Highlands home.
by Jason Blake
Tyrrell was a highly regarded soprano. On the concert platform, she sang the works of Mozart, Bach and Handel with Australia and New Zealand’s leading choral associations and symphony orchestras.
For Sydney Philharmonia, Tyrrell took the soprano solos in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Handel’s Samson and Dixit Dominus, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Purcell’s The Masque in Dioclesian and many others.
Regular appearances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra included Amor in Gluck’s Orfeo and Eurydice, Britten’s Les Illuminations and ABC Family Concerts. Distinguished conductors with whom she worked included David Willcocks, Jurgen Jurgens and Peter Seymour.
Tyrrell sang the role of Donna Maria in the ABC’s television opera Quiros by Peter Sculthorpe and recorded regularly for the ABC and 2MBS-FM.
She was a founding member both of The Song Company (she was part of its initial octet alongside Margaret Schindler, Susan Gotts, Narelle Tapping, James Bonnefin, Adrian Brand, Martin Cooke and Stephen Bennett) and Voiceworks.
The Australian Ballet engaged her to perform Songs of the Auvergne as an accompaniment to Of Blessed Memory.
Operatic appearances included Micaela in Carmen and Countess Stasi in The Gypsy Princess for State Opera of South Australia, Yum-Yum in The Mikado for West Australian Opera, Ilia in Idomeneo for Sydney University and the title role in The Gypsy Princess for Dunedin Opera Company.
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| David Hobson and Romola Tyrrell in WA Opera’s 1988 production of The Mikado. |
In 1998, Romola co-founded Patrick Togher Artists’ Management (PTAM) with her singer husband.
Tyrrell died unexpectedly in her Southern Highland home on 8 June. In a statement, Patrick Togher said that her death came as an “absolute shock”.
“Personally, I am utterly devastated,” Togher said. “She has been the love of my life for the past 40 years.”
First published at Limelight website, June 9, 2023
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