Meet Kiandra Howarth: the siren of stage bringing Puccini’s troubled heroine to life

Kiandra Howarth was only nine when she heard the ethereal voices of opera singers for the very first time. It was a performance of Puccini’s Tosca that was touring her home state of Queensland, and it was life changing.

“I remember I was just mesmerised. My mum was falling asleep next to me, she was enjoying it in her own way. But I was absolutely mesmerised, and I said to myself, ‘I have to do this’,” she says.

“I never wanted to do anything else.”

The internationally renowned soprano graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 2010 and went on to be a company artist at Opera Australia. Her career has taken her across Australasia and Europe, including a stint living in the United Kingdom. Today, she is a company artist at the Staatstheater Hannover in Germany.

For Victorian Opera, she is playing Magda, the troubled heroine in Puccini’s masterpiece La Rondine (The Swallow).

After living abroad for so long, Kiandra is excited to sing for Australians again – in particular, for her 94-year-old grandmother who will be coming to both performances of La Rondine to see Kiandra on stage for the first time.

“Our instrument is our body, and with so much travel it can be hard to look after yourself,” she says. “There are a lot of challenges in opera, but there’s so much reward when you can share what you’ve worked on in a studio over six weeks and created an amazing production with a fantastically talented group of people.”

One of the biggest joys of being an opera singer, Kiandra says, is the opportunity to transform into somebody else when stepping into a role.

“I’m normally so shy, but when I’m on stage I can do just about anything. Being in a costume, playing a character, gives me more freedom to express myself. It’s magic, I just love it so much.”

The role of Magda in La Rondine is a quintessential Puccinian character. She is strong-willed, conflicted, a dreamer, a romantic and, importantly, she’s relatable. Kiandra will bring her to life at the Palais Theatre in August.

Indeed, the relatability of stories within opera, particularly Puccini’s operas, is something Kiandra wishes more people recognised.

“I think people don’t realise how accessible opera really is. Many might think opera is some sort of rarefied thing, but we’re just telling stories – love stories, comedy, drama, everything,” she says.

“Younger generations might think opera is just for elderly people, where you dress up in a too-tight suit and you watch people sing at each other. But so many directors nowadays are putting operas in modern settings, it’s becoming so much more like film.

“And with outreach programs and reduced tickets for younger people, it’s becoming more and more accessible for everyone.”

So does Kiandra have any advice for aspiring opera signers?

“Don’t give up. Keep going. When you share your art with an audience, it’s so worth it.”