Shakira Dugan
Mezzo-Soprano
Shakira will be performing the role of the Wicked Witch of the East in Il Mago di Oz, August, one of the Maidservants in Elektra, September 2022 and Tisbe in La Cenerentola, March 2023.
Shakira made her professional operatic debut with Victorian Opera, playing the role Hansel in Hansel and Gretel in 2017. Since then, starring and covering roles in The Magic Pudding the Opera, Der Rosenkavalier, Rossini’s Otello, Le Nozze di Figaro, Alice Through the Opera Glass, Mahagonny, Parsifal as well as numerous concert performances, and making her international debut as Cherubino in Australian International Production’s Le Nozze di Figaro.
2021 saw Shakira as a Principal Artist with Victorian Opera, creating the role of Cassandra in Simon Bruckard’s new opera, Cassandra, and The Cuckoo in Respeghi’s La bella dormente nel bosco.
Shakira is a recipient of the 2022 Michael Stubbs and Malcolm Roberts Opera Prize with Victorian Opera.
Last 3 major performances
- Squire / Flower Maiden in Wagner’s Parsifal, Victorian Opera, 2019
- Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Australian International Productions, 2019
- Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Victorian Opera, 2018
Education/Training
- Bachelor of Music – Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, 2015
Age when you started singing
I sang in a little choir at my local primary school
Favourite opera or musical
Phantom of the Opera
Favourite role to perform
Hansel in Hansel and Gretel
A fun fact not many people know about you
I have a dog called Xena Warrior Princess.
Tell us about your hobbies outside opera
I ride motorbikes, I’m a fine artist and I make teddy bears.
