Brian Chatterton
Brian Chatterton OAM was as co-founder of Co-Opera and Musical Director since its inception in 1990. He was formerly Head of Performing Arts at the South Australian College of Advanced Education, Director of the Elder Conservatorium and Dean of Performing Arts at the University of Adelaide. From 1973 to 1978 he worked with State Opera of SA as repetiteur, chorus master and musical director for many productions. He regularly adjudicates at music eisteddfods and from 1972 – 1986 was a member of the music review panels of The Advertiser, The Adelaide Review, Australian Newspapers, the international magazine Opera and the monthly publication Opera-Opera.
Brian has studied or taught in Essex, Basle, Prague, Milan, Edmonton and London. In 2000 he was awarded an OAM for his services to music and music education and in 2003 he was the recipient of a Centenary Medal.
From 1991 – 2017 Brian has been Musical Director of over 1,000 Co-Opera performances covering every State and Territory in Australia. Additionally, from 2005 – 2012, Brian conducted over 30 performances in SE Asia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland to generous critical acclaim.
In 2018 he formed the Adelaide Hills Chamber Players for whom he continues to serve as Artistic Director. In 2024 he resumed his former position of Artistic Director of Co-Opera.
Macintyre Howie-Reeeves
Macintyre Howie-Reeves is a performer and director with aBMus (Classical Voice) and a BA (English) from The University of Adelaide, Macintyre has directed Tosca for Co-Opera and Lovers & Villains for State Opera of South Australia, as well as co-directing Assassins for Hills Music Company. For State Opera of South Australia, he was assistant director and, subsequently, revival director for The Frog Prince. He was also assistant director for The Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore, and Trial by Jury.
As a performer, his stage credits include Lieutenant Barri in Passion, The Major General in The Pirates of Penzance, The Father in Hansel and Gretel, The Page in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Mr. Lindquist in A Little Night Music, Pish-Tush in The Mikado, Publio in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, and Betto in Gianni Schicchi for Co-Opera, as well as The Apparition in Verdi’s Macbeth for State Opera of South Australia, and covered the role of Anton in Saariaho’s Innocence for The Adelaide Festival.
Chorus credits include Carmen, La Bohème, La Traviata, Boojum!, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Macbeth, Candide, Le nozze di Figaro, The Pirates of Penzance, and Lucia di Lammermoor for State Opera of South Australia, along with Hamlet, Mozart’s Requiem, The Golden Cockerel, Messa da Requiem, and The Nightingale and Other Fables for The Adelaide Festival.
Deborah Johnston
Deborah Johnson has a long history with Co-Opera, having made her professional operatic debut in its first touring production of Die Zäuberflote. Soon after, she began her association with State Opera South Australia, singing in the chorus of La Boheme. After graduating with Honours in Music Performance from the Elder Conservatorium, Deb moved to Sydney, having won a scholarship to study with Rita Hunter C.B.E. While interstate, she performed in numerous Opera Australia productions including the critically acclaimed production of La Boheme directed by Baz Luhrmann.
After moving back to Adelaide, she returned to performing with both State Opera and Co-Opera. She made her principal debut with State Opera of SA as Mrs Alexander in Satyagraha, as part of State Opera’s world premiere of the Philip Glass Trilogy, and has also performed the role of Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle for the company.
Roles with various companies include Mirabella (The Gypsy Baron) the Duchess of Plaza Toro (The Gondoliers), Dame Carruthers (Yeoman of the Guard) Odabella (Atilla), Lady Jane (Patience), Miss Wingrave (Owen Wingrave), Meg Page (Merry Wives of Windsor), Marcellina (Marriage of Figaro), Filipevna and Larina (Eugene Onegin), Ruth (Pirates of Penzance), Dorabella (Cosi Fan Tutte), Annio (La Clemenza di Tito) and the title role in Carmen.
As a concert performer Deb has appeared as a soloist with numerous choirs with repertoire including Alexander’s Feast (Handel), Requiem (Durufle), Ein Feste Burg (Bach), Stabat Mater (Haydn), Messiah (Handel), Gloria (Vivaldi), Mass in the Time of War (Haydn), Stabat Mater (Pergolesi), Requiem (Mozart), Missa Brevis in C (Mozart), Mass (Stravinsky), Oratorio de Noel (Saint-Saens) and the Petite Messe Solennelle (Rossini).
Joanna McWaters
Acclaimed lyric soprano, Joanna McWaters, has been performing for over 25 years both in Australia and overseas. After graduating from the Elder Conservatorium, she was the recipient of scholarships to undertake post-graduate studies in both Taiwan and Luxembourg. She was an inaugural James & Diana Ramsay Foundation Emerging Artist with the State Opera of South Australia and is an inaugural graduate of the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Programme.
Consistently lauded for her singing and acting talents, her diverse roles include the title roles in Madama Butterfly and Tosca, Mimi (La Bohème), Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute), Nedda (I Pagliacci), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Maria (West Side Story), Cupid (Orpheus in the Underworld), Mabel (Pirates of Penzance), and The Beggar Woman (Sweeney Todd) for the State Opera of South Australia.
World premieres include creating the roles of Dolly Pickles in George Palmer’s operatic adaption of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet, and Lily Brayton (At the Dome Room at 2 o’clock) both to high critical acclaim. Joanna also performed the Australian Premiere of Jake Heggie’s solo opera At the Statue of Venus for the State Opera of South Australia.
Recent performances include reprising the title role in Puccini’s “Tosca” for the Adelaide Chamber Players and performing the role of Mabel (Pirates of Penzance) for Emma Knights Productions in the 2025 Adelaide Fringe.
James Scott
Lyric Baritone, James Scott, has been singing since he was a child, as a member of the Crafers Boys Choir. Later he studied Piano, Music Theory, and Voice, graduating from the prestigious Queensland Conservatorium of Music Vocal Studies program, with the Elizabeth Muir award for post-graduate studies. Subsequently, his commitments have ranged over many genres, such as Grand Opera, Musical Theatre, Lieder, and Oratorio.
As an ensemble singer, he has sung with many of Australia’s best vocal ensembles, including Ensemble Gombert, Cantilena, as a Lay Clerk at St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne, and the Adelaide Hills Chamber Players. James has been a chorister with Opera Queensland and State Opera South Australia. He was a featured artist in the Adelaide Festival’s production of the Bernstein Mass.
As a soloist, he has recently performed with Adelaide Cantata Band, Kapelle Singers, Adelaide Harmony Choir, and AUCS. Repertoire includes Mozart Requiem, Messiah, Fauré Requiem, Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols, and J S Bach Matthäus-Passion, Johannes-Passion, and h-Moll-Messe, and Dvořák Stabat Mater. Currently James is a Bass-scholar at Pilgrim Uniting Church, which he combines with an active vocal teaching practice. ‘The Zoo is James’ first outing with Co-Opera, which he hopes will be the first of many!
Alexandra Woolston
Alexandra Woolston graduated from the Elder Conservatorium in 2005. Since that time, she has been a regular member of the State Opera South Australia chorus and, with them, has performed in over 30 main stage productions, including the award winning Philip Glass Trilogy. Most recently she performed the roles of The Plaintiff (Trial by Jury) and Constance (The Sorcerer) in State Opera’s Gilbert and Sullivan Festival.
For Co-Opera she has performed the roles of Musetta (La Bohème), Papagena (The Magic Flute), Casilda (The Gondoliers) and Kate (The Pirates of Penzance). She has also performed in the Adelaide Festival operas Le Grand Macabre, Saul, Hamlet, and The Golden Cockerel.
Other roles include Cinderella (Into the Woods), Rose Maybud (Ruddigore), Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance), Josephine (HMS Pinafore), Julie Jordan (Carousel), Tracy Lord (High Society), Rose (The Secret Garden) and Petra (A Little Night Music).