Conductor & Opera Composer
Simon Bruckard
“Composer Simon Bruckard’s captures the story with dynamic shifts in mood, from the playfulness of the children and the grumpiness of the giant to the sprightly spring and the glacial winter.” – TheatrePress
“Bruckard created a rich musical world, thanks to inventive orchestration and a lively awareness of how to use his forces to best effect.” – Classic Melbourne
“This abridged account of Humperdinck’s enchanting score, headed by conductor Simon Bruckard and played by the excellent 14-piece orchestra, was both balanced and charming.” – Sydney Morning Herald
“The success of the music is an auspicious indicator of further time at the podium to come for Bruckard.” – Man in Chair
Conductor, pianist and composer Simon Bruckard is an active member of the music industry in Australia. He is currently a member of music staff with Opera Australia and conducts regularly for Victorian Opera in Melbourne. For Victorian Opera, he has conducted Hansel and Gretel, Alice Through the Opera Glass and three world premiere operas.
Simon’s youth opera based on Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant, written with librettist Emma Muir-Smith, premiered to a sold-out audience in October as a part of Victorian Opera’s 2019 season. It won a Green Room Award for Musical Achievement - New Australian Opera and was nominated for another three awards. He is currently composing another new opera to be performed in 2021, a song cycle inspired by a cookbook and a new musical comedy.
Simon has worked with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra as assistant conductor to Simone Young. He was also Assistant Conductor on her performance of Ariadne auf Naxos in 2018 in Brisbane.
In 2019, Simon conducted La Bohème in an outdoor performance for Stonnington Council’s Opera in the Park program. He was engaged again to conduct their performance of Tosca in 2020.
Bellini
Norma (VO, Aug 2014)
I Puritani (VO, Jul 2015)
Wozzeck (Opera Australia 2019)
West Side Story (Oxagen, Aug 2013)
Carmen (Opera Scholars, Mar 2015)
The Little Sweep (VO, Sep 2009)
Lucia di Lammermoor (VO, Mar 2016)
Banquet of Secrets (VO, Jan 2016)
The Riders (VO, Sep 2014)
Hänsel und Gretel (VO, Jun 2014 & 2018)
Pagliacci (VO, Aug 2016)
Remembrance (VO, Aug 2015)
The Pied Piper (VO, Sep 2016)
Cendrillon (VO, May 2016)
Così fan tutte (University of Melbourne, Oct 2015)
Die Zauberflöte (The Opera Studio, 2014)
Le Nozze di Figaro (Australian International Opera, 2015 & 2019)
La Belle Hélène (Lyric Opera, Sep 2009)
Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Lyric Opera, Apr 2018)
Gianni Schicchi (Victorian Opera, 2009)
Madama Butterfly (Opera in the Park, 2018)
Suor Angelica (Lunchbox Opera, 2017)
La Bohème (The Classics Opera, 2019)
Dido & Aeneas (Lyric Opera, Apr 2009)
L’Heure Espagnol (Lyric Opera, Mar 2015)
Sweeney Todd (VO, Jul 2015)
Into the Woods (VO, Jul 2014)
Ariadne auf Naxos (LGNOS 2018)
Four Saints in Three Acts (VO, Sep 2016)
The Grumpiest Boy in the World (VO, Oct 2015)
The Emperor of Atlantis (iOpera, Jul 2012)
La Traviata (VO, May 2014)
Attila (OA 2020)
Aida (OA 2020)
Die Walkuere (OA 2020)
Goetterdaemmerung (OA 2020)
Der fliegende Holländer (VO, Feb 2015)
Die sieben Todsünden (VO, Nov 2015)
