Amazing Amy

IT’S A LONG WAY FROM THE BEACHES OF PERTH TO LONDON’S WEST END STAGES, BUT THIS AUSSIE OPERA STAR MADE THE LEAP WITH EASE

- Melenie Ambrose

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In her career, Manford has performed for royals – and ex-royals! “I sang for Harry and Meghan. She sits like a princess so I was like, ‘OK, I’ll put on my princess act, too!’” Nerves played a part. “I really didn’t want to stuff up in front of them.

Amy Manford has had many “pinch yourself” moments. Like in 2015 on her first day at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. Having won a coveted scholarship to the prestigious faculty, the Perth soprano gazed out a window to an explosion of flashbulbs below.

“It was the premiere of Spectre at the Royal Albert Hall. All the stars were there – Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep, Prince William and Kate Middleton. Like I’ve come from Perth, I’m with one of the best singing teachers in the world, in a place that looks like Hogwarts, overlooking a James Bond premiere. It was insane!” Manford recalls.

Truth is, the 28-year-old’s backstory reads much like a film script itself. In just over five years, the daughter of Michael and Sallie Manford, a stock broker and Californian model, has morphed from champion rhythmic gymnast and pole vaulter to international singing sensation, with newspapers touting her as “Australia’s hottest opera singer with the voice of an angel and looks of a supermodel”.

“My sister Chloe was the singer. I played violin,” Manford explains. “But in Year 10, my music teacher asked if I could do anything else. I said, ‘I can sing, I guess.’ From there, I was singing everything – solo events, jazz and musical theatre.”