By Natasha Barbieri
Her story has been told many times. The talented ingenue plucked from relative obscurity to touring around the world with Andre Rieu and beloved by a nation as the “Angel of Australia”. It’s true that she’s had a blessed career but with over a decade as a recording artist, it’s clear there is more to the sunny soprano than pure luck.
Mirusia grew up speaking both English and Dutch and growing up both languages has helped her communicate her music in various languages. “Being bilingual has definitely helped me with singing in other languages, and also when traveling. I do find it easy to pick up other languages and whilst living in The Netherlands I worked with a lot of people who spoke German and so I have a basic understanding of German and can even speak it a little bit now too! Language skills are very important as a singer and I always do my best to know exactly what I am singing and seek out people who are native in the particular language to help me get it right.”
Her training began at the age of eighteen when Mirusia studied at the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane. “I had just graduated from High School and it seemed (and felt) the most logical step for me. Before studying at the Conservatorium, I had only dabbled in classical music and I’m glad I turned a new leaf and started everything at once. My voice teacher, Gregory Massingham, was an incredible tutor and we are still friends today. He realized the natural sound of my voice and never wanted to change the sound or quality, only just help it along, and for that, I am very grateful.”
That natural sound was soon to bring her success. “I entered the Dame Joan Sutherland Opera Award basically to gain more experience in competitions and because at that time in Australia it was one of the most prestigious awards with a $10,000 prize. I honestly had no idea they would pick me as I was up against singers who were much older than me and who had more experience.” The veterans were not exactly welcoming, “The other singers there were telling me that I was so young and how “cute” that I was in the final.” Mirusia used this to her advantage, “I approached the whole thing with a smile on my face and just enjoyed it.”
Her freedom and beauty of tone led to her winning the entire competition. “When they announced me as the winner, I was completely gobsmacked, I just could not believe my ears. They announced that they wanted the prize to go to someone who would use the money wisely and who really needed a kick start in their career.”
Mirusia did exactly that. She used the prize money to record her EP organizing the whole thing herself “It was a huge learning experience for me, but it helped me in my career as a recording artist. I also set up a website, Facebook page, and back then we even had MySpace! I was so busy with getting my name out there and doing everything I could to become a professional singer, I truly believe the Dame Joan Sutherland Opera Award gave me the opportunity to follow my dream.”
Despite her success in the operatic competition, Mirusia was destined for a career in crossover music. Her soprano voice, though able to soar to the heights with great intensity, is sweet and unaffected and easily changes through Broadway, folk and popular tunes. “I have been singing songs from musicals since I was a young girl and always loved the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. When I was in high school, the conductor of the school orchestra asked me if I wanted to sing “Time to Say Goodbye” at the graduation ceremony. I started learning it but ended up learning basically the whole Andrea Bocelli album it came from. From there I started listening to Sarah Brightman, Petra Berger, and Alessandro Safina. I was completely hooked.”
At that time the developing new genre was known as “Popera” and Mirusia was eager to become an ambassador for this new style, “I remember at the beginning of my career wanting to broaden the knowledge of classical music with Popera and telling everyone about it.”
During her time at the Conservatorium, Mirusia shared her passion for the music at various gigs. “In 2006 my Mum brought home a DVD of André Rieu and I remember thinking to myself that I would love to perform on his stage one day.”
Mirusia’s aunt believed so deeply in her niece’s talent that she wrote André Rieu telling him all about her and providing a link to her website. “He listened to some clips and called me at home and asked if I would like to tour the world with him! It was totally crazy, like something out of a movie, and at the time I even thought someone was just playing a prank on me.”
The offer was anything but a prank. Andre wanted Mirusia to come sing for him the very next day! “It was a surreal experience because when I met André and his wife Marjorie, it was almost as though I had known they already for a very long time – there was an instant click. I sang “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” from The Phantom of the Opera and “L’ameró” from Il Re Pastore by Mozart. He then asked me to sing the “Concerto Pour Une Voix” vocalize by Saint Preux and decided on the spot that I would go on tour with him singing Concertor Pour Une Voix and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. My first concert was in Boston, just a couple of weeks later.”
During their collaboration, André would select repertoire for Mirusia although she often suggested music, “Many of them ending up on the “Waltzing Matilda” album.”
The enormity of production for one of Andre’s shows is astounding. “I am very proud of my work with André and I still tour with him sometimes. The World Stadium Tour, which toured in 2007-2009 was the largest set, stage, cast, crew, and production ever in the world. It broke all the world records and looking back, it was so surreal that we all just did it and it was “normal”, but really it wasn’t very normal at all.”
Andre continued to mentor Mirusia for many years but with time she began branching out more and more as a solo artist. Her latest release is entitled “A Salute to the Seekers” something that she tells us is “a bit different.” Mirusia explains further: “My whole life I have been exposed to the music of The Seekers and they inspired me as a young girl to sing and perform. In 2011 I was so lucky to be able to tour with them and André Rieu and it was such a thrill to stand on the stage with them and sing together. They are such a wonderful group of people, so wholesome too, and as an Australian, they are definitely an iconic music group to me.”
Her manager Robert Rigby first suggested the concept album saluting the group and it seemed like a perfect fit for Mirusia. “I enjoyed their music so much my whole life, why not salute the artists who so inspired me? I loved the idea and we started working on the idea and the songs to choose. I wanted to choose a mix of songs that were well known by their fans around the world, but also some tracks that weren’t as popular and really give them my own “Classical Crossover” flavor.
“Working with David Cameron and Pete Dacy on the music and arrangements was a lot of fun and we made sure that with every song we were being respectful whilst putting our own spin on them. I am so pleased with the result and I am so excited to release these songs out into the world. I recently met with Judith Durham and she gave me the most wonderful compliments about the album and my singing and called the album “evocative” which means a lot to me. Most of the songs on the album are songs she would have performed thousands of times, so to have her compliment me on them is truly an honor.”
Her vocal coaches have always worked to ensure the beauty of her natural voice which Mirusia credits with keeping her voice healthy. But even with seven albums under her belt, Mirusa is still not used to listening to herself. “Does anyone really like the sound of their own voice? I am sure glad other people do! I have been able to learn over time to step outside of myself as “The Artist” and critically sit back in the studio and listen to the vocal and know if it was a good take or if I can do it better. I had the most incredible sound engineer on this album in Geoff McGahan, who I’ve known since 2007 and we actually recorded the vocals on the whole album in 2 days. It just flowed and worked so well and I was having such a great time in the studio, I didn’t want it to end.”
Her voice has also grown throughout the years. “During my pregnancy with my daughter Sascha, I noticed a change in my voice. It somehow became warmer and fuller and remained that way afterward. I’ve had many people who have known my voice a long time make comments on this and although it is only slightly different, you can definitely hear new depth and warmth.”
Motherhood has also changed the way Mirusia approaches her career. “It is crazy but after I came back from my maternity leave when Sascha was 4 months old, I have never been busier. I have traveled and toured so much this past year and next up I’m really excited that I’ve been cast in a musical called “Mimma’, which will see me based for two months in Perth, Australia. I’m really looking forward to that and of course the release of the new album and touring it later in 2019 is going to be a great thrill also. Lots to look forward to and I am so excited to be able to share it all with my daughter, who most of the time comes on the road with me.”
Her career has been a dream so far and even though she had hard times like every artist Mirusia says, “I am not really one for regrets, as I believe in fate and that everything we do and will do is meant to be.” However, her experience through the years has led her to look at some things differently. When asked what she would tell her younger self Mirusia shares “I would go back to when I was a teenager and tell myself to look at the big picture and that those small little setbacks of not winning a local shopping center talent quest, or not becoming the “music captain” at school, or not being cast in the local musical production really don’t mean anything in the real world and there are more important things out there. I definitely learned a lot from “rejection” and I think that is why I approach everything now with a mindset of “if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be”.”
With so many career highlights its hard to pinpoint a favorite but if she had a chance to relieve one of them, “I would probably go back to 2013, to the King’s Coronation Concert in Amsterdam. What an incredible experience that was for me with 60,000 people in the square and millions of people watching worldwide. I sang a song for the former queen and one for the new queen, it was truly amazing and went by so fast. I remember it was so cold and I had flown in from the Australian summer that day to sing in the 3-degree evening temperature with André Rieu on the Museum Square. I will never forget it and I love that fact that it was filmed for DVD.”
This April will see Mirsuia in the lead role of the new musical “Mimma” which will open in April at the Regal Theatre in Perth. “I’m really excited about creating the role of Mimma and it has already been such a great experience working with the composer and librettist.” Her album “A Salute to the Seekers” has gone to No.1 on the Aria charts in Australia and Mirusia will start to tour it in May. “I have a feeling it is going to be a great year and I’m really looking forward to it.”
“A Salute to the Seekers” is available now! mirusia.net
