Deborah Cheetham Fraillon in conversation with Kiera Stevens

Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, Yorta Yorta soprano and composer, is the Founder and Artistic Director of Short Black Opera, creating a space for First Nations musicians in the world of classical music.   

 Deborah’s first major work was the critically acclaimed one woman play White Baptist Abba Fan.  Subsequent compositions include the opera Pecan Summer and Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace.   She's been Composer in Residence with the MSO, Professor of Practice at Monash University and is currently Chair of Vocal Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.    

 Deborah is active on numerous Boards and has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including the J.C. Williamson Lifetime Achievement Award, Limelight Magazine Critic's Australian Artist of the Year and the Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award.  In 2014, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.