The Talent Episode 4: baritone Lucas Calzado-Yubero and pianist Charlie Wu

Lucas Calzado-Yubero is an 18 year-old baritone and contemporary singer-songwriter studying classical voice with Timothy Reynolds at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS). Lucas’ passion for opera started when he was 11 years old and was a part of the Children’s Ensemble in Opera Australia’s production of Puccini’s Tosca at the Arts Centre. Later that same year Lucas was also part of the children’s Ensemble in Gordon Frost’s Production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical Evita and performed over 30 shows at the Arts Centre.

Lucas has been a part of the Victorian Opera Youth Chorus Ensemble (VOYCE) for five years and last year was a Victorian Opera Youth Ambassador. In 2023 Lucas had the lead male role of Aeneas in Victorian Opera’s Production of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.

In 2024 Lucas performed with the Maita Yávës vocal sextet, under the guidance of Carrie Barr. With the sextet, Lucas went on to win the prestigious Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School’s Chamber Music Competition. As a result of this, they were invited to perform at The Herald Sun Aria’s Centenary Competition at the Melbourne Recital Centre and on the 3mbs ‘VCASS Live to Air’ segment.

In his spare time, Lucas writes and releases contemporary music under the name LC-Y. The seven songs he has uploaded to Spotify have so far garnered over 12,000 streams.

Lucas’ ambition is to continue to study classical voice and eventually perform in concert halls all over the world.

Lucas will perform:

• Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel: IV. The Infinite Shining Heavens
• Bach: Magnificat: Quia fecit mihi Magna
• Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op. 48: IV Wenn ich in deine Augen seh
• Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 39: I. In der Fremde
• Carissimi: Vittoria, mio core
• Jinhao Guo: Two Romantic Songs: II. Long Grass Waving

With associate artist Aidan Boase

 

 

12-year-old Charlie Wu has established himself as one of Australia’s brightest young piano talents. He studies piano with renowned pedagogue Glenn Riddle, and is currently a Year 7 scholarship student at Caulfield Grammar. In June 2024, Charlie was invited by Artistic Director and internationally acclaimed concert pianist Denis Matsuev to be Australia’s representative in the Grand Piano Festival held in Moscow. Charlie not only presented a 30-minute solo recital, he also made his concerto debut in the legendary Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory performing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra, one of Russia’s most distinguished orchestras, conducted by Deutsche Grammophon recording artist, Ivan Nikiforchin. On returning to Australia, Charlie then had two subsequent concerto performances of the Mendelssohn Concerto with both the Preston Symphony Orchestra and the Whitehorse Symphony Orchestras. Then in September 2024, Charlie was awarded his LMusA diploma with Distinction, a rare accolade for an 11-year-old, for a recital that was commended for revealing ‘exceptional qualities of artistic insight’ and ‘transcendental virtuosity’. Recent successes locally include winning the 2025 MSV Eda Schurmann Award, the 2024 Bill Borthwick Prize, and the 2023 National PolMusicA Polish Music Prize, as well as numerous First prizes at the Ballarat, Ringwood, Melbourne, and Boroondara eisteddfods. A keen chamber musician, in 2024 Charlie performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Cloud Concert Youth Orchestra (CCYO) together with cellist Maggie Wang and violinist Claire Huang and in 2025 he is also a member of the Melbourne String Ensemble Chamber program. In April, Charlie has been invited to perform on 3 MBS radio, and in June he will perform Liszt’s Piano Concerto No 2 in A major with the Melbourne Sinfonia. Charlie also studies violin and is a keen competitive tennis player, swimmer, and chess player.

Charlie will perform:

• Chopin: Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op. 54
• Keith Humble: Bagatelles (I, III and VIII)