Lisa Gasteen

Lisa Kinkead Gasteen AO (born 13 November 1957), is an internationally acclaimed Australian operatic soprano, renowned for her performances of the works of Wagner. She won the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1991. She did not perform between 2008 and 2011, due to neuro-muscular spasms in her neck.

Born in Brisbane, Lisa Gasteen studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where she was a pupil of Margaret Nickson. In 1982 she won the Australian Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and in 1984 she was awarded the Covent Garden Scholarship. In the same year she sang in the Queen's 60th Birthday Gala at the Royal Opera House.

She made her operatic debut in 1985 with the Lyric Opera of Queensland (now Opera Queensland) as the High Priestess (Aida), followed by Desdemona (Otello). She has been a regular guest artist with Opera Australia and her many roles with the company include Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw), Madame Lidoine (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Ortlinde (Die Walküre), Leonora (Il trovatore, La forza del destino and Fidelio), Elsa (Lohengrin), Donna Elvira and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Aida, Elisabetta (Don Carlos), Elisabeth (Tannhäuser) and Amelia (Un ballo in maschera). For Victoria State Opera she has sung Elisabetta, Elisabeth, Desdemona, Aida and Leonora (Il trovatore).

After winning the 1991 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, Lisa Gasteen was invited to sing Donna Anna in Prague with Sir Charles Mackerras followed by her British debut in 1992 as Leonora in Scottish Opera's new production of Il trovatore. Subsequently she was invited to perform in Europe and the United States with companies including Welsh National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, Scottish Opera and with the opera companies of Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Zurich, Dallas and Washington. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York in 1997 as Aida. She has also performed in these houses roles including Leonora (Il trovatore, with Rizzi), La forza del destino, Fidelio, Amelia (Un ballo in maschera), Madeleine de Coigny (Andrea Chénier), Aida (with Zubin Mehta), Tosca, Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Chrysothemis (Elektra). She made her role debut as Die Kaiserin (Die Frau ohne Schatten) under Simone Young at the 1996 Melbourne International Arts Festival.