Telstra Wholesale has joined with the Pacific Opera Company to promote the growth of both the company’s budding opera talent and Wholesale’s relationship with its customers.

The sponsorship provides opportunities for Pacific Opera’s aspiring opera stars to perform to a variety of audiences at Telstra Wholesale customer events.

Telstra has long been a supporter of Australia’s sporting and artistic communities and this partnership allows Telstra Wholesale to play a role in promoting the arts.

Telstra Wholesale is delighted to support the Telstra Wholesale Young Artists Program as a business-arts partnership that allows it to have a direct hand in the development of some of Australia’s leading young opera artists.

Telstra Wholesale’s customers are part of this effort as they are exposed to the young artists at Wholesale-sponsored customer events and can follow the journeys of the artists as their careers develop.

Telstra Wholesale's Warwick Broxom and The Hon George Palmer, Pacific Opera Chairman, sign the Telstra Wholesale Young Artists Program agreement.

Telstra Wholesale’s Executive Director Commercial Operations Warwick Broxom sits on the Pacific Opera board. He shares his thoughts on Telstra Wholesale’s sponsorship of the Pacific Opera.

Why has Telstra Wholesale chosen to create the Young Artists program?
We were introduced to some of Pacific Opera’s emerging stars at the Broadband and Beyond conference in March 2008. Many delegates were moved almost to tears during and after the performance, and approached us to say how impressed they were.

Through this and a subsequent performance at a Telstra Wholesale event, we realised that these young opera stars were having a high impact on their audiences and we felt this would bring an additional element to Telstra Wholesale’s customer events.

How will the partnership benefit Pacific Opera’s emerging opera stars?
Pacific Opera is an organisation that helps to transition young artists from educated singers to fully fledged professionals. The individual performers will be exposed to a variety of audiences at live events with greater frequency and in different settings, helping them to develop their skills and understand what different audiences enjoy.

Our partnership with Pacific Opera will also bring opera to a wider audience and help to develop awareness of what Pacific Opera is trying to do.

How are the performances being received by Wholesale customers?
The singers have had a great reception. At a recent Market Connections forum Telstra Wholesale and a select group of our customers were treated to performances by two Pacific Opera singers. The feedback from our customers was tremendous – they thought it was fantastically unusual to experience a performance by young artists in an intimate environment.

About Pacific Opera