From opera singer to orchestra maestro, Fiona Campbell sheds light on her career ahead of Taylor Swift show

When pop music phenomenon Taylor Swift announced an Australian leg of her record-shattering Eras tour without a stop in Perth, the wave of disappointment that swept over her local fans gave Fiona Campbell an idea. The renowned mezzo-soprano had been appointed creative director of Perth Symphony Orchestra a little more than six months earlier, taking over from founder Bourby Webster at the company known for its Reimagined series, which gives an orchestral twist on pop and rock music including that of INXS, David Bowie, The Doors and Nirvana. As she considered her first year of programming at PSO, Campbell, a performer for more than 25 years, knew just which seminal musician the orchestra should tackle next. “I just thought there’s a perfect invitation, because there are so many fans here who’ve missed out on her music,” Campbell says, as she took part in a Swift-inspired shoot for STM. Taylor Made, being held at RAC Arena on May 17, would be a celebration of Swift’s music, rather than a tribute show with a performer pretending to be Taylor. Compiling the set from Swift’s prolific discography was no easy feat so Campbell called in the big guns (aka die-hard Swifties) to refine the track list. The show will feature a variety of early hits, including Love Story, You Belong With Me and Shake It Off, and newer material such as Cardigan, Cruel Summer and Don’t Blame Me. “I’ve put together a brilliant ensemble cast of five singers, who will take turns singing solos and backing vocals,” Campbell says. “The more I’ve learnt about Taylor, the more I admire her. I think that her integrity as a woman, and her message of empowering young people, to have faith in themselves, not be afraid to make mistakes, and be kind to one another is just so wonderful.” And while 14-time Grammy award-winner Swift is an inspiration to Campbell, she has blazed her own trail in Australian classical music, after being faced with a crucial choice as a teen — opera singer or farmer? As a girl, Campbell, who grew up in WA — “the best place in the world” — after her parents emigrated from Scotland in 1963, adored the countryside. But she was also blessed with musical talent, uncovered at a young age. “Mum insisted we all learnt music because her family were too poor to afford music lessons and she thought music was a real privilege, and rightly so,” Campbell says. “She would have given her ‘eye teeth’, she says, to have been able to learn an instrument.” Campbell had a natural singing voice and by the time she finished high school she knew she didn’t want to give music up. But she also yearned for a life in the country. “I thought, ‘I know, I’ll go and get a degree in music so I can teach music in the country’,” she remembers. But life threw a spanner in the works — that spanner happened to be Richard Gill. Campbell met Gill, the legendary conductor and musical educator, when he was dean at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts during her studies for a Bachelor and Master of Music. WAAPA’s music department was then known as the Conservatorium of Music. “He was so completely, overwhelmingly inspiring, as a person and a musician,” Campbell says of Gill, who died in 2018. “When I got into the conservatorium, something resonated deep within my soul and it became something that I was compelled to pursue. It wasn’t a choice at that point. I kind of describe it as falling into the rabbit hole, if you like — like Alice in Wonderland. This incredible world of music opened up to me, and I just got swept along by it.” Her choice was made. But it wasn’t long before Campbell was faced with another decision. “A couple of years in, I was conducting as well and my singing teacher said to me, ‘Look, you’ve got what could be a professional instrument there, but you’re spending far too much time conducting, you’ve got to choose’,” she remembers. Campbell ultimately chose her voice over conducting, and spent the years that followed building a name on both the national and international stage. The singer won a plethora of prizes in the opera world, including the national Limelight Award for Best Solo Performance and ABC Young Performer of the Year Award (voice) and the opera award at the Australian Singing Competition. She produced shows, travelled to and from Asia to perform and held roles as the WA mananger for Musica Viva Australia and artistic director for the Government House Foundation of WA. Campbell also spent a short stint in London before returning to her roots in Perth for the birth of her second child. At the end of 2022, Campbell had the opportunity to step into some big shoes — those of Bourby Webster. “When this (creative director of Perth Symphony Orchestra) job came up, and I read the job description, it seemed that all of my professional musical artistic life had been leading to this moment,” Campbell says. Webster had poured her heart, soul and entire life savings into the PSO, which she founded in 2011. She built an ensemble which became known for “breaking the rules” and redefining the orchestral music experience. “Bourby really gave WA a gift, and I don’t say that lightly,” Campbell says. “She created something that is now an integral part of our cultural landscape. I think my role is to build on that, not to disrupt it, but to actually nurture what she created.” The most exhilarating aspect of doing so? The endless possibilities. Campbell admits she doesn’t feel like there’s anything PSO can’t do. “We are all about being relevant to contemporary audiences and creating new pathways. It’s more a question of honouring musical integrity, rather than honouring traditions,” the mother-of-two says. “That’s why we are all over the State and all over outer metro; we take music out of the concert hall and to people wherever they are. I think that’s a completely thrilling model. It’s just fun and hard work from this point.” Championing female leadership and empowerment is at the forefront of Campbell’s agenda. She talks of PSO’s Women on the Podium — a program launched in 2019 to give female-identifying and non-binary talent an opportunity to learn conducting — with pride. “There’s such a tiny percentage of women on podiums around the world in professional orchestras,” says Campbell. “The program was started to support Jessica Gethin, Perth Symphony’s foundational conductor on her journey. And now, of course, just look at her career, it is extraordinary. We are very proud to be in that position of world leaders in this space.” Gethin was inducted into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame in March and is principal conductor of West Australian Ballet and head of Orchestral Studies and Conducting at WAAPA. As for the future of the PSO, Campbell aims to continue its mission of “music for everyone”. “Perhaps because I’ve come through decades of performing and feeling stuck in that really formal, classic format, it drives me bonkers,” she admits. “I think it can put a wall between the performer, the music and the audience. And I really want to tear those walls down, tear away the formality and bring the humanity right across the stage into the audience, people feel that.” Campbell hinted at an exciting collaboration with WA Museum Boola Bardip on a concert series telling WA stories through immersive visuals, narration, music and theatre. “The uniqueness about telling (WA stories) here is that, often I’m having conversations with descendants of the people that I’m telling the story about, which means there are all sorts of amazing anecdotes, photographs and memorabilia available, that possibly haven’t been seen before,” she says. “And of course, our State library has many riches in that department. Because we’ve got that ability to play, it presents a unique opportunity to tell the story in a very, very authentic and interesting way.” Taylor Made: The Music of Taylor Swift Reimagined by Perth Symphony Orchestra is at RAC Arena on May 17. Tickets available at perthsymphony.com