Eildon Twilight Serenade

Name: Eildon Twilight Serenade
Start: 2026-02-14T17:30:00+11:00
End: 2026-02-14T17:30:00+11:00
Location: Eildon Pondage

Eildon Twilight Serenade – Formerly Opera @ Eildon – Returns for a Valentine’s Evening of Music and Magic

Eildon’s much-loved musical tradition returns on February 14, 2026, with a fresh name and a spectacular program. Now known as Eildon Twilight Serenade, this event—formerly Opera @ Eildon—continues to celebrate world-class music in a relaxed, lakeside setting.

Held on the scenic banks of the Eildon Pondage, the evening begins with gates opening at 5:00 PM and a preshow at 5:30 PM. Guests can enjoy a variety of food and drinks available for purchase—no preordering required.

This year’s format offers something for everyone: the first half features operatic highlights, followed by a second half of popular musical favourites. The 2026 lineup includes returning stars Kathryn Radcliffe (Soprano), Phoebe Briggs (Keyboard), and Stephen Marsh (Baritone)—back from Berlin—and introduces James Egglestone (Tenor) to the Eildon stage.

To make the evening even more memorable, guests will have the opportunity to meet and greet the artists after the show.

🎟️ Tickets start at $35 and go on sale November 1st via trybooking.com/DGSAW
🎁 Earlybird tickets available until December 24, 2025—a perfect Christmas gift for music lovers.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with music, community, and charm—Eildon style.

Kathryn Radcliffe - Soprano

In 2021, Kathryn Radcliffe sang Leila in Victorian opera’s production of The Pearl Fishers. For VO, she also performed The Blue Fairy in Respighi’s Sleeping Beauty and Echo in Kevin March’s new opera Echo and Narcissus. In 2022, she appeared in Elektra for VO and was soprano soloist in Melbourne Symphony’s Messiah and Melbourne Bach Choir’s Creation.

2023 appearances for Victorian Opera included Ilia (Idomeneo) and Italian Singer (Capriccio); she sang Orff’s Carmina Burana for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and returned to the MSO in 2024 for more performances of Carmina.

Kathryn recently made her OA mainstage début – as Delia in Il viaggio a Reims. For Victorian Opera, she has sung Berta in The Barber of Seville and The Queen in The Princess and the Pea; for Tasmanian Symphony – Frasquita in Carmen.

Winner of the 2014 Herald-Sun Aria, she starred the following year as Pamina in Opera Australia’s touring production of The Magic Flute and won the Opera Foundation Vienna Award.

In 2016, Kathryn worked for several months at the Vienna State Opera – covering a range of roles such as Pamina, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Ortlinde in Die Walküre, Pousette in Manon, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos and The High Priestess in Aida. She made her Vienna debut in The Cunning Little Vixen. Kathryn returned home to win one of Australia’s most lucrative competitions – the Opera & Arts Support Group Scholarship.

After earlier obtaining her AMusA in flute, she graduated Bachelor of Music with first class honours from the Victorian College of the Arts.

Other roles Kathryn has performed include: The Governess in The Turn of the Screw (Hawaii Performing Arts Festival); Ernesta in LOL Opera by Nina Sofo (Australian premiere 2010) and Daisy in Contact by Angus Grant (World Premiere 2011). For OzOpera, she has sung Mother/Witch/Sandman in Hansel and Gretel and Queen of Night/Pamina in The Magic Flute.

Her many awards include: 3MBS-FM Victorian Young Performer of the Year (2014); Bel Canto Award and Opera and Arts Vocal Scholarship (Finalist 2013); Bel Canto Award (Finalist 2014); the Armstead Singing Award (2014).

James Egglestone – Tenor

Dual Helpmann Award-winning James Egglestone is one of Australia’s finest tenors. 2021/2022 engagements included Loge (Das Rheingold) and Jimmy (Mahagonny) for Melbourne Opera, Aegisth (Elektra) and Bob Cratchit (A Christmas Carol) for Victorian Opera and Tell-Tale Heart for State Opera of South Australia. He won the 2022 Green Room Award for Loge in Das Rheingold. In 2023, he sang Loge and Siegmund in Melbourne Opera’s Der Ring des Nibelungen; the following year, he sang Luigi (Il tabarro) for Victorian Opera and appeared in Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in Canberra. 2025 will see his debut as Walter von Stolzing in Melbourne Opera’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Earlier, he built up an impressive list of credits with many national and international performing companies. For the Belcanto Festival in The Netherlands, he performed Elvino in La sonnambula and Don Carissimo in La Dirindina; for Melbourne Opera, the roles of Tamino in The Magic Flute, Nadir in The Pearl Fishers, Almaviva in The Barber of Seville and Rodolfo in La bohème.

Roles for State Opera of South Australia have included Laurie in Little Women, Ishmael in Moby-Dick and Nadir in The Pearl Fishers; for West Australian Opera – Nadir, Almaviva, Ismaele in Nabucco and Pluto in Orpheus in the Underworld; for Victorian Opera - Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte and Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw. James’ major role debut for Opera Australia was as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He returned to Victorian Opera in 2020 as Narraboth in Salome.

In 2007, he sang leading roles in The Love of the Nightingale for West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland and Victorian Opera (for which he won the Helpmann Award as Best Male Singer in a Supporting Role); he won the same award in 2008 for his performance in Little Women.

On the concert platform, James Egglestone has sung the tenor solos in Haydn’s Creation, Bach's St. John Passion and the Bach Cantatas Nos. 21 and 137. In 2012, he took the tenor solos in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for the Sydney Symphony under Vladimir Ashkenazy. Other appearances have included those with the Adelaide, Melbourne, Queensland, West Australian, Darwin and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, Auckland Philharmonia, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and the Twilite Orchestra, Jakarta.

Most recently, James has sung Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Lensky in Eugene Onegin, Cassio in Otello, Froh (Der Ring des Nibelungen) and Lysander for Opera Australia; Rodolfo (La bohème), Don José (Carmen) and the title role in Faust for State Opera of South Australia; Cavaradossi (Tosca) for New Zealand Opera and Cassio (Otello) for Auckland Philharmonia. He sang Edrisi (Krol Roger) for OA and won the Green Room Award for Best Male Performance in a Supporting Role.

Stephen J. Marsh – Baritone

Stephen J. Marsh is an Australian baritone who made his professional debut in Victorian Opera's Sleeping Beauty in 2017 and was a developing artist with the company for both the 2017/2018 seasons. He has since performed more than 15 roles with the company, including Olivier (Capriccio), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Zurga (Les Pêcheurs de Perles), The Tin Man (Il Mago di Oz), The Woodcutter (Sleeping Beauty), and The Giant (The Selfish Giant) by Simon Bruckard and Emma Muir-Smith.

In 2023, Stephen received the Deutsche Oper Berlin Award from the Opera Foundation for Young Australians. He joined the Deutsche Oper ensemble for the 24/25 opera season after making his Edinburgh International Festival debut as Olivier in Capriccio under the baton of Alexander Soddy.

In 2021, he made his European debut as Marcello in La bohème under the baton of James Gaffigan at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. He has performed with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.

Stephen was a scholar with Melba Opera Trust in 2018 and 2019 and was an inaugural member of Melbourne Opera's Richard Divall Emerging Artists Program. A multi-award winner, Stephen received the inaugural Victorian Opera's Michael Stubbs and Malcolm Roberts Opera Prize, as well as the Family of the Late Frederick R Davidson Opera Award. He also won an Ian Potter Cultural Trust Scholarship, Creative Australia's Sir Robert Askin Operatic Scholarship, the John and Anne Duncan Opera Award, and was named the 2018 Melbourne Welsh Male Choir Singer of the Year.

Phoebe Briggs has appeared in concerts in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Japan. BMus (University of Melbourne). Opera Australia music staff 2002 – 2012, Head of Music at Victorian Opera since October 2012. For Victorian Opera, Phoebe has conducted Sunday in the Park with George, Play of Herod, Sweeney Todd, Cendrillon, Four Saints in Three Acts (Green Room nomination), The Sleeping Beauty (Green Room nomination), Lorelei, Black Rider (Helpmann nomination, VO/Malthouse), A Little Night Music, Happy End, Follies and Mansfield Park. Other companies: Opera Northwest, IFAC, Opera Australia, Ambassador Group, Chamber Made Opera, MTC, OzOpera.