Nicole Alexander (BMusStud '03)

Conservatorium graduate Nicole Alexander may have started her career as a vocalist, but she is rapidly making a name for herself in quite another field of the music industry: opera production.

Nicole is the talented young producer responsible for bringing to the stage the critically acclaimed opera Dead Man Walking, composed by Jake Heggie, which is playing at Sydney's State Theatre from 27 September. Still in her 20s, Nicole also has a string of other concerts and recitals to her name.

Her journey to the spotlight began early, when she took up singing and playing the piano at a very young age. After finishing school, she won a prestigious Helen Myers Vocal Scholarship and a place in the Bachelor of Music (Voice) program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Nicole honed her vocal skills at the Conservatorium, but as she reached the end of her studies, she found herself plagued by voice problems. "I really wasn't singing well at all," she recalls.

Determined to get her musical career back on track, Nicole moved to Melbourne to train with noted singing teacher Anna Connolly. But as the lessons went on and she began to recover her voice, Nicole found herself moving into a different side of the performing arts.

To support herself financially, she had taken on a job in a talent agency where she was able to expand her knowledge of the music industry and develop skills such as negotiating contracts and managing accounts. There, she began to to realise that her music career might not take place onstage but behind the scenes as a producer and arts administrator.

Looking back, Nicole now says her vocal problems were actually a blessing in disguise. "I believe it was the best thing that ever happened to me because it forced me into a different side of music," she says. "I decided I was far more interested in arts administration, and I have become so involved in it now that I don't see myself singing professionally again."

Nicole says she loves the creative control that comes from being involved in opera from the other side of the footlights. "I like to put everything together: that way you are part of the singing and acting, but you get to mould it all. I also really understand the process from the perspective of the artists."

Over the past five years, she has staged a diverse range of productions including the annual series of Midsummer Operas, which presented the world premiere of Love's Lessons Learned in 2006 to critical praise.

But the work that has really propelled Nicole to public notice is her current production of Dead Man Walking, which tells the true story of Louisiana death row inmate Joseph de Rocher. The opera is based on the experiences of the death penalty abolitionist and Catholic nun Sister Helen Prejean, which were captured in her book of the same name and later made into a 1995 film.

The $2 million production, which stars celebrated tenor Teddy Tahu Rhodes, has been marketed as "opera as you have never seen it before". It is a hard-edged, visceral work that is relevant to contemporary society - exactly the kind of opera that Nicole Alexander wants to see more of on the performing arts landscape.

Nicole is now furthering her goal of creating more edgy and engaging operatic work in Australia through her own production company, Alexander Productions. She is also committed to helping other producers develop outstanding work through the charitable organisation she has established, the Alexander Performing Arts Trust, which funds new local musicals and operas.

The producer is also a firm believer in the importance of developing emerging performers. She has worked with many young singers as a voice teacher and is  creator of a series of youth music camps. The performing arts charity which she founded also actively supports emerging artists.

In addition, many of Nicole's own productions have offered special opportunities for young singers, including Dead Man Walking, which includes a number of ensemble roles for volunteer performers - a scheme which gives emerging artists the chance to gain a taste of appearing in a large-scale production.

All this is just the beginning, according to Nicole Alexander, who says she hopes one day to become head of Opera Australia, or perhaps her own major Australian opera company.

"I think if you really believe in what you are doing, you can truly achieve anything," she says.