JUNE BRONHILL

June Bronhill was born June Mary Gough in the inland Australian city of Broken Hill, New South Wales in 1929. Her stage name, Bronhill, which she used from 1952, was an abbreviation of Broken Hill, which was her way of thanking her hometown for its support in raising money to send her overseas for professional training as a singer. Bronhill trained in London and gained early exposure with the English National Opera (Sadler's Wells Opera) company in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. She also sang leading roles in Die Fledermaus, The Gypsy Baron, Menotti's The Telephone, Flotow's Martha and Hansel and Gretel. Her roles in Offenbach's operas, with the Sadler's Wells company, included Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld and Gabrielle in La Vie parisienne.

In 1961 and 1962, she appeared as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music on the Australian stage. In 1964 she appeared as Elizabeth in the musical Robert and Elizabeth at the Lyric Theatre, London alongside Keith Michell as Robert Browning, a show she took to Australia in 1966. She also appeared in England in tours of two Ivor Novello musicals, Glamorous Night and The Dancing Years, the latter playing a season at the Saville Theatre in London. She also appeared as the Mother Abbess in the 1981 London revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

Bronhill was perhaps best known for the title role of Hanna Glawari in Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow, with the Sadler's Wells Opera (now known as English National Opera), with Thomas Round as Danilo in 1958 and revised in 1960. She sang the role more than 200 times, capturing a faithful following.
Bronhill made frequent visits back to her homeland, singing in operas such as The Merry Widow, Orpheus in the Underworld, Die Fledermaus and Rigoletto at the Sydney Opera House in 1975. In 1976, she decided to move back to Australia permanently. In Australia she appeared in operas such as Il Seraglio (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and a Victoria State Opera production of Donnizetti's Maria Stuarda in July 1976, directed by Robin Lovejoy with a cast including Nance Grant conducted by Richard Divall. From 1959 to 1999 Bronhill had appeared on over twenty albums mainly on the HMV label. A lot of these albums weren't released in Australia.

She played operetta roles such as Josephine (H.M.S. Pinafore), Phyllis (Iolanthe) and Ruth (The Pirates of Penzance). She also had roles in The Maid of the Mountains, Call Me Madam, A Little Night Music, Nunsense, My Fair Lady and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as well as appearing in the non-musical plays Arsenic and Old Lace and Straight and Narrow.BBronhill also appeared in the role of Mrs Crawford in the television comedy series Are You Being Served?, the Australian version of the British comedy series, as well as in Lipton Tea television advertisements singing an adaption of Fugue for Tinhorns.

Bronhill was a patron of the Australian Girls Choir from the choir's beginning. There is a scholarship in her name, the June Bronhill Encouragement Scholarship, awarded each year to the chorister with the most choral prowess.A portrait of Bronhill, painted by Andrew Sibley, was entered into the 1966 Archibald Prize.In 1976 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to the music industry. In Broken Hill a street and an auditorium are named after her.

Her voice was characterised as a "very crystal clear, diamond bright coloratura soprano" with "absolutely impeccable diction". Opera News noted that "Bronhill's crisp, bright prettiness and crystalline diction made her an ideal exponent of operetta heroines." Bronhill died on 24 January 2005, aged 75, in her sleep at a Sydney nursing home. 

SINGLES

''I Know Now / You Only To Love Me'' 1966 HMV
''The Lord's Prayer / Plaisir D'Amour'' 1979 Wizard
''Women Behind Bars / Women Behind Bars (Prison Mix)'' [with Judi Conneli, Maria Venuti] 1985 CBS

EPs

'The Sound Of Music' 1961 HMV

ALBUMS

'Vocal Gems From "Lilac Time" [with Thomas Round, John Cameron, Michael Collins And His Orchestra] 1959 HMV
'Presents Orpheus In The Underworld' [with Eric Shilling] 1960 HMV
'A Waltz Dream' [with David Hughes, Michael Collins And His Orchestra, Marion Grimaldi, The Williams Singers, Oscar Straus] 1960 HMV
'The Desert Song' [with Wiata, Bruce Forsyth, The Williams Singers, Michael Collins And His Orchestra] 1960 HMV
'Robert And Elizabeth' [with Ron Grainer, Ronald Millar, John Clements ,Keith Michell] 1964 HMV
'Waltzes From Vienna' [with John Lawrenson, Kevin Scott, Marion Lowe, The Williams Singers & Michael Collins And His Orchestra] 1964 World Record Club
'Sacred Songs' 1969 Axis
'Old Time Music Hall' 1969 StarlineJune Bronhill At The Sydney Opera House 1976 M7
'Together' [with David Gray] 1979 Endeavour

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Bronhill