Dr Carolyn Chard, the executive director of West Australian Opera, has been named a finalist in the 2026 Western Australian of the Year awards, a recognition she never anticipated despite her four-decade dedication to the performing arts.
A Lifelong Passion for the Arts
Dr Chard, who moved to Western Australia with her family in the late 1960s, has devoted the past 25 years primarily to opera. She believes the arts have a transformative power that is often underestimated. "They remind us how to feel. They interrupt routine. They expand perspective. They connect us to one another. They give shape to joy, grief, love, fear, hope and wonder, all the emotions that make us human," she said.
According to Dr Chard, the arts make Western Australia a wonderful place to live. She emphasised that performance acts as a vessel for emotion and expression, which was particularly vital during the COVID-19 pandemic for maintaining human connection. "Theatre and opera represent bringing people together for a common goal and a shared experience," she explained. "We see ourselves reflected in the scenes and storylines that we recognise in ourselves."
Recognition and Misconceptions
Dr Chard is a finalist in the Crown Arts and Culture Award category. She expressed pride in the nomination, noting that recognition is not something she expected. "You don't work in my field of the arts expecting recognition. Most arts administrators are happiest quietly making things happen behind the scenes: bringing people together, solving problems, and helping create those special performance moments that move audiences," she said.
Her core motivation has always been simple: to spend her life doing what she loves. "I wanted to spend every day of work loving what I did but did not expect this recognition," she added.
Dr Chard also challenged the misconception that opera is elitist. She envisions a world where art is treated with the same vital importance as sport, health, or education. "They feed the soul and help us to feel. Music, opera, theatre is a pure act of collaboration and cooperation between people," she said. "In an ideal world we would enable everyone to actively engage in the arts; to value, appreciate and recognise the daily need to be soaked in art."
Opera for Everyone
She hopes her nomination will help West Australians see that opera is accessible to all. "It's accessible, beautiful, creative, inspirational. The artists and art workers who all come together to create something magical in the theatre, to find that moment where all the detail and every individual contribution finds a magical synergy that, in live performance, is always fleeting and unique," Dr Chard said.
She praised the collaborative effort behind every production: "Singers, artists, musicians, conductors, directors, designers, stage managers, crew, who all devote their time, talent and passion to their craft and without each one, nothing would work."
Dr Carolyn Chard is a finalist in the Crown Arts and Culture Award category of the 2026 Western Australian of the Year awards. The winners will be announced on Thursday, May 28.
