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Goldicott: 1996 to 2008 - by Natalie Scalia
Goldicott is the name of the gracious colonial residence that sits high atop Toowong's highest hill. It is the home of the Sisters of Mercy and is part of the community that forms St Ignatius Parish and school. This home and the surrounding gardens occupy one of the most commanding and yet private positions in all of Brisbane, one rarely seen by the public. The house dates back to the mid 1800s and has been beautifully restored in recent years.
The Goldicott Opera series began in 1996 and was the development of a dream brought to life by Mrs Katherine Sexton and a group of dedicated Opera fans and parents of St Ignatius. Katherine began what has become a part of the local calendar and Opera scene ever since.
The first Opera from the Verandah was in October of that year and featured a soprano and a baritone with Mr John Colwill as the accompanist and master of ceremonies. John went on to continue his role as Master of Ceremonies for almost all of the Opera events at Goldicott and, most memorably, the tenth anniversary event in the garden.
This first evening of opera and outdoor dining saw an audience of some 200 guests in black tie and evening gowns, seated at linen clothed tables admiring the view and the entertainment. The recital included classic pieces from The Merry Widow, South Pacific, The Mikado, The Phantom of the Opera, Don Giovanni and La Traviata.
A star was born! Goldicott Opera from the Verandah became an annual event and was enjoyed by hundreds of guests up in the garden from then on. The 1997 event saw two female sopranos and a male baritone singing "Romantic Jewels and Classic Gems" from the iron-laced stage and amongst the twinkling fairy lights.
By 1998 the Opera Queensland "Young Artists" programme became part of Goldicott and we listened to the mellow tones of Geoffrey Ashenden and Trevor Hunter along with Margaret Russell, soprano. We listened to Puccini, Bizet, Handel and sang along to "The Last Rose of Summer" as the sounds echoed through the mild spring air.
Jazz came to the verandah in 1999 and we enjoyed the Steve Taylor quartet in the early part of the year where the event was a charity for a local family whose house had been burned down. All money raised went to this family. This was a new way to see Goldicott and was a much more relaxed affair. This was also the first time the event had been held in the first half of the year. We had open-necked shirts and less sparkling jewels but hummed along to the groove at Goldicott til the wee hours of the morning!
1999 was a double-header for Goldicott and we kept up the tradition of Opera in the garden with Opera Qld's Young Artists singing with voices from Heaven and from the beautiful verandah. From memory, the Heavens actually opened on that day and we had to opt for the "fall back"venue at Nudgee Junior at the last minute. Regardless of the lack of grass, Judith Henley and the singers with Narelle French on grand piano and John Colwill as Master of Ceremonies did not disappoint or dampen our enthusiasm for all things Opera. "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific and "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess were the tunes we sang ourselves to sleep with that night.
In 2000, the era of a double-dose of Goldicott continued. Jazz from the Verandah stepped out in April with the return of the Steve Taylor-Brown Quintet and traditional jazzy sounds of the 50s and 60s. Not to disappoint the die-hard Opera fans, we provided the sensational sounds of "Operatif" for an evening of glamour and elegance in the garden in October. Jennifer Parish, Geoffrey Ashenden and Stewart Cameron reminded us how hauntingly beautiful it is to listen to pieces from "Madam Butterfly", "Rigoletto", "Carmen" and "The Pearl Fishers" to name a few.
2001 presented us with just one opportunity to show off the gardens of Goldicott and we provided Jazz from the Verandah in October. There were just under 200 guests in the garden on this chilly evening where it seemed there was just one more winter's frost for the year! The toes were tapping and the red wine was flowing as we snuggled together to watch the view and listen to classic jazz.
Opera took a well-earned rest from Goldicott in 2002 and 2003 and the Sisters of Mercy had some time to share their garden with the St Ignatius Parish as the Centenary was celebrated by many functions during the year and into the next.
Perhaps we had taken too long away from the Opera? It seemed to be a little slow to gather enthusiasm upon our return to the garden and to Goldicott!
We pressed on and gathered our skirts and bow-ties to decorate the gardens with thousands of fairy lights and baskets of coals to heat us up as we rugged up to watch and listen to the newly formed "Choice Voices" with Opera Queensland. The 29th May has gone down in Goldicott history as being the coldest night of that year and on record! The mercury dropped to about 6 degrees Celsius but the 178 guests seemed to thrive on inner warmth as we were transported into La boheme and Don Giovianni, Rigoletto and West Side Story and applauded the finale of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
 To combat the chilly restart to Opera, we presented 2 005's event in April and true to the saying : "April Showers" it rained and rained! But not during the evening of course, no we couldn't take the risk of ruined silk and stilettos in the mud.we moved, for the second time only, to Nudgee Junior Hall. The theme was "Opera Salutes the Silver Screen" and we had to move with the speed of Superman to prepare the venue as we were only allowed access from 4pm that day!
The Goldicott workers, a dedicated group of parents from St Ignatius, and from my daughter's class, moved in time with the rehearsing artists in front of a group of rather surprised Martial Arts students prior to the start time of 6pm. Guests would have never known the anxiety and tension running just underneath the surface when they arrived amidst a fine layer of sprinkling rain to the fairytale that was Goldicott in a Hall!
John Colwill returned in 2005 as Master of Ceremonies for our themed event and literally brought the silver-screen to life for us with explanations of pieces by Mozart, Puccini, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bernstein, Gershwin and Rodgers and Hammerstein.
 We revived the theme of "Romantic Jewels and Classic Gems" on April 2006 and prayed for an evening of mild weather and no rain! My initial thoughts were to look to the Sisters of Mercy for their divine connection to the Heavens. Even though a stormy front gathered on the eve of the Opera, they assured me it would be fine, it would be fine! I thought it more helpful to share a glass of another cup of divinity on the steps of Goldicott with our P. and F. President and watch the clouds roll in and then, thankfully, run away.
The evening was fine and the singing was as if angels were overhead and all around us. We brought together classic pieces like the Lakme flower duet and Parigi, o Cara from Romeo and Juliette with I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserable and Sun and Moon from Miss Saigon. Our guest list had returned to its original glory and the garden swelled to have some 30 tables surrounding the verandah and, might I say, some rather sore heads on the morrow!
 2007 "Drama, Passion & Pearls under the Stars"
Big title and big night too! Numbers were climbing up to 300s and we set the date for April again so that we could avoid Anzac Day and Mothers' Day and May Day and Easter , just finding a Saturday was becoming difficult.
Once again the weather was threatening to open wide and deliver rain on our parade and, once again, I found myself at the top of the stairs of Goldicott on the eve of the event wondering why I was doing this?
 Day dawned and it was cloudy but the Sisters and the weather bureau assured me it would be fine! And it was! The evening was perfect and even slightly dramatic at times as I tried to be the "bouncer" for noise so that the sounds of angels could be heard uninterrupted! (never volunteer for that job!)
We heard dramatic moments from Carmen, passionate voices from Madame Butterfly, the Evening Prayer from Hansel and Gretel and the trio f rom Cosi fan tutte as well as evergreen romantic favourites from Camelot, My Fair Lady, Miss Saigon and The Secret Garden.
The evening was compered by Mr Geoff Ashenden who also delighted us with his tenor voice and wealth of knowledge and he was joined by two  sopranos, a mezzo-soprano and the deliciously deep sound of a baritone from Opera Queensland's Choice Voices.
325 guests graced the garden and lingered into the night as the "Drama and Passion"unfolded under the canopy of the night sky!
Little did we realise that this would be the last Goldicott from the actual Verandah for some years! It was a fairytale come true!
 2007 Goldicott Under the Stars - the heavens above were part of it.
"Once Upon a Time -Classic Opera"was to be the end of an era for me! I planned to go out with a bang and to raise as much money for St Ignatius Primary School as I could - which meant that every person I have ever known was either asked to sponsor us or donate to us or come to the event! And they did!
Once again we had the stars of Opera Queensland to perform for us and were under the guardianship of John Colwill as Master of Ceremonies. We looked to the classics and found La Traviata, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Lakme, Rigoletto and the Marriage of Figaro to entertain the record number of guests in the first half of the evening.
We spent the second half of the evening rejoicing in the fact that we were under cover at Nudgee Junior College Hall as the rain came down above us! The decision, made at 4pm on the eve of Goldicott, was filled with doubts and "should we or shouldn't we" but was most definitely the right one on the night!
Opera Queensland and the musical director, Narelle French, gave me a send off to remember as they filled the room with my favourite contemporary pieces and watched the tears slip down my cheeks (exhaustion, elation, sadness) and the smile broaden on my family's faces as they imagined a world with me back in it more often!! The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables with Miss Saigon and The Land of Smiles were all there to share the evening as well as the encore performance of Nessum Dorma, The Prayer and Bring Him Home in front of a standing ovation!
What a finish and what a night! My children presented a story of Goldicott on the stage and the school community gave a beautiful tribute to the years of Opera and fundraising I had so willingly given and was so emotionally giving up!
 The Scalia family tribute to Opera at Goldicott! Richie on the end had a crowd of over 440 guests to sing Happy Birthday to him - what a star!
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Goldicott …