Our speaker on 5th August was Petrina Bishop of de Lucca International, a very well known performing artist in Perth, Australia and Europe.Petrina gave her first solo performance at the Regal Theatre at the age of 7. She was discovered crying in the wings - not because she was overcome with nerves and fright – but because she loved singing in front of an audience so much she didn’t want to come off! A diva was born.
Petrina comes from a big Italian family where the main form of entertainment was eating first, then singing.
She lives by the mantra her father told her a long time ago - do the work, bring the discipline to your talent, and opportunities will come.
Her first singing teacher was Jackie Love followed by Petrina joining the Johnny Young Talent School.
She joined the Perth Arts Troupe which toured a lot, and as a 13-year-old received classical training. Petrina went on to join the Perth Girls Choir, and WAAPA, working with Ian Westrip and Dr Andrew of UWA, who were the best in Perth at their craft.
Petrina’s big break came in the second lead in the musical Oklahoma and with the WA Opera Company.
From Perth she moved to Sydney, where she sang the first lead mezzo soprano with the Australian Opera Company, considered one of the best in the world. Along the way she performed for Tom Cruise, Elton John, royalty and wealthy passengers from the cruise ships.
Petrina worked with Hugh Jackson when he was rehearsing the Boy From Oz. But Hugh could never understand why Petrina had a short fuse and was rather terse each morning. Word filtered through to him that Petrina only came to life after her second cup of coffee, so one morning Hugh turned up with the second coffee, and all was sweetness and light thereafter. Petrina says that Hugh is a really lovely person, as is Nicole Kidman, who she worked with to correct Nicole’s singing pitch on Moulin Rouge. It was an honour to spend time with both these artists.
Other well known names Petrina worked with were Tina Arena, and Danni and Kylie Minogue.
As a natural progression to this body of work in Australia, and at her peak, Petrina did two tours to Italy in the month of July which is the Italian opera season, having the good fortune to witness and hear Andre Botticelli.
But on top of all this success, disaster was just around the corner. On an Emirates flight back to Sydney, she required medical attention and was admitted to hospital with severe vertigo, affecting her balance.
Petrina went through seven years of seeking help through ear, nose and throat specialists, resulting in a risky operation and rehabilitation. In all this time, she couldn’t perform and she felt her passion and career were over, causing her to experience severe mental distress.
Singing to Petrina is as necessary to her wellbeing as breathing. But she fought her way back step by step, where she can now sing again but has also rediscovered her passion through teaching and producing.
As happy and fulfilled as she is in Perth, next year Petrina goes back to Sydney and then on to Europe, to perform with amazing vocalists and to great music.
Members were rapt in Petrina’s talk, awed by her career and achievements and the people she has worked with, and very moved by her fight back from a debilitating illness and terrible depression.
Thank you, Petrina!