[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-593639-105":59,"doc-detail-593639-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-dalmatian-first-australian-opera-by-a-woman","The Dalmatian - first Australian opera by a woman","","Australia responds to an international push for social inclusion and equal opportunity, prompting a look at earlier periods when new chances were enabled by more inclusive social environments. This paper examines how Mona McBurney’s The Dalmatian, Australia’s first opera by a woman, reflects what can be achieved when social change creates opportunity. Its musical significance lies in being the first work written by an Australian woman, while also highlighting broader historical shifts that expanded women’s musical opportunities and access.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-dalmatian-first-australian-opera-by-a-woman/593639/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-dalmatian-first-australian-opera-by-a-woman/593639.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Jasmine","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main focus of the paper about Mona McBurney’s The Dalmatian?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It discusses how The Dalmatian exemplifies the opportunities created when social change supports inclusion, with emphasis on the opera’s significance as Australia’s first opera written by an Australian woman.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why is The Dalmatian considered musically significant?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It is the first opera written by an Australian woman, and it reflects a period when women received increased encouragement and support for musical work.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the paper connect the opera to broader social inclusion in Australia?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It links the historical social changes that expanded women’s opportunities in McBurney’s era to the aims of Australia’s modern social inclusion agenda, emphasizing equal access to opportunity for all.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},593639,1792188553,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},2336478487870,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","The Dalmatian: first Australian opera by a woman  \nLouise Jenkins  \nMonash University. Email: [louise.jenkins@monash.edu](louise.jenkins@monash.edu)  \nAbstract  \nAustralia is currently responding to an international trend that encourages social inclusion and the provision of equal opportunity for all. In a climate that is encouraging and supporting social inclusion, it can be enriching to look back at Australia’s history and consider the benefits that have been gained in a previous era when people were given new opportunities in a more socially inclusive environment. This paper will discuss how the composition of Australia’s first opera by a woman, Mona McBurney’s The Dalmatian, exemplifies what can be achieved when social change gives rise to new opportunity. The particular musical significance of The Dalmatian is that it is the first opera to be written by an Australian woman, however, this is not its only point of significance. The Dalmatian is a product of a unique period in Australia’s history when, as a result of various major social changes, women were offered increased musical opportunities. The opera stands as proof of the benefits that can be reaped when society provides equal encouragement, support and opportunity for men and women in their musical endeavours. It is a musical work that speaks to contemporary societies in the pursuit of more socially inclusive environments with equal access to opportunity for all.  \nKey words: Mona McBurney; woman composer; The Dalmations; Australia’s first opera; women  \nAustralian Journal of Music Education 2014:2,106-18  \nIntroduction  \nWhilst Australia has produced several worldrenowned opera stars and many fine singers, conductors and producers, it is not a country with a strong history of operatic composition.1 Despite this, local productions of well-known Australian operas such as Richard Meale’s (1932-2009) Vossand Bret Dean’s (b. 1961) Bliss have demonstrated Australians’ interest in home-grown operatic composition and in encouraging composers to embrace this form. This interest that began one hundred and sixty-six years ago. In 1847, Isaac Nathan (1790-1864), wrote Don John of Austria, Australia’s first opera. English born and of Polish  \n1. ABC Classic FM, 2011, Tears on Toast: Australian Opera: A History, [Mon. 14 November. www.abc.net/classic/](Mon. 14 November. www.abc.net/classic/)[ ](Mon. 14 November. www.abc.net/classic/)[content/2011/11/14/3364042.htm accessed February 2013](content/2011/11/14/3364042.htm accessed February 2013) .  \ndescent, Nathan left London under difficult circumstances2 and came to New South Wales in 1841 where he developed a successful musical career. Don John of Austria had an initial week of performance but since then only the overture seems to have been played.3 Fifty-eight years later the first opera by an Australian woman  \n2. Catherine and Charles Mackerras, descendants of Nathan, claim that Nathan had been financially ruined after Lord Melbourne refused to pay him money for his services as a secret agent, sourced in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Isaac Nathan (1790-1864) .  \n3. The full opera, having not been performed for one hundred and sixty years, was performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in October 2007. The initial score only had a piano accompaniment, but a descendant of Nathan, internationally acclaimed conductor Charles Mackerras (1925-2010), wrote an orchestral arrangement. The performance was conducted by Mackerras’ nephew, also a descendant of Nathan, Alexander Briger. Sourced from The 7.30 Report, Rebecca Baillie: New Generation in Australia’s First Family of Music, 2007.  \nwas written and performed, Mona McBurney’s The Dalmatian. McBurney had migrated from the Isle of Man4 to Australia in 1880 on the ship‘Potosi’5. After significant musical training on the Isle of Man, McBurney’s musical development was nurtured in Melbourne and in 1905 she completed her opera.  \nThe Dalmatian is a particularly interesting opera n","cbCaijnMyp274e19","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijnMyp274e19","pdf",140462,13,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Opera composition history in Australia\n## Isaac Nathan and Don John of Austria\n## Mona McBurney and The Dalmatian\n## Social inclusion context and women in music\n## Overview of Australian women in music","[{\"question\":\"What is the main focus of the paper about Mona McBurney’s The Dalmatian?\",\"answer\":\"It discusses how The Dalmatian exemplifies the opportunities created when social change supports inclusion, with emphasis on the opera’s significance as Australia’s first opera written by an Australian woman.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is The Dalmatian considered musically significant?\",\"answer\":\"It is the first opera written by an Australian woman, and it reflects a period when women received increased encouragement and support for musical work.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper connect the opera to broader social inclusion in Australia?\",\"answer\":\"It links the historical social changes that expanded women’s opportunities in McBurney’s era to the aims of Australia’s modern social inclusion agenda, emphasizing equal access to opportunity for all.\"}]","The Dalmatian - first Australian opera by a woman | PDF",1792077624,33]