I am very pleased to announce that the College's Dean of Students (Music), Mary-Jean (MJ) O'Doherty, has progressed through the Blind Auditions and made it through to the next round of the Channel 7 program The Voice Australia. Many of you have heard MJ sing at formal dinners and at College Mass since she started at St John’s College in August 2022.
Please click on the image above to watch the audition.
MJ performed a rendition of judge Kate Miller-Heidke's own 2019 Eurovision entry "Zero Gravity", with MJ receiving chair turns from both Kate herself and Australia's own inaugural 2015 Eurovision entrant Guy Sebastian. MJ even performed a reprise of the song's chorus on stage in duet with Kate, with Kate immensely impressed that MJ managed to go even higher than her on the song's last note!
Please click on the image above to watch the encore.
MJ, who has both Armenian and Australian heritage, performed at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest with vocal group Genealogy, representing Armenia with their song "Face the Shadow". MJ was amongst 6 singers handpicked by then-Armenian First Lady Rita Sargsyan to represent the country at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.
MJ was born in Houston, Texas, when her Australian-born father moved there for work. She studied at both the North Carolina School of the Arts and East Carolina University, earning a Bachelor of Music degree with a major in voice and flute performance and a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Psychology.
After graduating, Mary-Jean relocated to Sydney and participated in the 2006 Operatunity Oz talent search, where she was a finalist. In 2007, she won the ABC Symphony Australia Young Vocalist Award, and in 2008, she was the inaugural recipient of the Australian International Opera Award.
Part of this prize included a scholarship to study at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice in Wales.
On completion of her studies, Mary-Jean began her professional career and has performed with various companies across the globe including Wales, England, the Czech Republic, Australia, Italy, Spain, Israel and Austria. Her notable operatic roles include: The Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflote), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Konstanze (Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), and Lulu (Lulu). She was also a finalist at the 10th Aragall Singing competition in Sabadell, Spain in 2010 and the Stuart Burrows International Vocal Competition in Wales 2011. In 2013, she took first prize at the prestigious Paris Opera Awards.
St John’s is immensely fortunate and grateful to have a talented individual like MJ mentoring our musically-inclined students in one-on-one vocal lessons and performing alongside our College Choir at the 8pm Mass and our College Christmas carols. I invite everyone in our College Community to join us at College Mass on Sundays at 8pm to experience firsthand the beauty and power of MJ's vocal talents.
Please note that MJ will not rejoin the College Choir until her run on The Voice Australia concludes. We wish her all the best in the competition and look forward to many more exciting developments in her already illustrious career.
MJ, we are very proud of you!
Dr Mark Schembri Rector
