Scalia/Ginsburg: An Opera by Derrick Wang and Across the Aisle: A Panel Discussion on Justice and Jurisprudence

Julian Burnside is a Melbourne barrister. He joined the Bar in 1976 and took silk in 1989. He specialises in commercial litigation, and has acted in many very contentious cases - the MUA Waterfront dispute; the Cash-for-Comment enquiry; cases for Alan Bond and Rose Porteous - but has become known for his human rights work and has acted pro bono in many refugee cases. 

He is an outspoken opponent of the mistreatment of people who come to Australia seeking protection from persecution. His latest book is Watching Out: Reflections on Justice and Injustice (Scribe).

The Hon. Marcia Neave AO has had an outstanding career as a judge, lawyer, academic and public policy maker.

From February 2015 to March 2016, she was the chair of the Royal Commission into Family Violence. That Royal Commission was entrusted with the task of making recommendations regarding the family violence support system and justice system in Victoria, including government and non-government organisations, courts, police, corrections and child protection. The Commission's Report including its 227 recommendations were provided to the Victorian Government on 29 March 2016.

Prior to her role as Commissioner, for nine years she was a Justice of the Court of Appeal at the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Ms Neave was a legal academic for many years. She held chairs in Adelaide University, and later at Monash University and then Australian National University in Canberra. She was also a visiting Professor on three occasions in New York University's Law School's Global Law Program. In 2006 she became the first academic in Victoria's history to be appointed to the Court of Appeal.

Throughout her career, Ms Neave has always been passionate about how the law relates to women and responds to their needs. In the early 80's she took leave from the university and became Research Director and a part-time Commissioner at the New South Wales Law Reform Commission, which, among other things, examined property division and support after the breakdown of de facto relationships.

In 1985 she chaired the Victorian Inquiry into Prostitution, which recommended decriminalisation of prostitution, removal of most sanctions against sex workers, and the use of planning controls to control the locations of brothels.

In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1999, Ms Neave was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her services to the law, and in 2001, she was awarded the Centenary Medal.

In 2001 she became the Foundation Chair of the Victorian Law Reform Commission. This enabled her to play a key role in modernising Victorian law, including recommending changes that addressed some of the systemic disadvantages faced by women and children within the legal system, in particular victims of domestic victims and sex offences.

In 2020, she was appointed Chair of Justice Connect, a legal services organisation with over 25 years of history designing and delivering high impact interventions to increase access to legal support and progress social justice.

The Hon. Marcia Neave is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and a life member of the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration.

Louise Milligan is a multi-award-winning investigative journalist for ABC TV Four Corners and an author. Her investigation for ABC TV and her Walkley-award-winning book, Cardinal, broke international news. Her story “I Am ...

Adrienne Stone is Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor and director of the  Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at Melbourne Law School and an Australian Laureate Fellow. 

She writes and lectures about constitutional law in Australia and globally and has special expertise on freedom of expression. She  is the co-author of Open Minds: Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech to be published by Black Inc in March 2021. Adrienne has a strong interest in US constitutional law developed while studying at Columbia Law School in the 1990s, where she also had the honour of meeting Justice Ginsburg on several occasions.

Nicolette Fraillon AM is Artistic Director of Orchestra Victoria and Music Director and Chief Conductor of The Australian Ballet. 

Nicolette began her music studies on violin and piano at an early age, furthering her instrumental studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna and in Hannover. In 1990 she moved to the Netherlands, where she became Assistant Musical Director for the 1991 – 92 season of Les Misérables, was invited to conduct for the Nederlands Dans Theater, and became Music Director and Chief Conductor of the National Ballet of the Netherlands. During the following five years she worked with countless orchestras in Northern Europe before taking up the position of Director at the School of Music, Australian National University, and continuing her conducting work with Australian and international companies.

She debuted with The Australian Ballet in 2002, and in 2003 was invited by David McAllister to become Music Director and Chief Conductor. Since joining the company, Nicolette has conducted all programs for The Australian Ballet, including all its overseas tours, and has been a guest conductor for San Francisco Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet.  

Since 2014, Nicolette has also been Artistic Director of Orchestra Victoria, establishing new concert series, education programs and regional music festivals. 

Christopher Hillier’s most recent appearances for Opera Australia have included Zurga in a new production of The Pearl Fishers, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, The Convict in The Rabbits, Dancairo in Carmen and The Count in their national tour of The Marriage of Figaro. In concert, he sang The Celebrant (Bernstein’s Mass) at the Sydney Opera House, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony for Sydney Philharmonia and undertook a tour to China as Papageno (The Magic Flute).

He joined the principal ensemble of Opera Australia in 2012 and made his international stage debut as Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale in Tokyo, Japan.

American soprano Sofia Troncoso, Opera Queensland 2021 Young Artist, is an accomplished singer in numerous styles spanning from early music to new music and is an especially accomplished interpreter of Mozart. Recent highlights include Papagena/Magic Flute for Scottish Opera, described as ‘charming and witty’ in the Scottish Herald, a critically acclaimed debut with Longborough Festival Opera as Poppea/L'incoronazione de Poppea, Gianetta/Elixir of Love for Into Opera, Adele/Fledermaus with Diva Opera.

Sofia has sung in concert with the RSNO, Xi’an Symphony Orchestra, and most recently alongside Camerata for Musica Viva in QPAC Concert Hall. Other notable roles include Zerlina/Don Giovanni, Susanna/Le Nozze di Figaro, Vixen/Cunning Little Vixen, and Nanetta/Falstaff. 

Sofia is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, the National Opera Studio in London, and was recently an Emerging Artist for Scottish Opera where she returned as Tytania in a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Amongst her numerous successes, Sofia is a former Karaviotis & Salter Prize holder (Les Azuriales), Central City Opera Young Artist, and holds an Exceptional Talent Visa in the UK. In 2021 Sofia will debut with Opera Queensland as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. She is looking forward to paying homage to a fellow New Yorker in Scalia/Ginsburg.

Tenor Samuel Sakker holds a BMus from Queensland Conservatorium and was a young artist at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Career highlights include: Alfredo (La traviata, The Royal Opera, Covent Garden), Mozart Requiem with Sir Antonio Pappano and Joyce DiDonato (Royal Opera Japan Tour), Rodolfo (La Boheme, Scottish Opera) Don Jose (Carmen, Danish National Opera), Florestan (Fidelio, Lyric Opera of Ireland), Cpt. Nolan (Grammy-nominated Doctor Atomic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Adams), Mahler’s Das Lied von Der Erde (Stadttheater Klagenfurt & The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden), and Erik (Der fliegende Holländer, Angers Nantes Opéra, Cape Town Opera, and Nederlands Reisopera).