In another coup for Canberra Theatre director Alex Budd, more than 80 of the country’s top opera singers and musicians will be here for a glamorous gala concert in October.

Part of the Canberra Theatre Centre’s 60^th anniversary celebrations, the two-hour concert by Opera Australia artists will see conductor Tahu Matheson lead some of the country’s best-known singers, including Canberra-trained Lorina Gore, Diego Torre, Jennifer Black, Sian Sharp, Luke Gabbedy and David Parkin.

More significantly, for the first time in more than 40 years, the full Opera Australia orchestra and chorus will tour here to perform orchestral pieces and popular operatic arias by Mozart, Puccini, Bizet, Verdi and Wagner, to name a few.

According to the theatre, it is the only time in recent memory that the widely respected OA chorus and orchestra have performed together in Australia away from Sydney Opera House.

Opera Australia gala, Canberra Theatre, October 9.