“CITYNEWS” can’t resist a Canberra boy (or girl)-made-good story and this one combines with news of a free event.

Former Canberra soprano, Lorina Gore, will be singing the role of Leila, the Brahmin priestess in Bizet’s opera “The Pearlfishers” for Opera Australia’s Opera in the Domain in Sydney in late January.

The petite ANU School of Music graduate packs a powerful punch on the stage and, since returning from studies and a performance career in London, has become one of OA’s rising stars, with notable roles that include Amina in “La Sonnambula”, Tytania in Britten’s “Dream” and Honey in the world première of “Bliss,” which travelled to the Edinburgh Festival).

Gore is no standoffish prima donna. With an unusual background for an operatic singer, she was a regular at Stephen Pike’s old Tarzan’s Theatre Restaurant in Kippax and an early CAT award winner.

Yet she is ambitious. I once asked her about her domestic life. Her brother-in-law, the tenor Christopher Steele, has a flourishing career in the UK and her husband Jonathan used to be a regular singer with Canberra choir The Resonants.

“There’s only room for one diva in this household,” Gore told me, and so it was.

These days she has to share the limelight with son Joshua, who turns three in January, so it’s a busy life. Gore makes many public appearances at openings and launches, and this chance to star in the Domain is a good way to increase her profile.

One of Sydney’s favourite summer nights out, Mazda Opera in the Domain has been an annual event since 1982. It regularly attracts around 20,000 visitors who enjoy one of the year’s best free evenings under the stars.

The opera is a good choice. Its show-stopper duet, “In the depths of the temple”, was once rated No.1 in an “ABC Classic 100 Opera Moments” survey and the exotic setting is also an attraction, even in this semi-staged outdoor version.

“The Pearlfishers”, Mazda Opera in the Domain, from 8pm, Saturday, January 28. Food and beverages for sale from early afternoon or patrons may bring a picnic. High chairs and beach umbrellas are not allowed and, to protect the lawn, plastic sheeting and ice are not permitted on the grass. Free event.