“VOICES in the Forest” will be back again at the National Arboretum in November, this time celebrating its fifth anniversary with operatic talents very familiar to Australians.

Instead of selecting big name overseas stars, artistic director Christopher Latham has chosen names associated with the flagship opera company Opera Australia.

Top of the list is the glamorous star Cheryl Barker, whose husband Peter Coleman Wright was one of the “Voices” performers in 2014. She was on hand today with Shane Rattenbury MLA to launch the event today. Barker and Coleman Wright received OAs in the recent Queen’s Birthday honours for services to the arts.

Her roles with Opera Australia, where her roles have included the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Mimì in the award winning Baz Luhrmann production of La bohème, Violetta in La traviata, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Giorgetta, Suor Angelica and Lauretta (Il Trittico) and the title roles in Madama Butterfly, Tosca and Jenufa.

Diego Torre, the Mexican tenor known throughout Europe, USA and Australia and Argentine born Australian baritone José Carbó will join the lineup. Carbó has recently joined the roster of principal artists at the Met in New York.

In the view of Bob Winnel, of The Village Building Company (the organiser of “Voices in the Forest”) the event has now secured itself a place as one of the key cultural events on the Canberra social calendar.