Mezzo-soprano and 2026 Melba Opera Trust Artist, Aylish Ryan completed a Bachelor of Music degree at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (QCGU), graduating with distinction in 2024. She was an artist in the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program in 2023 and 2024, and in 2025 she joined the Opera Queensland Young Artist Program.

That year Aylish also travelled to Italy to take part in the Andrea Bocelli Foundation Masterclass di Alto Perfezionamento in Canto Lirico (Advanced Operatic Singing). Recent role highlights have included Orfeo (Gluck) in both Val Machin Opera Scenes: Orpheus! and Underworld: A Journey to Hell and Back, directed by Michael Gow and conducted by Johannes Fritzsch. She has also sung the role of Leila in Iolanthe, working with director Stuart Maunder (QCGU), and again in the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program’s Opera Scenes, conducted by Felice Venanzoni.

In 2024 Aylish sang Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance (Kirkman and Scott Productions) and the Mistress of the Novices in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, working with director Lindy Hume and Johannes Fritzsch (QCGU). Aylish was the recipient of the Opera Australia Regional Vocal Scholarship. In 2019, during her studies at the Queensland Conservatorium, she received the Professor Emeritus Jan Delpratt AM Prize in Classical Voice, Victoria Chalmers Education Award, Elizabeth Muir Memorial Award and Sir Mostyn Hanger Opera Prize.