Creating a new musical genre is a feat to which few musicians can lay a genuine claim. But when the talents of a pop diva were merged with one of Australia’s leading operatic tenors, a new category of ‘Orchestral/Pop’ was born and with it, an exciting one-of-a-kind musical act with a truly epic new album.

Factor in that they are brother and sister, and it's easy to see why occupies such a unique place in the international recording arena.

After forging successful musical careers independently over the past decade, Anna-Maria and Rosario La Spina have come together for their debut album, Always You.

Co-written and co-produced by Anna-Maria with her musical arrangements made in partnership with a Hollywood-based film arranger, this album is emotionally overwhelming and of cinematic proportions. One listener described it as being “like the Empire State Building in music!”

Backed by the 65-piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and a support band that toured with Savage Garden, the two sibling-singers have melded their respective pop and operatic flairs to create an epic sound, taking their Orchestral /Pop genre to a whole new level.

"It’s difficult to compare the style and sound of this album with anything that’s preceded it," says Anna-Maria, the driving force behind Universal Music Australia and ABC Classics’ priority release for the second half of 2010. “Cross-over acts seem to dominate the charts these days, but I think our sound is a little more charged and dramatic than you would normally expect when classical artists take on pop or vice-versa."

In fact the pair is being credited with initiating an entirely new phase in Orchestral/Pop, as Always You presents a genuinely ‘organic’ integration of classical and popular sensibilities.

“Some of the songs were conceived as dramatic stadium showpieces and yet there are other tracks where the melody and lyrics will lead you into a beautifully emotional, intimate moment all the while incorporating our contrasting vocal styles”, Anna-Maria says of the powerful musical tours-de-force which also include her own arrangements of the songs ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ and ‘The Prayer’, as well as a no-holds-barred cover of Iron Maiden’s ‘Run to the Hills’. “It’s a collection of stories signifying hope and love”.
Nine of those twelve songs are originals – so powerful and immediate is their impact that they sound as if you might have heard them before. Their messages are potent.
“I think the listener can identify with most of the story-lines in each song,” says Rosario, whose glorious tenor voice rings out with stunning clarity throughout the album’s ever-changing but always surging emotional journey.


The title track ‘Always You’, sung in both English and Italian is a poignant ballad of love and loss, ‘Vivere’ talks about living with no regret and being the best you can be, while ‘Everyday’ has a conclusion of such driving power bringing the Orchestra and live band together seamlessly. The lilting melody of ‘Love Holds The Answer’ is a kind of musical oasis in a world of heightened emotions. And the deeply moving ‘You And I’ comes straight out of the La Spina family experience.

"Every musician always wants to work on a musical project that they really believe in, heart and soul, and for me this is it,” says Anna-Maria, who spent 10 months performing, co-producing and co-editing the entire project. “One listener said the album sounds like we made it as if our lives depended on it, and I can’t argue with that. Everyone who worked on it was totally committed, and I think you can hear that from track 1 right through to the very end.”

Despite a three-and-a-half year difference in age, the siblings, who were born and bred in a Sicilian-Australian household in the suburbs of Brisbane, have embarked on starkly different musical journeys. Anna-Maria has sung with Savage Garden at Hyde Park in the UK and Madison Square Garden and worked alongside superstars Meatloaf, Ozzy Osbourne and Slash, while Rosario, who has been described by a former Opera Australia executive as “the Australian Pavarotti”, has appeared at that shrine of opera houses, La Scala in Milan, in the company of Plácido Domingo.

 "Always You has been an amazing journey for both of them and a tribute to their parents – “such a big part of our lives".

Anna’s vocal gifts too were noticed at an early age. By 13, her rich and soulful voice was already emerging when she played her first live show at an Italian cabaret. At 17, her talent received national attention when she won the popular TV show, "Star Search". And then, in what was to become a defining moment in her career, Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones from Savage Garden asked her to be their backing singer, with Anna-Maria’s vocals featuring as an equal partner alongside Hayes in the live version of their smash hit “Truly, Madly, Deeply”. Years of worldwide touring, and 25 million album sales ensued, with the band performing live in front of tens of thousands of fans.


In part, the transition from world tours to forming La Spina with her brother came about through Anna-Maria’s ongoing friendship and creative relationship with former members of Savage Garden.

In 2006 Darren Hayes invited Anna-Maria to perform as his support act at the Sydney Opera House, and during a magical set she played her own song “Everyday”, with a guest vocal provided by Rosario, who himself was already a Sydney Opera House favourite from his appearances in Opera Australia productions.

The audience response was electric. "From there, making the La Spina album seemed like a natural progression,” Anna-Maria says. “There was nothing out there that we could compare the idea with - a brother who’s an opera singer and a sister who’s a pop singer, performing songs specifically written with their different vocal styles in mind - so we thought we’d give it a shot."

Their debut album showcases Anna-Maria’s prodigious song-writing skills, which surprisingly only came to her later in life. "I was always a singer and during my early 20s I only really dabbled in song-writing because I thought nothing I could do would ever be as good as the great songs I was singing every day. But then after Savage Garden ended and I moved to London, I got together with co-writers in Europe, and somehow things started coming together for me as a songwriter. Now it’s one of my greatest musical interests."

Having co-written nine of the tracks, Anna-Maria had a clear vision of what La Spina's first album should be from the outset.

For Rosario, his operatic passion sits comfortably alongside his new sibling collaboration.
“People might think it strange for an opera singer to be taking on this kind of repertoire, but it’s not as new for me as it might seem. As a kid I sang pop music before I sang opera, so it’s not particularly foreign to me, although it certainly requires a different type of singing from what I do in Aida!”

Following a few odd jobs after finishing school, including a stint as a tradesman, an accident laid Rosario up, prompting his sister to suggest a return to singing with a classical music teacher.
“The teacher said I’ve got something different, and that I would need to study hard, but that I’d have a chance to pursue an operatic career,” Rosario says. “I didn’t really know anything about opera. When I listened to it I thought it seemed really hard to sing – it goes so low and then it goes so high and then back again constantly – but I thought it was interesting and that I would like to be able to do it!"

After years studying in England and Italy, and winning numerous awards along the way, the opera world began to acknowledge Rosario's talent. He has appeared in numerous operas for Opera Australia and leading overseas companies; he has also been a regular guest soloist with the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, and has already released two successful albums in his own right on the ABC Classics and Decca labels.

But for now La Spina will take centre stage.

"Rosario’s is not the sort of voice that you hear every day, and especially not in this kind of music!" Anna-Maria says. "He is an incredible singer and his delivery of these songs gives them a heroic edge that is difficult to find anywhere else.’

For Rosario, his sister is the guiding force behind La Spina : "She knows exactly what she wants and I'll usually do what she tells me to because I trust her!" he laughs. "No one could ever imagine just how much work Anna-Maria has put into this project.”
But listeners will.

With its staggering vocals and monumental orchestral climaxes, Always You is an album that clearly has been made with passion, utter commitment, and a unique simpatico between its performers, born not just out of sibling understanding, but also unrivalled musical talent.