Gloden Mercer

Gloden Mercer, 19 January 1934  - 13 January 2025

Gloden Mercer was a regular singer for The Australian Opera Company, working with such stars as Dame Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. She was one of only five Australians selected for the Sutherland-Williamson Grand Opera Season for J.C. Williamsons in 1965.

She more than happily branched out into the world of musical theatre, playing roles as diverse as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady, Carrie Pipperage and Mrs. Mullins in Carousel, Peep-Bo in The Mikado, and she created the role of Madame de la Grande Bouche, the wardrobe, in the original Australian production of Beauty and the Beast.

Known as "The girl with the golden voice" in Queensland, she also sang lead roles in operas which included Die Fledermaus, Rigoletto, Faust, The Chocolate Soldier, Aida and The Merry Widow. She felt totally at home in musical comedies, grand opera, Gilbert and Sullivan and cabaret.

Gloden passed away peacefully on 13 January 2025, aged 91.