June Bronhill 1925—2005
Born in Broken Hill June 26 1929 as June Gough.
June finally got to go to England in 1952 to study through the support of the people of Broken Hill who raised one thousand five hundred pound to add to her three hundred pound prize money which she had won by
coming third in the Sydney Sun Aria Contest in 1949 this contest was won by Dame Joan Sutherland. One of the ways that Broken Hill supported their little girl was by having penny lines on the footpath on a Saturday. While living in London the Stage name Bronhill was formed using letters from her home town name in dedication to the support the town had shown her.
While studying overseas June auditioned for the Sadler's Wells Opera and almost immediately found herself doing lead roles in "The Marriage of Figaro'', "Die Fledermaus" and "Orpheus in the Underworld". In 1960 she returned to Australia playing the widow in the "Merry Widow" which became one of her most famous roles.
In the decades that followed June became an impressive ambassador for Australia to the music industry performing in "Sound of Music", "Robert and Elizabeth", 'Women Behind Bars", "Call Me Madam", "The Mikado", "The Gondoliers" and "The Pirates of Penzance" just to name some of her more famous plays.
For the majority of this period she worked with the Melbourne Music Theatre, The Footbridge Theatre, The Australian Opera, The Canberra Philharmonic Society, The State Opera of South Australia and The Victoria State Opera.
In 1976 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to music, the same year she moved back to Australia for good.
1993 saw acute deafness caused by tinnitus bring her stage career to an end even when she had been victorious over breast Cancer. In 1996 June declined an invitation to attend the opera's centenary celebrations as her deafness may have upset her fans. For a person who enjoyed performing and talking deafness was an upsetting way to spend one's final years.
June died in her sleep on January 25th 2005 at the age of 75 years.
Broken Hill township had a minutes silence for her during the 2005 Australia Day Celebrations.
June Bronhill was buried at home in Broken Hill.
