Close to the Flame

Stuart Challender was the most talented Australian conductor of his generation, acclaimed in his homeland and beginning to build an international career in Europe and America when he died at the age of forty-four.

After twelve years of study and work in European opera houses, he returned home to join Opera Australia. He was taken up by the ABC and appointed artistic director and chief conductor of our leading orchestra, the Sydney Symphony. He was also a great champion of the music of contemporary Australian composers and responsible for the premieres of many important Australian works. Just as invitations to conduct renowned international orchestras began to flow in, Stuart was diagnosed with AIDS.

His final years, as he struggled to continue to make glorious music while disease ravaged his body, and his decision to become Australia's first celebrity to go public about his condition bring Stuart's story to a moving conclusion. It is an inspiring story of courage in adversity.