Nicole Car has shut down the Freelance Artist Relief Australia initiative she created during the pandemic and has announced the Nicole Car Award.

In a statement, the organization said, “International soprano Nicole Car today announced the winding up of Freelance Artist Relief Australia (FARA). Ms. Car established the charity in mid-2020 – to provide financial relief to those Australian freelance singers impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

The statement added, “since then, over $400,000 has been distributed to artists in need. The conclusion of FARA happily coincides with the establishment of the Nicole Car Award – an annual prize to be given by the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition under the auspices of Music & Opera Singers Trust (MOST). This new award will enable the successful recipient to be flown and accommodated in Paris and receive an intensive period of mentoring sessions with Nicole Car herself.”

Car stated that, “I am honored to have been the founder and patron of FARA. The need amongst my Australian colleagues was immediate and urgent. I am so grateful to the countless opera lovers who donated generously to the Fund. Overwhelming thanks are due to my Australasian manager Patrick Togher and his fellow members of my Advisory Committee – Virginia Braden OAM, Jane Hemstritch, Maureen Wheeler AO, and Graham Pushee. I must pay tribute also to Ms. Anna d’Ersu, Ms. Natalie De Biasi, our honorary legal advisors Simpson Solicitors, Mr. Roland Gridiger OAM, and Ms. Amelia Gledhill from MOST. It is thrilling that MOST has inaugurated this annual prize in my name.”

Car recently finished a production of “Don Giovanni” at the San Francisco Opera and is set to sing “Il Trovatore” this fall at the Montreal Opera.