Chorus leaders, conductors and music teachers in rural cities and towns have been enlisted to identify and help prepare young singers to take the part of the children's chorus in the current travelling production of The Magic Flute.

Surveys indicate the moves are helping to boost  audiences, with many respondents identifying as first-time opera attendees and most saying they would like to attend again.

Sandra Willis, Opera Australia's executive producer for touring and outreach, says federal and state government arts funding helps ensure opera reaches beyond the state capitals  –  paying for travel, freight and other costs.

Benefits include providing aspiring young singers with opportunities to be involved in a professional production and see what makes opera an enduring art form: "We make sure the members of the children's chorus are on the side of the stage to hear the Queen of the Night – they feel the sound in their bones," she says.

Willis' work involves writing funding applications and organising tours. "Government funding and local community support are both critical, so part of my job is to know the key contacts around the country and work with them to ensure they have the resources needed for us to come. It's very complex and we have to plan a couple of years ahead."

In larger towns the company performs in well established theatres and arts centres. In smaller towns it hires a hall and works with volunteers.

"It can be challenging but we like to make sure we are not just performing in places that have wonderful facilities. Where there's a will, we try to make a way."

This year that determination will ensure The Magic Flute reaches Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory and the Aboriginal community of Yarrabah in north Queensland. Two years ago it resulted in a production for the bushfire ravaged town of Marysville in Victoria staged on a new basketball court.

"Everything I do for Opera Australia is about breaking down barriers and providing the art form to as many Australians as possible," says Willis, whose job also includes managing a program that takes opera into schools. "We perform to around 70,000 kids a year and they love it. They are blown away by the power of the human voice."

Her desire to ensure opera reaches as many young people as possible has driven her involvement as executive producer of The Rabbits, a new Australian Opera by musician Kate Miller-Heidke based on the picture book by John Marsden and Shaun Tan. It had a sellout debut season at Perth Festival this year and tickets are selling well for a Melbourne season in October.

Willis trained in production at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) before working in company manager and production roles for a variety of organisations and events including the Adelaide Festival, Bell Shakespeare Company, the national tour of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Carols in the Domain. She joined the staff of Opera Australia 4 ½  years ago.