On 23 June 2026, Bianca served as Concert Master at the Official Opening of the Australian War Memorial’s new Atrium and Anzac Hall, one of the most significant national ceremonies held in Australia this year. Before an audience that included Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Governor-General Sam Mostyn, and a gathering of dignitaries, veterans, and members of parliament, Bianca led the musical ensemble under the baton of Chris Latham, Artist in Residence at the AWM.
The new galleries honour Australia’s commitments to the Middle East, Afghanistan, and peacekeeping operations, a place of story, sacrifice, and national identity. Embedded in the spirit of the evening were the fifteen qualities depicted in the stained-glass windows of the Hall of Memory, where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier lies. These qualities, “Personal ” (Resource, Candour, Devotion, Curiosity, Independence), “Social” (Comradeship, Ancestry, Patriotism, Chivalry, Loyalty), and “Fighting” (Coolness, Control, Audacity, Endurance, Decision), are ones Bianca hopes our Merici students will take to heart. As former AWM Director Dr Brendan Nelson reflected, “Transcending everything else in life; rank, power, money, influence, looks and intellect, is character.” The AWM sits at our doorstep, and Bianca warmly encourages our girls to visit.
Among those Bianca shared the stage with was Fred Smith OAM, described as “Australia’s secret weapon” in international diplomacy. The first Australian diplomat posted to Uruzgan Province in 2009, Fred understood that formal diplomacy alone could not bridge every divide. He turned to music, writing songs and performing with bands made up of Australian, US, and Dutch soldiers alongside Afghan interpreters. Around a makeshift stage, barriers dissolved; soldiers found relief from the relentless stress of war, and people with no shared language discovered one through music and song. Music offered what no diplomatic cable could, a way to reach people where words fail, and to build trust across cultures.
It was this instinct that led Fred, on one of the mission’s hardest days, to put down his diplomatic pen. When two Australian sappers were killed on 7 June 2010, he wrote “Sapper’s Lullaby”, a song whose lyrics are now engraved in marble at the British War Cemetery in Kabul. His story was told on the ABC’s Australian Story in 2013, and he has since become the unofficial musical storyteller of Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan. It was “Sapper’s Lullaby” that Bianca and the ensemble performed on the night, in a moment of profound remembrance.
For Bianca, who holds a personal connection to the Defence through her own family, the evening carried meaning far beyond the performance. As Concert Master, her signature was placed in the full musical score, which will be kept as a permanent historical record at the AWM, her name woven into the fabric of this national moment.
Congratulations Bianca, we are very proud of you and your achievements.
