When classical singer Jacqueline Ward left Sydney in 2021, she felt she was walking away from her chosen career as a musician.
She had endured a long recovery from spinal injuries suffered in a car crash a year earlier, then repeated postponements to performances through COVID lockdowns.
She felt defeated.
On Thursday, the soprano made an emotional stage comeback in Tasmania, performing with the celebrated Baroque ensemble Van Diemen's Band at the Burnie Arts Centre.
The day before the show, while rehearsing at her bush block near Burnie, Ward was suddenly brought to tears by an orange performance gown hanging from the ceiling of her tiny house.
"It's my colour and I was still in a wheelchair, getting around the shops in Sydney, when I first saw it," she said.
"I told my hubby about it and one day he brought it home. Surprised me. He said, 'You will perform again'.
"For me it's so meaningful to have that dress out because I've never worn it.
"Rob is a tenor, he was an opera singer in the US before moving to Australia. He has always understood. He never once said, 'Maybe you should try doing something else.'"
The day the music stalled at the lights
Ward had been doing research in early music for the masters program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2020 when she was in a life-altering car accident.
"It was the day my son, Wycliffe, turned six months old. My mum [Eve] and I thought it would be fun to take him out, weigh him, measure him, write it in his book and have a celebratory cuppa," Ms Ward said.
"This was in Sydney. My mum was driving and a woman ran through a stop sign at speed. It was just incredibly violent.
"I just remember localised pain and my mother shouting and almost hysterical.
"Wycliffe came with me in the ambulance."
Her injuries included a fractured tibia, four thoracic spinal fractures and two sternal fractures.
Wycliffe was so traumatised he was waking every 30 minutes and slept on his mother in a recliner for five months as Ms Ward couldn't lie on her back.
The journey to a comeback was long and full of roadblocks.
She was twice ready to perform and elated by the prospect, only to see venues closed by Sydney's COVID lockdowns.
Ward felt defeated and with healing still a high priority, the family planned to move somewhere peaceful.
"We really did feel like COVID refugees. We had needed a permit just to move out of Sydney," she said.
"I had lost heart and I felt like I was walking away from a career.
"I had become pregnant with our second child. It was sooner than my body might have liked but we were very excited about that.
"It was five days after we left Sydney that we lost that baby. It was one thing after another, compounding.
Rehearsing under trees and stars
The couple weren't allowed to cross the border into Tasmania at that time so they spent a few months in Jindabyne.
At the start of 2022, they finally arrived in Tasmania. They found a raw bush block near Burnie where they are now living in a tiny house.
The neighbours are already accustomed to hearing the strong, projected vocals of a classically trained singer, rehearsing nearby under a roof of trees and stars.
Ward has been musical since birth, choosing to spend hours playing at a piano even before she was two years old.
She placed in the top 10 of the Australian Song Writing Contest twice before winning it at age 17 and later performed and recorded a self-titled album of her own songs.
Shining like Helfgott
Studying early music and performing with the Sydney Con's Early Music Ensemble eventually led her to connect with Hobart singer and teacher Jane Edwards.
"I had told my husband how much I related to that closing scene of the film Shine where David Helfgott jumps on a trampoline wearing only a trench coat, so joyous about the music he is hearing.
"I dreamt it one morning like it was the closing scene of a film about me.
"When I looked up Jane Edwards online, there was the YouTube clip of that scene from Shine!
"I clicked on it and could hardly believe it. Jane was the soprano who sang the piece for that scene. It's been an amazing connection to make."
