traviata; The People's Diva, which showed her in rehearsal and preparation for Madama Butterfly; and Great Operatic Heroines, with the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra under Roderick Brydon. Her singing of the aria "È strano! Ah, fors'è lui " from Verdi's La traviata is heard in the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Private life Joan Carden is related to George Frederick Carden, a prominent Melbourne businessman, who founded the Carden Fellowship of Cancer Council Victoria. There is also the G. F. Carden Leukemia Research Foundation, funding from which facilitated treatment pioneered by Professor Don Metcalfe that saved the life of many people, including José Carreras. In 1990 Joan Carden sang at Covent Garden with Carreras and a group of Australian singers in a concert to raise funds for Carreras's own leukaemia research foundation, and she made him aware of this connection. Her 1962 marriage to a British steeplechase coach William Coyne produced two daughters, and ended in divorce in 1980. Their children are Vida Carden-Coyne (named after her first singing teacher Vida Harford), an arts administrator; and Prof Ana Carden-Coyne, a cultural historian and founder of the Centre for the Cultural History of War at the University of Manchester. Joan Carden converted from Anglo-Catholicism to Roman Catholicism in 1960. She sang at the funeral of Archbishop Carroll, who was both a spiritual adviser and a great admirer of her singing. She suffered a number of heart attacks during her career, but returned to the stage each time. Honours In the New Year's Day Honours of 1982 Joan Carden was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the Order of the British Empire. In 1987 she received the Dame Joan Hammond Award for Operatic Excellence. In the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1988 she was appointed an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia. In 1992 she sang before US President George H. W. Bush on his Australian visit. In 2001, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. That year she was awarded the Australian Government's Centenary Medal. On 15 April 2004 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Australian Catholic University. In 2005, the Joan Carden Award was created by the Sydney University Graduate Choir, and is awarded to an outstanding young singer . Awards and nominations ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence,