Wellington hosts three of opera’s most influential figures this month, uniting global mentors and New Zealand’s rising stars in a landmark week for the country’s next generation of opera talent.
Central to the event is Te Pae Kōkako – The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS), which makes its capital debut with two public performances featuring Grammy and Olivier Award-winner Joyce DiDonato, Stage Director and Head of The Jette Parker Artist Programme at the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden; and international pianist and Coach at The Royal Ballet and Opera, Caroline Dowdle.
Created from Dame Malvina Major’s long-held vision to build a professional training ground for New Zealand’s finest young singers, TANZOS – based at the University of Waikato – is the country’s only full-time, international-level opera training programme. TANZOS has already made history, with graduates successfully entering major international opera studio programmes without studying overseas first. Among them is tenor Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, who this year joined The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Artists Programme in London following graduation – the first New Zealander ever invited to audition for the programme without prior study abroad.
On Saturday 29 November, Una Serenata Italiana at Public Trust Hall celebrates the Italian repertoire under Elaine Kidd (Head, Jette Parker Artists Programme, Royal Opera House Covent Garden) with pianist Caroline Dowdle (Head of Opera, Atelier Lyric Verbier Festival; Royal College of Music).
Two nights earlier, Thursday 27 November, Joyce DiDonato leads an NZSO Foundation Masterclass supported by the Dame Malvina Major Foundation at the Michael Fowler Centre – her first time working with singers in New Zealand. In a rare opportunity negotiated by the NZSO, the masterclass will be livestreamed internationally with special permission outside DiDonato’s Carnegie Hall Masterclass Series – presenting an extraordinary opportunity for a wide global audience to hear TANZOS singers in action.
Director of TANZOS, soprano Madeleine Pierard, says “This moment captures exactly what TANZOS was built for – giving New Zealand singers direct access to the world’s most exceptional mentors. To have all three of these leading figures of the opera world in Wellington working with our singers is extraordinary. It demonstrates the quality of the talent we have here and the generosity of those who make it possible.”
Dame Malvina Major says “TANZOS represents the realisation of a long-held vision – a professional training ground in New Zealand that gives our finest young singers every chance to flourish on the world stage. Seeing these artists mentored by people of the calibre of Joyce Di Donato, Elaine Kidd and Caroline Dowdle is deeply rewarding and a sign of what’s possible when we invest in potential.”
