On song: the 10 NZers competing in this year's Lexus Song Quest

Benson Wilson celebrates winning the 2016 Lexus Song Quest. This year there are 10 hopefuls vying for the title.

After auditions in three cities, the semifinalists have been found for the 2018 Lexus Song Quest. They are:

Manase Latu, tenor: Latu always sang in church but didn't start singing classically until he joined his school choir in 2011. It didn't take him long to get the hang of things, working with the great Karen Grylls while still at St Kentigern College and winning a scholarship to the University of Auckland, where he gained an Honours degree in vocal performance. In 2015, he won the Iosefa Enari Memorial Award for exceptional Pasifika classical singers. "I am passionate about bringing awareness to my Pacific Island and Tongan heritage through my music."

Natasha Wilson, soprano (Te Arawa/Ngāpuhi): Wilson enjoys heavy metal as well as opera and recently found herself in Australia singing Spanish Baroque music while surrounded by circus performers. It's all good experience for the soprano, who in a few months starts post-graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Winner of the 2017 Dame Malvina Major Foundation Aria title, in the same year she sang in The Mikado, presented by New Zealand Opera, where she is a Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist.

Joel Amosa, bass-baritone: If bass-baritone Amosa needs inspiration for the Song Quest, he need only look to his Operanesia quartet colleague Benson Wilson, who won the 2016 competition. Amosa is doing pretty well himself. He won the 2015 Opera Australia Opportunity Award and recently appeared in the world premiere of Ross Harris' Face. For the Lexus semifinals, the newly married Amosa sings works by Handel, Schumann and Roger Quilter.

Emily Mwila, soprano: A Lexus semifinalist in 2016, Mwila lives in Manhattan, where she's studying for a Master of Music degree (MMus). It's a long way from the streets of Wellington, where she began as a busker. "Busking helped build my confidence in performance and a conviction in the relatability of classical and operatic music." Among the songs she'll perform in the semifinal is Jake Heggie's That I Did Always for Love, written for Kiri Te Kanawa.

Jonathan Eyers, baritone: A musical all-rounder, Eyers was the organ scholar at St Peter's Cathedral in Hamilton for four years and is also an enthusiastic harpsichordist. Born and bred in the Waikato, Eyers studied in Hamilton, where he was a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar. After the Song Quest, he leaves for London to begin a Master's at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Eyers has been involved with New Zealand Opera since 2014 and performed in Ross Harris' acclaimed Brass Poppies.

Eliza Boom, soprano: A recent Master's graduate from the Royal Northern College of Music, Boom began singing in church with her parents and five brothers and sisters. She's no stranger to competitions, having won several major awards here and in Australia. In 2016, Boom was chosen as a founder member of the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation Singer Development Programme. For the semifinal, she takes on the operatic standard Song to the Moon from Dvorak's Rusalka.

Chelsea Dolman, soprano: Getting into the Lexus Song Quest semifinals has been a major goal of Dolman's. Third time's the charm for the soprano, who has auditioned for the competition twice before. Dolman holds an MMus from the University of Waikato and was a 2014-15 Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist with New Zealand Opera. In 2015, she was named the most outstanding student at the New Zealand Opera School and is now a Freemasons New Zealand Opera Artist.

Filipe Manu, tenor: Twice a Lexus semifinalist and runner-up in 2016, tenor Manu could be the one to beat in this year's competition. He is studying for his Master's at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he has come under the wing of Australian soprano Yvonne Kenny. He recently won the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition just weeks after undergoing major surgery on his left ear.

Madison Nonoa, soprano: If anyone can stop Manu winning the competition it might be soprano Nonoa. That could be awkward because they're a couple. Nonoa came third behind Manu in 2016 and was a semifinalist in 2014. One of Nonoa's competition pieces is an aria from Bellini's La Sonnambula, an opera popularised by Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland. No pressure, then.

Joe Haddow, baritone: From Porirua by way of England (his family moved here in 2006), baritone Haddow came to singing in Year 12 through his school barbershop group. A member of the Orpheus Choir, Haddow was an Orpheus Choral Scholar in 2015, 2016 and 2017. This year he performed in The Elixir of Love for New Zealand Opera. At university he studied science, alongside music. "It's always good to have another thing on the go to keep the mind occupied when music just gets a bit too all-encompassing."

• The Lexus semifinals are in Wellington on July 21 and 22 followed by the finals, where five singers will compete for a share of $90,000 in prizes, in Auckland on July 28.