The Napier Performing Arts Easter Competitions Festival will be held at the Napier Municipial Theatre over Easter weekend. Photo / Paul Taylor
The stars of the future will be on stage at the Napier Performing Arts Easter Competitions Festival over Easter weekend.
As part of the festival, the Brayden Coldicutt Aria will also take place at the Napier Municipal Theatre. The festival runs from Thursday, April 6 until Monday, April 10.
Here are brief bios on the Brayden Coldicutt 2021 Aria competitors:
Grace Burt
Grace Burt is a mezzo-soprano from Tawa, Wellington. She first started her singing journey at the age of nine, when she and her family moved to Vienna for a short while. Grace has considerable experience in performing onstage. She performed regularly in solo recitals and with school choirs. In 2019, Grace completed her Bachelor of Music, majoring in classical voice performance. She has also completed her Honours (achieved in 2020). She has a variety of interests, especially in forms of textile art and other visual arts.
Erica Paterson
Erica is a soprano from Ōtepoti, Otago. She studied Classical Voice Performance with Judy Bellingham and Tessa Romano at the University of Otago and completed a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours in 2019. In 2021, Erica learned contemporary voice performance with Hannah Thompson-Holloway. Currently, she studies privately with Anna Leese. A love of singing with other musicians led Erica to become a member of the NZ Youth Choir (2016 - 2019 cycle). She was a Dunedin R.S.A Choir Vocal Scholar (2017-2019) and is an alumna of the NZ Singing School and NZ Opera School. Erica successfully competes in vocal competitions and won the Wellington Aria last year.
Sophia Yang
Sophia Yang is a 23-year-old soprano from Auckland. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music in 2021 and is currently completing her Master of Music under Dr Morag Atchison at the University of Auckland. During her undergraduate studies, Sophia sang the role of Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and also performed Act II of Die Fledermaus as Adele. In October last year, Sophia performed the role of La Fée in Act I of Massenet’s Cendrillon as part of the University of Auckland Opera Scenes. She is a member of the New Zealand Opera Chorus and, in 2022, performed in Macbeth, Il Trovatore and Verdi’s Requiem. In June, she will be travelling to New York for the Manhattan Opera Studio Summer Festival, where she will perform the role of Papagena and cover Second Lady in The Magic Flute.
Larissa Kent
Originally from Havelock North, soprano Larissa recently graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours, and her teacher is Swedish mezzo-soprano Catrin Johnsson. During her university studies, Larissa performed the role of Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and performed the second act of Die Fledermaus as Rosalinde and Second Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Larissa was invited to perform as a guest artist for the Lexus recital concert series with renowned baritone, Jonathan Lemalu, in Auckland in 2021. Larissa is a member of the New Zealand Opera Chorus as well as Voices New Zealand (this country’s premier chamber choir), and in 2020 she was a student at the New Zealand Opera School. Her awards include a third placing in the Becroft Aria Competition in 2021 and the Hawke’s Bay Young Musician of the Year Award in 2015. Larissa plans to travel abroad in September to further her studies.
Kate Manahi
Kate Manahi is a 21-year-old mezzo-soprano from Hawke’s Bay. She is now studying towards a Bachelor of Music with Honours under the tutelage of Jenny Wollerman at Victoria University of Wellington. Through the Project Prima Volta programme in Hawke’s Bay, she has performed as a chorus member in many of Festival Opera’s productions, as well as understudying the role of Lola and singing in the chorus of Cavalleria Rusticana in 2020. Kate has performed various roles, including in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and The Marriage of Figaro as Cherubino, in Cosi fan tutte as Dorabella and as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier. Kate attended the prestigious New Zealand Opera School in January of 2023, and was a chorus member in the Wellington Opera’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor. She also looks forward to tackling the role of Prince Charming in Massenet’s (Cendrillon) Cinderella later in the year.
Emily-Jane Stockman
Born in Lower Hutt and raised in Christchurch, Emily-Jane Stockman is a 21-year-old university student who is currently studying at the New Zealand School of Music under the tutelage of Jenny Wollerman and Margaret Medlyn. Growing up, she was involved in numerous school choirs and regularly took part in many musical events, with genres ranging from musical theatre to classical. She was a part of the chorus for Orpheus in the Underworld, which was produced by the New Zealand School of Music and performed with her peers. During the summer of 2021, Emily-Jane was awarded the Kāpiti Chorale Award in Vocal Performance. Olivia Pike Olivia is a Dunedin-based classical soprano and pianist. She has recently been a part of NZ Opera’s Opera in Schools tour for 2023, and has been a member of the Freemason’s New Zealand Opera Chorus in Christchurch since 2016. Notable competition successes include first place in the 2022 North Shore Becroft Aria, first place in the 2018 DMMF Dunedin Aria, and she was a finalist in the NZ Aria competition for 2022. Olivia gained her Master of Music in Classical Voice Performance with Distinction from the University of Otago in 2022 under the tutelage of Dr Tessa Romano and Professor Terence Dennis.
Tomairangi Henare
Hailing from Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, 21-year-old baritone Tomairangi Henare grew up surrounded by music in his home of Nūhaka. He began singing classical music in 2016 when he joined Project Prima Volta, leading him to various roles throughout high school, including playing Polyphemus in Handel’s Acis and Galatea and debuting with Festival Opera as Marchesi in Verdi’s La traviata. Henare furthered his studies at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, where he was awarded the Deane Foundation Scholarship to help with his studies. From there, he continued to sing opera roles such as John Styx in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, The Sorcerer in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and The Parson in Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen. He has also come off the back of the successful Chamber Music New Zealand 2022 Regional Tour with vocal quartet Tokowhā.
Charlotte McDonald
Charlotte McDonald is a 24-year-old country girl born and raised in Waiuku. She comes from a very musically oriented family, so it was inevitable that she would have a love for this art form. At a young age she commenced lessons, and for the past seven years has been studying with Gina Sanders and has also had the benefit of the combined input of several of New Zealand’s s excellent teachers and coaches. Charlotte achieved her LTCL diploma with Distinction in 2020 and completed her Bachelor of Music with Honours in Voice Performance at the University of Waikato in 2022. Recently, she debuted in the role of Zita in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with the Waikato University Conservatorium of Music.
Szilvia Hernyak
Szilvia Hernyak is a recent graduate of the New Zealand School of Music, where she completed an honours degree in music, majoring in Classical Voice under the tutelage of Wade Kernot. Recent projects include participating in the New Zealand Opera School 2023, being a chorus member for both New Zealand Opera Wellington and Wellington Opera for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and working as the assistant director of both NZSM’s Opera Scenes in 2022 and Festival Opera’s Die Zauberflöte in 2021. In her spare time, she also enjoys researching musical history, focusing on New Zealand music during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Szilvia has begun a postgraduate diploma in Waikato under the tutelage of Kristin Durragh.
Jemma Chester
Jemma is a 20-year-old soprano who calls both Wellington and Dunedin home. She is in her fourth year at Otago University, studying a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts in German. She also studies Classical Voice with Judy Bellingham. Jemma has performed with the Days Bay Opera, Musical Theatre Dunedin and Opera Otago. Most recently, she played the role of Helene in Opera Otago’s production of An Incomplete Education for the Dunedin Fringe Festival 2023.
Ridge Ponini
A proud Cook Islander, 27-year-old Ridge Ponini completed his Bachelor of Music with Honours at the University of Otago, majoring in Classical Voice Performance under the tutelage of Judy Bellingham. In 2016, Ridge sang several roles in John Drummond’s new opera War Hero, presented by Opera Otago. In 2017, he was named Most Promising Singer and received the Judges Choice Award in the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Aria Award, and in the same competition placed second in 2018. In 2018, he was awarded the prize for the singer with the most potential in the McCormick Opera Award and fulfilled his long-held dream to return to Rarotonga as a guest artist for Opera in Rarotonga. Last year, Ridge was awarded the Iosefa Enari Opera Award from Creative New Zealand. He was also a semifinalist for the Lexus Song Quest in 2022 and attended the New Zealand Opera School in 2020 and 2021. This year, Ridge is also an emerging artist with New Zealand Operas Developing programme.
Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono
Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono is a 24-year-old Samoan tenor from Flaxmere, Hastings. Emmanuel was a Dame Malvina Major Studio Artist for 2022. He started singing at home in family prayer and church before joining Project Prima Volta in high school. After learning through PPV, he continued singing at the University of Waikato and is currently completing his Master’s at the University of Waikato under the new programme called Te Pae Kōkako - The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio.
Samuel McKeever
Hastings-born baritone Samuel McKeever completed his Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music in 2021, taught principally by Wade Kernot. He is a graduate of Project Prima Volta and a New Zealand Opera School alumnus. In 2022, he was awarded third prize at the finals of the Lockwood New Zealand Aria competition. Samuel’s stage history includes the roles of the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen (Festival Opera, 2022), the Marchese in La traviata (Wellington Opera, 2022), and, most recently, an understudy role for Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor (Wellington Opera, 2023).
Jasmine Jensen
Wellington-based soprano and violinist Jasmine Jensen is currently studying towards her Bachelor of Music with Honours at the New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī (NZSM) under the tutelage of Dr Jenny Wollerman and Wade Kernot. She is an alumna of the New Zealand Opera School, which she attended in January 2022. She has been a member of the Wellington Opera Chorus for the last two years and performed in their La traviata season in 2022 and in the most recent season of Lucia di Lammermoor in 2023. Earlier this year, she was a finalist in the inaugural Nicolas Tarling Aria Competition. Jasmine is also looking forward to her further engagement performing in Massenet’s (Cendrillon) Cinderella for the NZSM opera.
Alfred Fonoti-Fuimaono
Alfred Fonoti-Fuimaono is a Samoan baritone from a family of musicians who aspires to travel the world performing opera and song. Aside from personal ambitions, he has hopes of sharing the stage with his three younger brothers in prestigious opera houses abroad. He began singing in his church and high school choir, but was first introduced to opera through Project Prima Volta, a youth initiative that empowers youth through classical music. It was through this experience that he found his passion for performing. Born and raised in Flaxmere, Hastings, he has been studying at the University of Waikato under the tutelage of Ian Campbell and Kristin Darragh, hopes to study in a new, immersive Master of Music programme and looks forward to pursuing a Master’s in Advanced Opera Studies as a Tanzos young artist.
Note: All Aria contestants were invited to supply a photograph.
There have been four artists-in-residence at Rinitawa.