Napier Easter competitions festival: An Easter weekend of song and dance

Hawkes Bay Today

18 Mar, 2024 09:03 PM8 mins to read

The dance competitions are a popular feature of Napier's Easter competitions festival.

The Napier Easter competitions festival returns with family-friendly entertainment over the holiday weekend of March 28-31.

The dance competitions are popular this year with 40 dancers from throughout New Zealand on stage performing classical ballet, jazz and contemporary, as well as tap performances. They will compete to win sponsored scholarship prizes at the Municipal Theatre in Tennyson St from Friday to Monday. Door sales only.

The instrumental music competition will have mostly local students perform at the Municipal Theatre Pan Pac Foyer on Thursday evening and Friday. A range of instruments and music styles will compete for scholarship prizes, including a new family music group category.

The Festival of Song! in association with the MTG at the Century Theatre, offers audiences three superb concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 29-31. Tickets are available on iTicket or via Eventfinda.

The Friday-night recital evening at the MTG is where young singers showcase their ability in presenting a small concert of various styles, including lieder and art song.

On Saturday night, 14 aspiring singers from throughout New Zealand will compete in the preliminary concert for the Brayden Coldicutt Aria Competition, with one opera aria each. Most of the singers are studying singing and aiming at future careers in opera, and many previous winners are performing nationally and internationally — last year’s winner, Olivia Pike, is furthering her studies in Manchester. Six finalists will be selected to perform two opera arias of their choice on Sunday night when the winner of the $4000 prize will be announced.

During the day on Saturday, audiences can also enjoy young singers performing at the MTG in categories such as NZ composition, leider, art song, and oratorio. There are also two musical theatre categories — Art Deco and Golden Age — which the society aims to develop into a stronger competition. Door sales available.

The international adjudicator for the vocal competitions, Conal Coad, will also lead a masterclass for the Aria finalists on Easter Sunday morning.

Meet the Brayden Coldicutt Aria competitors below.

Tomairangi Henare

Tomairangi recently completed his Bachelor of Music Honours in Classical Performance at Victoria University. He began singing as part of Project Prima Volta in Hawke’s Bay during high school and went on to perform in opera for Festival Opera‚ Wellington Opera and New Zealand Opera. He was also honoured to be part of the NZ Opera School in 2024

Sarah Mileham

Sarah is a soprano from Tauranga and now based in Hamilton. Last year, she finished her Bachelor of Music in Classical Performance at Victoria University of Wellington under the tuition of Jenny Wollerman. She is studying under Anna Leese towards her Honours in Music at Waikato University. Sarah was recently awarded first place in the 2024 Nicholas Tarling Aria Competition and second in the 2024 Christchurch and Wellington Aria competitions. She was presented with the Merle Higgie Opera Prize for Potential at the NZ Opera School this year and is looking forward to further studies overseas

Rose Aldridge

Wellington-born Rose Aldridge holds a passion for both musical theatre and classical performance. For five years, Rose received vocal lessons at Newlands College and is now in her third year at Te Koki-New Zealand School of Music where she receives tutelage under Dr Margaret Medlyn. While at Te Koki, Rose performed in her first opera, Cinderella, last year and is an active member of the Wellington Chapel Choir and St John’s Choir in town. This year, Rose will have her first experience of being a part of the New Zealand Opera Chorus for Le Comte Ory.

Katherine Winitana

Flaxmere-born soprano Katherine Winitana initially gravitated towards jazz and blues. It wasn’t until she was involved with Project Prima Volta that she discovered her passion for opera. Despite her original plans to pursue a career as a songwriter and jazz-and-blues singer, a single line in Festival Opera’s production of Carmen changed the course of her artistic journey. Since transitioning to opera in 2020, she has been a Dame Malvina Major Studio Artist with New Zealand Opera, attended the New Zealand Opera School, received first-class honours in classical voice, and recently was selected as one of six New Zealanders to be accepted in the inaugural Masters in Opera programme, Tanzos.

Jasmine Jessen

Jasmine Jessen is a soprano studying her Masters in Advanced Opera Studies as a Tanzos studio artist at Waikato University in Hamilton. She completed her BMus at the New Zealand School of Music. Jasmine attended the New Zealand Opera School in 2024 and 2022. Last year she was selected as a finalist in the Lockwood New Zealand Aria competition and was awarded the John Bond Award for Most Promising Voice. Jasmine played the titular role in Massenet’s Cendrillon with the NZSM last year.

Jade Okey

Jade Okey, 21, recently completed her Bachelor of Music at Waikato University with Honours specialising in Classical Voice. She has been performing around the greater Waikato since she was 13, representing Poland in Riverlea’s production of Song Contest, Olivia Twist in the Meteor’s production of Artful Dodgers, Mrs Mayor in Riverlea’s Seussical the Musical Jnr, Ursula in Tumeke’s The Little Mermaid, as well as roles in Oklahoma, Aladdin Jnr, Superstars and Celtic Connections.

Cadence Chung

Cadence Chung is a poet, composer, and mezzo-soprano from Wellington, now in her third year of study at the New Zealand School of Music. Her original musical, In Blind Faith, was put on at BATS Theatre in 2022, and her art songs have been performed through avenues such as Verb Festival and Cud-Chewing Country, an interdisciplinary concert. She has received singing awards such as the Graham Gillespie Memorial Cup and Fame Emerging Practitioner Award, and is regularly engaged as a soloist in concerts around Wellington. Her poetry book, Anomalia, was released in April 2022 and was a national bestseller

Breony Bearman

Breony completed her teaching diploma with NZ Speech Board in Speech and Drama, and LTCL diploma with distinction in Voice in 2010. In 2011, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music, First Class Honours, from the University of Auckland and enjoyed being employed part-time by the NZ Opera Chorus, singing in their productions of Cav & Pag, Nabucco and The Bartered Bride. Breony is completing her Masters of Music at the University of Waikato and plans to head to Europe to further her opera training.

Alex Buchanan

Born in Wellington, Alex is working towards a Bachelor of Music in Classical Performance – Voice at the New Zealand School of Music-Te Kōkī. She attended college at St Matthew’s Collegiate in Masterton, and sang with the NZSSC in 2019-20. She has gone on to serve as the soprano II section leader for the New Zealand Youth Choir. Last year, she had the pleasure of performing as Prince Charming in the NZSM’s production of Massenet’s Cendrillon.

Alfred Fuimaono

Alfred Fonoti-Fuimaono is a 26-year-old Samoan baritone from Flaxmere. He has completed his Masters in Advanced Opera Studies through the Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio at the University of Waikato, under the tutelage of Kristin Darragh. His interest in classical music flourished through the youth initiative Project Prima Volta — a programme in Hawke’s Bay that empowers youth through classical music. Alfred has been involved in several concerts and productions as a solo and ensemble singer. He has also been selected to attend the prestigious New Zealand Opera School for a fifth consecutive year.

Sophia Yang

Sophia Yang is a 24-year-old soprano from Auckland. She recently completed her Master of Music (Hons) at the University of Auckland and studies with Anna Leese. Sophia has performed as a soloist with St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra, Auckland Opera Studio, Bach Music Pakuranga Choral Society, Franklin Community Choir and Camerata Chamber Choir. In July, she went to New York for the Manhattan Opera Studio Summer Festival where she performed the role of Papagena and made her Carnegie Hall debut. Another recent highlight was singing the role of Second Lady in a concert production of The Magic Flute with Festival Opera and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Sophia is a member of the New Zealand Opera chorus and mostly recently performed in Macbeth, Il Trovatore and Verdi’s Requiem. During her university studies, Sophia sang the role of Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld in 2020, Adele in Act II of Die Fledermaus and La Fee in Act I of Massenet’s Cendrillon. Sophia has been a finalist in the Becroft Aria and is the recipient of the Pears-Britten Scholarship for Singing, the Fehl Charitable Trust Music Scholarship, Marie D’Albini Scholarship and the Anne Bellam Scholarship. She is also an alumna of the New Zealand Singing School, where she was awarded the prize for Most Promising Singer.

Samuel McKeever

Samuel McKeever is an honours student at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, taught by Wade Kernot and Margaret Medlyn. A graduate of the Hawke’s Bay-based youth opera initiative Project Prima Volta, in 2021 he attended the New Zealand Opera School. Samuel’s stage history includes various roles such as Rocco (Fidelio) and Gubetta (Lucrezia Borgia) in NZSM’s Opera Scenes film (2020), Simone in Gianni Schicchi (NZSM, 2019), and L’Imperial Commissario in Madama Butterfly (Festival Opera, 2018). He has also been a chorus member for Wellington Opera and performed as soloist with Project Prima Volta and the NZ Symphony Orchestra for their Broadway Matinee as part of the Immerse concert series.