2024 Lexus Song Quest winner Katie Trigg performing at the Grand Final at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre on Saturday night. Photo / Hagen Hopkins
2024 Lexus Song Quest winner Katie Trigg performing at the Grand Final at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre on Saturday night. Photo / Hagen Hopkins
A young woman who grew up in the small village of Ngāhinapōuri with a dream of becoming a professional opera singer has taken a major step towards that goal by winning the 2024 Lexus Song Quest.
Katie Trigg is a mezzo-soprano, just like the 1965 winner, a young Dame Kiri Te Kanawa who was present on Saturday night representing her foundation which supports the event. Te Kanawa developed into a soprano and became New Zealand’s most celebrated opera star, enjoying a stellar and long international career until her retirement in 2017.
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa congratulates Song Quest winner Katie Trigg. Photo / Hagen Hopkins
The 2024 Lexus Song Quest, in association with the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation, is Aotearoa’s most prestigious opera competition.
The awards were announced on stage on Saturday, August 3, in front of a crowd of over 1200 people at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre following performances by the five grand finalists.
Trigg has walked away with a life-changing immediate cash prize of $50,000 for professional development purposes.
International head judge, Grammy Award-winning lyric coloratura soprano Sumi Jo, said she has been very impressed with the high standard of all five finalists.
“Choosing a top five from such a skilled group of semifinalists has been incredibly challenging,” she said.
“Beyond having a beautiful voice with impeccable tone, technique, and musicality, it’s essential to possess star quality and charisma that immediately captivates the audience.
“Effective communication is key, but in today’s world, intelligence, a business mindset, and determination are also crucial for managing a future as a professional singer.”
Runner-up Manase Latu has won an immediate cash prize of $20,000 and Austin Haynes, who secured third place, won a $15,000 cash prize. The other two finalists Tayla Alexander and Andrew Morgan-King have each received a cash prize of $3500.
Lexus Song Quest winner Katie Trigg with runner-up Manase Latu, left, and third placed Austin Haynes. Photo / Hagen Hopkins
Andrew Davis, vice-president of Lexus New Zealand, says the Song Quest is a spectacular evening and widely considered to be one of the most exciting nights on Aotearoa’s classical calendar.
“Once again, it was an extraordinary evening of New Zealand’s finest operatic talent.
“We wish all the winners all the best with their future endeavours.
”We know that the Lexus Song Quest is a proven springboard as it has led to many extremely successful operatic careers, including the great Dame Kiri Te Kanawa herself, who was the 1965 winner.
“We have been extremely proud to be associated with these awards since 2005. The Lexus brand is all about experiencing the amazing – and we certainly did experience amazing performances at the Lexus Song Quest.”
Reflecting on the importance of the Quest and her deep personal connection to it, Te Kanawa said: “I won it in 1965 and like so many others, it gave my career a huge push.
“From the very start, it proved to be the gold standard – the setting in which the stars of tomorrow would shine brightly and brilliantly and tonight, Katie, and indeed all of the finalists, did just that. I am excited to follow your journeys.”
Trigg started taking singing lessons with Angela Petris at the age of 8 - shortly after seeing a movie that featured a busker and she decided she wanted to be the same.
A young Katie Trigg sings Part of my World from the Little Mermaid, accompanied by her singing teacher Angela Petrus. Photo / Cathy Asplin
“I liked singing and I liked money, so I convinced my mum to let me busk while she was at the supermarket,” Trigg said.
“I made $30 in half an hour.”
Trigg entered her first competition soon after starting lessons, singing at The Woolshed in the vocal section of the Te Awamutu Competitions Society of the Performing Arts Festival, and continued to compete with success.
Through school she used her busking to pay for singing lessons, as well as to fundraise for new protective goalie gear for her hockey team at Ngāhinapōuri Primary School when she was 11, to help fundraise for the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal when she was 12 and for the Te Awamutu College Music Trip in her senior year.
Success kept coming and after high school the mezzo-soprano took the next step and enrolled at the University of Waikato, where she was a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar, graduating last year with her Bachelor of Music degree with first-class honours.
In 2021 she was a Dame Malvina Major Foundation Studio Artist with New Zealand Opera.
Two years ago, after graduating from the University of Waikato she won a coveted place in the Curtis Institute of Music - one of America’s most prestigious and selective facilities - her next step to achieve her goal of becoming a professional opera singer.
While in the US, she featured as a soloist for the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O23, and Wolf Trap Opera. In March this year, she made her role debut as Anna I in Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with Curtis Opera Theatre.
Trigg’s awards include the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship, Dame Sister Mary Leo Scholarship, Sue and Guy Haddleton Emerging Artist Award, Dame Malvina Major Foundation Arts Excellence Award, and the Kiwi Music Scholarship to assist with her studies overseas.
2024 Lexus Song Quest winner Katie Trigg performing at the Grand Final at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre on Saturday night. Photo / Hagen Hopkins
Trigg said winning the Song Quest makes everything seem possible.
“Looking at my dreams and goals, and then doing the budgets to make it happen, could make my heart sink,” she said.
“Now I have this incredibly life-changing opportunity. It lifts me.”
Trigg plans to make the most of those possibilities.
She has been offered, and accepted, a third year at the Curtis Institute of Music.
“They like my progress and I can continue to work on the technical aspects of my performance.”
She said it also gives her the advantage of being in the Northern Hemisphere where more of the opportunities are.
She plans to stay focused on her dream and expects a busy year ahead as she auditions in the US, UK and Europe for roles.
“I’m close to my goal and I want to thank everyone who has helped me, everyone who has given me support, wished me well or just congratulated me on my success,” she said.
“It is overwhelming and exciting that this could happen from a dream I had when I was 8.”
Katie Trigg with her mum Tracy after her win. Photo / Hagen Hopkins
Trigg is home for a couple of months and in that time will perform with other young opera stars in September.
Verdi Meets Puccini is an Auckland Opera Studio presentation with the Manukau Symphony Orchestra over two nights: Saturday, September 28 at the Manukau Due Drop Events Centre; and Sunday, September 29 at Auckland Town Hall.
Details and tickets from Eventfinda.
Dean Taylor is a community journalist with over 35 years experience and is editor of the Te Awamutu Courier and Waikato Herald.
