Left to right: La'auli Fonoti Fuimaono, Jordon Fonoti-Fuimaono, Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, Faamanu-Fonoti Fuimaono. Photo / John Wansbrough
Left to right: La'auli Fonoti Fuimaono, Jordon Fonoti-Fuimaono, Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, Faamanu-Fonoti Fuimaono. Photo / John Wansbrough
They are family, they are proud, music is their love, their life and their work.
The four Fonoti-Fuimaono brothers from Hawke's Bay, two tenors, a baritone and a bass baritone all study at Waikato University and are passionate about being students at the New Zealand Opera School.
Jordan (20), Emmanuel(23), Faamanu (22) and Alfred (24) say their Samoan upbringing and heritage has led them all into music.
Being Christian, the church is an integral part of their lives.
And their parents are both songwriters and musicians, they say.
The brothers say they didn't even know what opera was until the music master at their high school in Hastings advised them to audition for a Hawke's Bay Opera Initiative headed by Anna Pierard and Sarah Walmsley.
The initiative called Project Prima Volta not only fostered their love of classical singing, it meant they discovered opera and the absolute beauty of its music.
"I fell in love with the music, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was and in the project we even got to sing and actually sing opera onstage," Alfred said.
