We're halfway through our applications window for NZOS 2027. 🎶 If you've been thinking about it, now is the time to apply! What makes these two weeks of opera training in Whanganui unlike anything else? It's not just the training, though that alone is world-class: an intensive, purely focused fortnight with international tutors and our extraordinary faculty, all in one place, all for you. It's the performance opportunities during Whanganui Opera Week. The moment you step onto a real stage, in front of a real audience, and feel what you've been working toward. And it's what comes after. The NZOS whānau doesn't end when you leave Whanganui. The mentoring, the collegial spirit, the network of singers cheering each other on from stages around the world - that stays with you. Apply today! 🔗 operaschool.org.nz/applications/application-form #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #OperaTraining #Whanganui

🌟Aotearoa, we have a winner!🌟 After an extraordinary evening at the Michael Fowler Centre with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the 2026 Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest - the most prestigious operatic competition in the country has been won by... 🥇 19 years old Tongan countertenor Samuel Mataele! WOW! 🥈 2nd place: NZOS alumna soprano Sarah Mileham 🥉 3rd place: NZOS alumnus tenor Samuel Downes What a night! What a competition! From the very first semi-final, the level of artistry on that stage took our breath away and tonight was no different. To every finalist... you were magnificent! Every single one of you! The future of opera in this country is in extraordinary hands. 🎶 #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #Alumni #SongQuest #Winner

Months of preparation. A flight overseas. Ten minutes in a room. Holly Evans recently shared what it's actually like behind an international audition. The waiting room full of sopranos who looked just like her - same height, same hair, same songs warming up around her. Two cameras. A grand piano. Ten members of a creative team. "Thank you, you'll hear from us tonight." Two months later, an email. "Unfortunately..." This is the part nobody knows about young operatic talents - the preparation, the cost, the rejections. It's exactly why we exist, and why opera training should not only be about the voice - it takes so much more support. Holly's sharing it all on our LinkedIn this week — go give us a follow there🤍 #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #OperaJourney

Matariki is here. 🌟 Stars rising in the winter sky — each one carrying meaning. Remembrance. Gratitude. Hope. In many ways, it mirrors what we see in the singers who come through our doors every year. Young voices rising and reaching toward something extraordinary. This weekend we celebrate the Māori New Year with our entire NZOS whānau — our alumni lighting up stages from Whanganui to Wellington, London to San Francisco, to Paris and beyond. Stars of our own, rising. Mānawatia a Matariki — honour the rising. 🤍 #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #Matariki

The beautiful interior of the Whanganui Collegiate chapel where ever year during the Residential NZ Opera School, the students present Oratorio music - under the title “In Praise of Music” #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #Whanganui #WhanganuiCollegiateSchool 📸: Steve Caudwell

🚨 JUST ANNOUNCED — Song Quest Finalists 2026 🚨 The 2026 Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest finalists have just been revealed — and we can barely contain ourselves. Five out of six finalists are NZOS alumni. FIVE. 🤍 Samuel Downes, Sarah Mileham, Faamanu Fonoti-Fuimaono, Jordan Fonoti-Fuimaono, Cecily Shawa and Samuel Mataele. Six extraordinary singers stepping onto the Grand Final stage at the Michael Fowler Centre on 11 July with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. A huge congratulations to every semifinalist who competed — the talent we witnessed across this entire competition has been simply joyful to follow. This country is brimming with it. Make sure you get your tickets to the Grand Final Gala🔗 songquest.nz/grandfinalgala #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #SongQuest #Opera #Alumni

Tenor Samuel Downes, from Tāmaki Makaurau and now based in London, has made the semifinals of the 2026 Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest happening TONIGHT and tomorrow. 🎶 Samuel's path brought him four times to Whanganui, then on to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music - where he had the chance to study under the legendary César Ulloa. Watching him get to learn from one of the great voice teachers in the world was one of those moments we were just genuinely thrilled to see happen. Now a Harewood Artist with English National Opera. A true gem, and we mean that. 🤍 T oi! Toi! Toi! to Samuel and all the semi-finalists performing this weekend! 🔗 songquest.nz #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #SongQuest #operator

A career built on advocacy as much as artistry. Mezzo-soprano Cecily Shaw has made the semifinals of the 2026 Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest. 🎶 Three times a NZOS student, Cecily relocated to London in 2023 to study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, completing her Guildhall Artist Masters in 2025. She's one of just seven singers selected for the 2025/26 Guildhall Opera Course, and the recipient of the Sally Cohen Opera Scholarship - alongside Guildhall's 2025 "Making It" award for her original music and comedic cabaret. Cecily is also a committed advocate for neurodivergent performers, working to create greater visibility and opportunity in the profession. A genuinely distinctive voice, in every sense. So proud of you, Cecily! 🤍 🔗 songquest.nz #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #SongQuest #Alumni

Soprano Holly Evans has made the semifinals of the 2026 Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest happening THIS WEEKEND! 🎶 You may already know her - she's currently taking over our LinkedIn, sharing the honest, unfiltered story of what it really takes to build a career in opera. Holly has performed with us at NZOS on multiple occasions over the years, and watching her step into the semifinals feels like exactly the right chapter to be reading right now. Go get it, Holly. 🤍 🔗 songquest.nz #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #SongQuest

Baritone Faamanu Fonoti-Fuimaono, proud Samoan-Kiwi artist from Flaxmere, Hastings, has made the semifinals of the 2026 Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest. 🎶 Five years. 2022 to 2026. Every single year Faamanu has been with us at NZOS we've watched every bit of that growth firsthand. And in September, he's off to the Royal College of Music in London on a full-tuition scholarship. One of the most prestigious conservatoires in the world, and he's earned every bit of it. Five years building toward this. So proud of you, Faamanu. 🤍 🔗 songquest.nz #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #SongQuest #Alumni

Baritone Samuel McKeever, from Heretaunga Hastings, has made the semifinals of the 2026 Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest. 🎶 A three-time NZOS alumnus, Samuel has built a career on solid foundations — First Class Honours from Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, a Wellington Aria win, and a growing list of roles including Gianni Schicchi, Papageno, and Count Ribbing in Un ballo in maschera. So proud of you, Samuel. 🤍 🔗 songquest.nz #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #SongQuest #Alumni

Countertenor Jack Doyle has made the semifinals of the 2026 Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest. 🎶 His voice is, quite simply, special - a baritone-turned-countertenor who found his true artistic identity in the expressive world of Baroque and early music. He stepped onto the stage at our Great Opera Moments Concert this year and left the audience completely in awe. He was awarded the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Scholarship Award 2026, the biggest recognition our school can offer. This September, Jack heads to the Royal College of Music in London for a Master of Performance in Vocal Studies. We cannot wait to see what comes next. So proud of you, Jack. 🤍 🔗 songquest.nz #NZOS #NZOperaSchool #SongQuest #Alumni