Our Productions
Since its founding, Auckland Opera Studio has presented a wide range of fully staged opera productions and concert performances, providing emerging artists with invaluable professional experience while bringing live opera to audiences throughout Auckland.
These productions have formed a central part of the Studio’s training programme, offering singers the opportunity to develop their craft in a professional performance environment alongside directors, conductors, and creative teams. Many artists who have performed with Auckland Opera Studio have gone on to establish successful professional careers, appearing with leading opera companies and orchestras in New Zealand and internationally.
2018: I Capuleti e I Montecchi (Bellini)
Presented with piano and orchestral consort of flute, clarinet and French horn
Director: Patrice Wilson
Music Director/Piano: Rosemary Barnes
Scenic Design: Stephen Fitzgerald
Cast: Filipe Manu (Romeo), Madison Nonoa (Giulietta), Damian Arnold (Tebaldo), Joel Amosa (Lorenzo), Wade Kernot (Capellio)
Oreste (Handel) - 2017
Presented with the New Zealand Baroque Orchestra
Director: Benjamin Henson
Conductor: Graham McPhail
Scenic Design: Benjamin Henson
Cast: Stephen Diaz (Oreste), Madison Nonoa (ifigenia), James Ioelu (Toante), Rebecca Ryan (Ermine), Filipe Manu (Pilade)
L'Italiana in Londra (Cimarosa) - 2015
Presented with piano
Director: Lesley Bandy
Music Director/Piano: Rosemary Barnes
Cast: Madison Nonoa (Livia), Filipe Manu (Arespingh), Christian Thurston (Don Polidoro), Milla Dickens (Madama Brillante)
2014: Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)
Presented with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra
Director: Raymond Hawthorne
Conductor: Peter Scholes
Scenic Design: Tracy Grant Lord
Chorus Master: Robert Wiremu
Cast: Marlena Devoe (Lucia), David Woodward (Edgardo), Phillip Rhodes (Enrico), Filipe Manu (Arturo),
James Ioelu (Raimondo), Maia Mila Amosa (Alisa), Kalauni Pouvalu (Normanno)
2013: Così fan tutte (Mozart)
Presented with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra (Auckland) and the Hawkes Bay Orchestra (Hastings)
Director: Patrice Wilson
Conductor: Peter Scholes (Auckland); José Aparicio (Hastings)
Scenic Design: Stephen Fitzgerald
Cast: Madeleine Pierard (Fiordiligi), Anna Pierard (Dorabella), Kawiti Waetford (Guglielmo), Thomas Atkins (Ferrando),
Barbara Graham (Despina), Joel Amosa (Don Alfonso)
2011: La sonnambula (Bellini)
Presented with piano (Somi Kim)
Director: Patrice Wilson
Cast: Marlena Devoe (Amina), Pene Pati (Elvino), James Ioelu (Count Rodolfo), Lilia Carpinelli (Lisa)
2010: La clemenza di Tito (Mozart)
Presented with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra
Director: Raymond Hawthorne
Conductor: Peter Scholes
Scenic Design: Stephen Fitzgerald
Cast: Andrew Glover (Tito), Madeleine Pierard (Vitellia), Kristin Darragh (Sesto), Marlena Devoe (Servilia), Amelia Berry (Annio), James Ioelu (Publio)
2010: La Voix humaine (Poulenc)
Presented with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra
Director: Raymond Hawthorne
Conductor: Peter Scholes
Cast: Camille Zamora (Elle)
2007: Giulio Cesare (Handel)
Presented with the Auckland Opera Studio Baroque Ensemble
Director and Narrator: Raymond Hawthorne
Conductor: Ross Popel
Cast: James Ioelu (Giulio Cesare), Anna Leese (Cleopatra), Kate Spence (Cornelia), Zan McKendree-Wright (Sesto), Malcolm Ede (Tolomeo)
2006: The Seven Deadly Sins (Weill)
Presented with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra
Director: Patrice Wilson
Conductor: Peter Scholes
Cast: Andrea Creighton (Anna I), Mariana Rinaldi (Anna II), Phillip Rhodes (Brother), James Ioelu (Mother),
Shaun Dixon (Father), Jack Bourke (Brother)
2004: Idomeneo (Mozart)
Presented with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra
Director: Patrice Wilson
Conductor: Peter Scholes
Dance: Mau Dance Company
Choreographer: Lemi Ponifasio
Cast: Simon O'Neill (Idomeneo), Anna Leese (Ilia), Georgia Hawes (Idamante), Sarah-Jane Rennie (Elettra), Jack Bourke (Arbace), Shaun Dixon (High Priest of Neptune), Daniel Keeling (Voice of Neptune)