Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Art & Entertainment | Book Reviews | Education | Entertainment Video | Health | Lifestyle | Sport | Sport Video | Search

 

Join Operanesia ‘In The Back Yard’ For A Picnic And An Enter


Media Release
February 2017


Join Operanesia ‘In The Back Yard’ For A Picnic And An Entertaining Fusion Of Opera And Polynesia

Imagine enjoying a picnic lunch with a good bottle of wine in park-like settings on a warm Saturday evening in February, while the talented all Polynesian chorus Operanesia serenade you with a mix of unplugged opera, Polynesian and popular music.

Back by popular demand – and joined by rising international opera singer Marlena Devoe, who is back home in New Zealand from her London base – the four young Pacific Island men will again entertain the picnickers on the Omaha property of renowned New Zealand voice coach Frances Wilson.

“It’s very social,” says the Chair of The Auckland Opera Studio Gillian Peebles. “They are four talented young men – in their late teens and early twenties – with a wonderful, infectious sense of humour. They sing, and they engage the audience in conversation and laugher as they wander among the groups of people. There is a real sense of camaraderie.

“The first half is formal. Operanesia are dressed in dinner jackets and they sing opera, while the second half the boys come out in lava-lavas and sing a fusion of popular, Polynesian and Maori music,” says Gillian.

The tenor members of Operanesia – Kalauni Pauvalu, Joel Amosa, Noah Filimoehala and Alfred Fuimaono – sing classics such ‘Your Raise Me Up’, barbershop, opera and Polynesian medleys of songs such as ‘The Old Rugged Cross’.

On the afternoon, Polynesia will be joined by rising international star, Kiwi soprano Marlena Devoe, who will perform four or five songs for the audience. As one London opera critic wrote in the Manchester Theatre Awards:

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“In Marlena Devoe we have a real star. The show is worth seeing for her alone. Born in New Zealand, the Samoan soprano is absolutely spellbinding from her first entrance. Devoe has a real stage presence and a gloriously soaring voice.”

When: Saturday, 25 February
Where: 144 Jones Road, Omaha (just before the causeway with ample parking)
Time: 5.30pm
Tickets: $45 per person, under 16’s free. Bring a picnic basket and drinks

Hosted by the Auckland Opera Studio charitable trust, there will also be a collection for Warkworth Hospice during the event.

The Auckland Opera Studio’s director, Frances Wilson, says the experience of hearing Polynesian voices sing opera is alone worth the experience:

“It’s absolutely true that Maori and Polynesians have beautiful voices and the almost spooky ability to isolate muscles in their mouths a lot more easily than those of us who are a bit more uptight about life all the time.

“They have a marvellous instinct for the great music and the great poetry and they are people who are not afraid to show emotion. They’re naturally good at organising all the muscles in the body to produce resonance and relaxation at certain points – which is what opera requires. It is terribly complicated and difficult; it takes years,” says Frances.

Unlike pianists or violinists who, for example, who can reach a level of mastery by the age of 18 if they started very young, an opera singers don’t discover his or her voice until the age of 18, and most must work until their early 30s to achieve any great heights in their voice and performance.

“Bring your blankets and fold-up chairs, your picnic baskets and wine, and join us for what will be a delightful afternoon for the second year running.”

ends

About The Auckland Opera Studio

The Auckland Opera Studio charitable trust provides professional coaching to mostly young aspiring opera singers. Professional artists come to the studio to hone one or two aspects of their performance – all at no cost.

The aim is to ensure that talented and successful professional singers are given the opportunity to realise their full potential in New Zealand and in preparation for the international stage.

Singers from the Auckland Opera Studio, such as Marlena Devoe, Sol3 Mio and one of the finest helden-tenors on the international stage, Simon O’Neill, have won widespread acclaim for their talent and skills. The studio students regularly achieve first, second and third places in the Lexus Song Quest (2012, 2014 and 2016).

For more information: http://aucklandoperastudio.co.nz/

About Operanesia

Operanesia is an operatic quartet – a collaboration – made up of qualified and classically trained vocalists, offering a fusion of opera and Polynesia. All four singers are from Auckland via the Pacific Islands of Samoa and Tonga.

They are Kalauni Pouvalu, Noah Filimoehala, Joel Amosa and Benson Wilson.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Culture Headlines | Health Headlines | Education Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • CULTURE
  • HEALTH
  • EDUCATION
 
 
  • Wellington
  • Christchurch
  • Auckland
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.