“I have enjoyed going to the last few New Zealand Opera productions at the Isaac Theatre Royal and, more importantly, I have won over my previously ambivalent partner who now looks forward to going to the opera with me!”
2020 Season
Semele
29 October – 6 November 2020
2020 Season
The Human Voice
13 October – 12 November 2020
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Important Information: Due to the recent COVID 19 Government regulations please go to our news page for updates on this weeks events and office closures.
2020 Open Day
This event has been canceled due to COVID-19 Level 3 government restrictions.
Featuring behind-the-scenes tours of the wardrobe, wigs and makeup departments. Take the opportunity to watch artists at work in the rehearsal studio, and dress-ups for all ages. New Zealand Opera’s Open Day is a wonderful opportunity to see what happens behind the scenes to create an opera.
Discover
15 October 2020
Join us for a very special Insights event at the Opera Centre in Parnell. Art historian David Maskill will explore the story of Semele through depictions of the myth in art from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century.
Click below for more details.
Voice Your Support
We’re raising funds to enhance our digital offering and record future performances like Tosca which played on TVNZ over Queen’s Birthday weekend. Our deadline is now set as the Opening Night of Semele. If you are able, even a small gift can go a long way. Alternatively, lend your voice to the cause, submit a comment in support of this initiative or help spread the word!
Welcome to NZ Opera
Enriching the cultural life of Aotearoa
Whakarangatirahia te oranga ahurea o Aotearoa
In the 20 years since the inception of New Zealand Opera, the company has presented over 460 opera performances that include mainscale opera, touring productions, festival productions, concerts and other events to audiences of more than 730,000. Alongside this, the Company has pioneered extensive participation programmes for school children, young people and adults that have resulted in over 100,000 people engaging with opera in educational and meaningful ways. Furthermore, New Zealand Opera has a thriving Artist Development Programme in association with the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.
Under the artistic and organisational leadership of General Director Thomas de Mallet Burgess, the Company is re-imagining what opera might be within a New Zealand context (celebrating our cultural diversity including Māori and Pasifika arts; finding fiscally appropriate ways of commissioning new work; finding touring models that support the country’s regions) to build bridges between our art form and new audiences.
Now is an exciting time for opera in New Zealand. We continue to produce productions of size and quality and support many New Zealand singers working at the highest levels on a global stage. We are also experimenting with immersive and site-specific productions that seek to develop our audience. We will see exciting new works that tell our stories presented in the near future, and as a national company, we are beginning to extend our reach into new areas around the country. All of this to build on the rich heritage of opera in Aotearoa.
