“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!”
Important Information: The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro) has been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please click the link for further information and updates.
Welcome to NZ Opera
2020 marks the 20th anniversary of New Zealand Opera. Something to celebrate!
Opera in Aotearoa began long before 2000 but since the merger with the National Opera of Wellington and Southern Opera in Christchurch, we are proud to have produced 451 opera performances, including 48 mainscale operas and 30 touring and festival operas. In addition to this we have presented 750 other performance events to an audience of more than 730,000 and included over 100,000 school children, youth and adults through our participation projects. We provide a platform for artists from many fields to advance their lives into international and local professional careers in the arts and opera.
Reimagining Opera
New Zealand Opera’s 2020 season theme is Revolution Redemption Resignation and features our mainscale production The Marriage of Figaro and site specific works Eight Songs for a Mad King, Semele and The Human Voice. We also have a busy programme of other concerts and events nationwide throughout the year, ensuring there is something for everyone. Thank you for all your support in 2019, it was a challenging year for us and we look forward to sharing our events with you in 2020!
Covid-19 Update
New Zealand Opera has made the difficult decision to reschedule our 2020 production of The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the Government directive on audience sizes and the travel restrictions impacting international cast and creatives, we believe this is the only possible decision and one that prioritises the health and wellbeing of our performers, crew, orchestras, audiences and community at large.
Please go to our news page (link below) for further updates and you may also go to the events page for details on specific productions.
Discover
Every year New Zealand Opera involve thousands of people in their participation initiatives. These include our annual Open Day, Pop up chorus, Community talks and tours and pre performance talks. This year we are proud to have launched the Lullaby Project for New Zealand with the support of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.
Schools
Every year New Zealand Opera tours Aotearoa to bring opera into Primary and Intermediate Schools. Specially devised for Kiwi kids, these fun and engaging productions are 45 minute adaptions of well known operas. Following the performance the students have the opportunity to meet the artists and learn more about opera. Other activities for youth are Dress Rehearsals, Workshops, our Ambassador programme and resource pack for teachers.
