Matthew McAuley 
Kia ora koutou and nau mai haere mai to the first instalment of Stage Notes for our 2025 season of The Monster in the Maze. Over the course of recorded history, it’s safe to say that few stories have been shared quite so widely, across as many generations or in as many formats as the … Read more
New Zealand Opera is delighted to announce Brent Stewart as the 2025 Friedlander Foundation Associate Artist. This prestigious appointment recognises Stewart’s exceptional talent and aims to foster the development of operatic conducting in New Zealand. Brent is a highly versatile New Zealand musician, whose extensive work spans orchestral, choral, operatic, and contemporary music. Known for … Read more
In partnership with Opera North and the University of Leeds, New Zealand Opera is pleased to once again announce that applications are now open for the coveted Pettman DARE Fellowship in Music Education and Community Engagement Project Management. A fully-funded 12-month programme delivered in collaboration between these three organisations, the fellowship allows for a citizen … Read more
Kia ora koutou and nau mai haere mai to the first instalment of Stage Notes for New Zealand Opera’s highly anticipated 2025 season of La bohème. For those who enjoy opera, few pursuits draw more reliable pleasure than engaging in impassioned debate about which works make up the artform’s true canon. But even in this … Read more
Earlier this year, NZ Opera, Auckland Philharmonia, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra kicked off an exciting search for hundreds of adult and youth community singers and musicians across Aotearoa. New Zealand Opera will be presenting the Australasian premiere of opera The Monster In The Maze by successful UK composer Dove in … Read more
From modern classics to time-tested masterpieces, this is our take on extraordinary. NZ Opera reflects on the past to shape the future as it celebrates 25 years of presenting opera in Aotearoa. The national opera company was formed in the year 2000 through a merger of the Auckland and Wellington opera companies, with Christchurch joining … Read more
With every opera comes a rich set of stories, and our very-fast-approaching season of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto is absolutely no exception. And so with that in mind, nau mai haere mai to a brand new season of Stage Notes! In this series we go deep inside and behind the scenes of our stunning productions, giving … Read more
Our production of Le comte Ory opened in Auckland on 29 May to rave reviews. Here’s a selection of the feedback from our Tāmaki Makaurau season: “The physical and visual comedy in the show is delightful” – SAM BROOKS, DRAMATIC PAUSE / THE SPINOFF “Rossini’s penultimate opera, written for sophisticated Parisian audiences, might have seemed … Read more
Welcome back to Stage Notes. As we inch closer to opening night for Le comte Ory, we thought it was only fair that we start to share a little more detail about our exciting (and very modern) new take on Rossini’s comic classic. With that in mind, we managed to convince the wonderful creative duo … Read more
In partnership with Opera North and the University of Leeds, New Zealand Opera is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2024-25 Pettman DARE Fellowship in Music Education and Community Engagement Project Management. A fully-funded 12-month programme delivered in collaboration between these three organisations, the fellowship allows for a citizen or permanent … Read more