Michaela Cadwgan is a soprano from New Zealand currently based in Australia. In 2020 with she graduated with First Class Honours in BMus from The New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington, studying under the tutelage of Dr. Margaret Medlyn, Wade Kernot, Dr. Jenny Wollerman, and Bruce Greenfield. Alongside this, she earned a BA in German and Italian. Michaela is also an alumna of the New Zealand Opera School where in 2024 she was awarded the Dame Sister Mary Leo Foundation Award.
As a performer in New Zealand, both as a soloist and in opera choruses, her notable performances include the title role of Suor Angelica in the New Zealand School of Music Puccini Double Bill (2019), as well as collaboration with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO at Te Papa 2020), Auckland Philharmonia (Lockwood NZ Aria Finals 2019 and 2022), Orchestra Wellington (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust 2022), and Opera Australia Orchestra (IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition Finals 2023). Michaela’s accolades include first place in the Wellington Regional Aria Competition (2021), runner-up at The Lockwood New Zealand Aria Finals (2022). In 2023 she received the Saluzzo Opera Academy Scholarship, along with the Merenda Travel Prize and the MOST Audience Prize at the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition Finals.
In 2024, Michaela performed the role of Julia Betram in the New Zealand premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park with New Zealand Opera and was the recipient of the 2024 Victorian Opera Opera Prize. During her year of work with Victorian Opera Michaela performed in over 40 shows and concerts. Her roles included Gorngany in Parrwang Lifts the Sky, Lady Lewson/Sarah Whitehead/Mrs Worral in English Eccentrics, Bianca in La Rondine, and ensemble in Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Michaela is honoured to return to Victorian Opera as a recipient of the Opera Prize in 2025. She is also returning to New Zealand Opera to perform the role of Fanny Price in the 2025 season of Mansfield Park.