WOW! - it's Wanganui Opera Week

Wanganui Opera Week

Supporting and Promoting Opera in Wanganui

Opera School Participants

There is the usual wonderful line-up of tutors for the 2012 New Zealand Opera School in Wanganui.
Vocal Coach & Principal Tutor: Professor Paul Farrington from London Assistant Tutors: Margaret Medlyn Barry Mora Richard Greager	Professor Paul Farrington
Of Professor Paul Farrington's masterclasses, a sports columnist wrote in the Wanganui Chronicle (15 January 2010) “ "It is always a pleasure to watch an expert at work and Professor Paul Farrington is certainly an expert. The Master Class sessions he conducts in the Prince Edward Auditorium at Wanganui Collegiate School as part of the New Zealand Opera School are an excellent example of coaching at its best. He diagnoses a problem with the singers, designs interesting ways of correcting the problem and above all encourages the performer to feel the difference."
Other Tutors: Luca Manghi (Italian language coach) Flavio Villani (Italian language coach) Sara Brodie (movement, acting and directing coach) Kararina Walker (assistant stagecraft) Coaches/répétiteurs Bruce Greenfield (pianist, vocal coach) Iola Shelley (pianist, vocal coach) Dr Greg Neil (pianist, vocal coach) Francis Cowan (pianist, vocal coach) David Kelly (pianist, vocal coach) Mark Dorrell (pianist, vocal coach) Travis Baker (pianist, conductor, choral) Opera Directors Aidan Lang and Michael Vinten Invited guest– international performer Wendy-Dawn Thompson returns in a mentoring capacity	Great Opera Moments 2010

News of past students Here are some snippets of news of just some of the past students of the NZOS: Madeleine Pierard and Allison Cormack took 1st and 2nd place in the prestigious Lexus song quest. Margaret Medlyn (a NZOS tutor), Grant Dixon (a past NZOS tutor), Paul Chappory and Simon O’Neill all performed in Parsifal as part of the International Festival of the Arts. Rebecca Crabtree and Derek Hill were awarded roles in the recent productions of the NBR NZ Opera’s production of La Traviata. Fernand Kenel played roles in Tosca and Pagliacci for Canterbury Opera. Morag Atchison, Phillip Rhodes and Carla Perry all sang in Mozart’s The Magic Flute in 2006. Kristen Darragh and James Harrison performed in Faust in 2006. A number of recent alumni have found success over the past year. Tavis Gravatt recently won the North Shore Aria, Hadleigh Adams has accepted a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Cam Barclay, Amelia Berry and Rachel Day were recently named the 2010/2011 PwC Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artists. Kararaina Walker was runner-up at the University of Waikato Aria Competition and Frances Moore provided interesting reading in the programme notes for the NZSO’s recent tour with Dame Malvina Major.