This year’s ‘Level Up’ theme is about bringing into focus tomorrow’s stars, showcasing up-and-coming talent and success stories, and celebrating what emerging success means for the New Zealand artists. In "bringing into focus" young talent in Tauranga, Tauranga Opera Forum is presenting a concert from its 2022 scholarship recipients, in 2021 they entered and won scholarships providing them up to a year of professional tuition.
Performers are:
Ansh Dhot
My aspirations for my future entail maintaining this art form, as well as building my skill set. Growing up with my voice has been a pleasurable journey, from when I was a nervous small child, to the young woman I am today. Over the years I have been able to build a relationship with my voice, and have been able to learn something new every time I open my mouth to sing; I hope to maintain this relationship, as well as my habit of learning new skills consistently, in the future.
Ella Chapman- Hodge
My aspirations regarding my future in singing involve graduating from either Auckland or Wellington University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. I feel as though this degree would allow me to study an area that I am passionate about, it would give me the opportunity to be creative and understand the format of both Classical and Musical Theatre singing. Because I began performing in musical theatre from a young age, I would like to maintain the skill and knowledge throughout my life whether it is theoretical or practical and even pass down my knowledge to the youth. With all of the ensemble choirs that I am taking part in, I would like to take the opportunities that lie within including travelling abroad whether the location is in Australia, New York, or still in New Zealand, entering larger competitions and making new relations with people who share the same love for singing. I have found that being involved in two specific ensemble groups, Production and Luminosa Armonia Chorale, has created a sense of community as everyone shares the same love of performing, no matter if their singing ability is advanced or beginner. I feel that everytime I sing, I learn something new in order to sing to the best of my ability and I hope to carry on that relationship with my voice as I become older.
Zoe Sherlock
My entire life I’ve grown up around music. My father’s keen ear when it came to notes and my mother’s enthusiasm towards singing both rubbed off on me and I would love to share my voice with others. For me, opera isn’t just about the song, it’s about how to portray the emotion the song holds. Singing songs in different languages, learning about the cultures and stories that helped form the song itself are all things that I love to do. Over the past few years, I’ve began to consider opera as a career path, and I would love to be able to pursue it. My goal is to be able to go as far as I can with my voice. I want to learn more songs and perform them to others. I want to push myself when it comes to singing and be the best I possibly can.
Mackenzie Wilson
My name is Mackenzie Willson. I am 15 years old and a Year 11 student at Mount Maunganui College. I have always loved to sing and have been having singing lessons since I was 9. In my free time I love writing songs, singing, acting, creating harmonies, playing ukulele and piano. I want to continue singing and music throughout my life as I find it is my happy place. Career wise I would like to use my vocal knowledge and passion to support others by becoming a Speech Language Therapist. I have read about situations where the use of singing has allowed people to overcome speech issues and I feel inspired to learn more about this.
Aidan Thomas Phillips
"Aidan Phillips is a 23 year old Tenor based in Hamilton. He originally lived in the UK where he started his singing journey in 2011 as a Chorister, before moving out to New Zealand with his family in 2013. From that time on he began to take singing more seriously - taking part in school productions, local competitions, joining the St. Peter's Cathedral Choir and also the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir for 2015-16. Alongside this he was a member of the University of Waikato Accellerando programme where he was tutored by Glenese Blake and Ian Campbell.
Emma Twigley
Emma Pearson was principal artist at the Hessisches Staatstheater, Wiesbaden, in Germany from 2005 until 2014.
During this time, she performed over 30 roles for the company, including the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Woglinde, Gerhilde and Waldvogel in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Adele (Die Fledermaus) and Norina (Don Pasquale) to critical acclaim. On her departure from the company, the State of Hessen awarded Emma the honorary title of Kammersängerin. She is the youngest opera singer to have ever received this title.
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