Source: Auckland Council
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It’s New Zealand Music Month in May and people will flood into midtown’s streets, lanes and public spaces, further cementing our place in the world as a UNESCO City of Music.
They will hear the diverse and unique sounds of Tāmaki Makaurau, as Auckland Council hosts a free public programme of music, supported by the city centre targeted rate.
The season opens with Opera in the Strand on Thursday 1 May at 6pm. After a successful debut in 2024, Opera in the Strand returns in all its glorious colour, costumery and melody.
Listen and watch highlights from the 2024 event on YouTube here.
Totally free and with no tickets needed, people will simply walk up and hear New Zealand’s finest young opera singers in full voice. Curated by the New Zealand Opera School, the artists sing from the tiled arcade floor and high on the bridges above midtown’s historic Strand Arcade, built 125 years ago.
Councillor Desley Simpson is thrilled to see Opera in the Strand back by popular demand.
“As this exciting new neighbourhood takes shape around Te Waihorotiu Station, our teams are working hard to attract people back to midtown and support businesses impacted by construction, through events like this.
“Music is always in the mix and there’s nothing like opera, brought to one of our historic city centre jewels, to lift spirits,” she says.
NZ Opera School Trustee Jack Bourke, an Aotea Arts Quarter advocate and co-curator of Opera in the Strand, explains the significance of Opera in the Strand further: “The importance of music in building place is undeniable. The importance of music in building community, and the arts quarter at the heart of our regenerating midtown, is immeasurable.”
Visit OurAuckland for 2025’s New Zealand Music Month menu for all tastes. It’s an experience not to be missed.
Read about the opera stars and pianists you will hear sing and play in our historic Strand Arcade on 1 May:
Emma Jones – Soprano
Emma Jones completed her Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours as a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar at the University of Waikato. This year she is studying towards her Masters of Music under the tutelage of Emma Pearson.
Emma was recently awarded the Merle Higgie Opera Prize of Potential at the New Zealand Opera School and the prize for Most Potential at the Nicholas Tarling Aria Competition. In 2024 she debuted in the role of Iphis in Handel’s Jephtha and made her Auckland Town Hall debut as the Soprano 2 soloist in Bach Musica NZ’s performance of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.2 (Hymn of Praise). Emma has also received Music Blues Awards for four consecutive years and the 2024 Creative and Performing Arts Person of the Year. NZOS Alumna 2024.
Olivia Forbes – Soprano
Olivia Forbes performing at Strand Arcade.
Olivia Forbes is a 23-year-old soprano from Auckland. Having completed her undergraduate conjoint in Voice and Italian from Auckland University, she has recently completed her honours degree in Classical Voice with first class under the tutelage of Dr. Morag Atchison. In 2019, she played the role of Flora in New Zealand Opera’s production of The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten and has been a student at the New Zealand Opera School in Whanganui where she was awarded the 2025 Dame Sister Mary Leo award for dedication to the craft of Opera.
Recently, Olivia placed third in the Beacroft Aria Finals and was a finalist in the 2024 New Zealand Aria competition where she performed as a soloist with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra. At the 2025 Nicholas Tarling aria finals she was awarded the inaugural Sally Stone award for most outstanding talent. She is passionate about sharing the beauty of classical music with audiences and looks forward to expanding her horizons internationally later this year as she embarks to London to pursue a Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music. NZOS Alumna 2023/2024.
Sarah Mileham – Soprano
Sarah Mileham is a 22-year-old Soprano from Tauranga and now based in Hamilton. In 2023, she finished her Bachelor of Music in Classical Performance at the New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University of Wellington under the tuition of Jenny Wollerman. She has just completed her Bachelor of Music with Honours at Waikato University with Soprano Anna Leese. She is now an artist with Te Pae Kōkako The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS).
In 2024, Sarah made her debut with NZ Opera singing ‘Maria Bertram’, a principal role, in Mansfield Park by Jonathan Dove and ‘Countess Ceprano’ in Verdi’s Rigoletto. She also sang the role of Adina in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love NZO Schools Tour, which travelled Aotearoa. She has been awarded first at the 2024 Nicholas Tarling Aria Competition, the DMMF Waikato Aria Competition, the Norah Howell Recital Class, and Te Awamutu Aria. She has also been a finalist in the Lockwood NZ Aria (2023), Runner up in Christchurch (2023,2024) and Wellington Aria Finals (2023), and received the Merle Higgie Opera Prize for Potential at her first New Zealand Opera School in 2023. Sarah is excited to grow her professional career and is looking forward to future further studies overseas. NZOS Alumna 2023/2024.
Ridge Ponini – Tenor
Ridge Ponini performing at Strand Arcade.
Proud Cook Island tenor, Ridge Ponini completed his Honours degree in Music at the University of Otago, majoring in classical voice performance and is a 2024 Artist with Te Pae Kokako – The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS). In 2017 Ridge was named the Most Promising Singer and received the Judges Choice Award in the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Aria award, and in the same competition placed second in 2018. In 2021 Ridge was awarded the Enari Iosefa Opera Award from Creative New Zealand and in 2022 was a semi finalist for the Lexus Song Quest. Ridge was a studio artist with New Zealand Opera in 2023 and winner of the Dame Sister Mary Leo Award (runner up) at the 2024 NZ Opera School. NZOS Alumnus 2020/2021/2023/2024.
Edward Laurenson – Baritone
Former NZ Opera Emerging Artist and Circle 100 Scholar, Edward Laurenson was the winner of the Guildhall Prize at the 2013 IFAC Australian Singing Competition and graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama Master of Performance in London and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying under Yvonne Kenny and Cesar Ulloa. Following his residency at Opera Colorado and the Merola Opera Programme, Edward has performed operatic roles worldwide. Supported by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation he returned to NZ in 2022 to perform the role of Anatoly in Chess the Musical in Auckland. NZOS Alumnus 2013/2014.
Alfred Fonoti-Fuimaono – Baritone
Alfred Fonoti-Fuimaono is a Samoan baritone from Flaxmere, Hastings. His interest in classical music flourished through his involvement with the youth initiative, ‘Project Prima Volta’ – a music programme based in Hawke’s Bay that empowers youth through classical music. He completed a Master in Advanced Opera Studies through The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS) at the University of Waikato under the tutelage of Kristin Darragh, and continued his development as a Freemasons New Zealand Opera Company Artist for 2024 under the tutelage of Nikki-Li Hartliep. Alfred is a five time attendee of the NZ Opera School where he was awarded the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Award in 2024.
Francis Cowan – Pianist
Francis Cowan was appointed as full time Head of Collaborative Piano at the University of Waikato in 2015. He enjoys a busy schedule of coaching and accompaniment for voice and instrumental students and is a regular pianist and organist for the New Zealand Opera School.
David Kelly, pianist
David is based in Auckland and is a repetiteur and coach for New Zealand Opera, Te Pae K ō kako (University of Waikato) and the New Zealand Opera School. He collaborates frequently with the Auckland Philharmonia , Auckland Chamber Orchestra, Voices New Zealand, and the Universities of Auckland and Waikato. With flutist Luca Manghi he has recorded a critically applauded recital disc Quays (Atoll Records, ACD 882), and is a member of the Donizetti Trio, which undertook national tours in 2014 and 2019 for Chamber Music New Zealand. David studied at the University of Canterbury with Diedre Irons and Maurice Till and is a graduate of the Australian Opera Studio.
