Festival Opera NZ

We’re not your traditional opera company. We believe that opera is for everyone in our community, and we've worked hard to make it something that Hawke's Bay can be proud of. Festival Opera was born in 2013 with an ambition to bring world class opera to our local stages. Founders Anna and Sarah had met through music (both singing in the NZ Youth Choir) becoming lifelong friends in their early twenties. The idea for Festival Opera emerged over a coffee soon after they had returned home from extended periods overseas where they had each developed their careers – Anna as an opera singer, and Sarah as a healthcare strategist. New Zealand has a special effect of making anything seem possible, and after experiencing incredible opera in Europe, the pair felt duty-bound to ensure that spine-tingling opera was accessible to the people of Hawke’s Bay. Festival Opera is driven by the unique power of music to bring people together, enabling them to share a creative experience and interpret their own lives through the performance. Opera is a mirror – it tells the everyday stories of people’s lives, somehow elevated through sublime musical lines. Gives you goose bumps doesn’t it? We believe that communities that have music in them are healthier of mind and soul, so we work hard to build the audiences of the future through our outreach programme, delivered in partnership with the Prima Volta Charitable Trust. Our huge team of volunteers is proof of the connection between giving your time for a community project and positively impacting wellbeing. At Festival Opera we’re working hard to bring the whole community on the journey with us, and we look forward to seeing you at the opera soon!