Tongan Opera singer Filipe Manu wins Lexus Song Quest

Cover Photo credit: RNZ Hagen Hopkins - Filipe Manu, winner of the Lexus Song Quest 2022  

On Saturday evening the Lexus Song Quest finale was back after a 4 year break and featured five talented young opera singers along with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.  This year New Zealand's most prestigious competition took place at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington with up to $95,000 in prizes and the Lexus Song Quest crown.

Each of the finalists had to perform a song with Terence Dennis accompanying them on the piano and two arias with the New Zealand Symphony orchestra.  The five opera hopefuls were judged live on the night but there could be only one ... and that one was three time finalist Filipe Manu.

Filipe performed Strauss' Morgen in the first half and his two second half arias were Donizetti's Spirto gentil (La favorita) and Gounod's Ah! lève-toi, soleil! (Romeo et Juliette).  His performances were described as 'powerful, well-rounded and controlled with a heroic timbre' and when he was announced as the winner, one of his mentor's, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa rushed on stage to give him a hug. 

“You’ve got to jump up and down and you’ve got to say it’s a relief, a terrific relief to have such success, he was pinpointed fairly quickly as soon as they saw him in the colleges so he's one of the very special ones" Dame Kiri said to 1 News 

Manu who grew up in Auckland and lived in London for four years, is now living in Bern, Switzerland after receiving a job offer there and is currently a member of the newly founded soloists ensemble of Stadttheater Bern.

He got his musical start as many Pacific island artists do in church but said that he only started taking singing seriously when he was at Dilworth School after joining the school choir.  A friend of his began singing lessons so he thought he'd sign up for them as well and credits Dilworth's Performing Arts teacher Claire Caldwell for putting him on to classical music.

He later moved to London to study his master's on scholarship as part of the opera programme and picked up a performance role at the Opera House with the young artists programe.

Last year he made history as the first ever Tongan to perform at the iconic Covent Garden in London in what was also the first time a Tongan song was ever performed there.  

In an Interview with Re he explained why he feels the performance was a career highlight "I was feeling a little homesick and I had this crazy idea to perform this Tongan song. For a long time, I thought it would be so cool to hear Tongan music on the Royal Opera House stage. 

I had a look and there were only three Tongan opera singers in the world, so I thought that if anyone was going to bring Tongan music to the Royal Opera House, it would be me.

I think that was particularly special, being able to share my culture with so many people."

Filipe proudly sings 'Efiafi peau ongo'i vale' by Sione Niupalavu Tatu in the video below; making it the first ever performance of a Tongan song at the iconic Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London.

For his win at Lexus Song Quest he has received a cash prize of $20,000, a study scholarship of $27,000, plus economy international travel up to the value of $3,000.

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