Pacific Voices Are Owning the Opera Stage. Now the Next Generation Is Stepping Up

“There’s something built in us,” Pene Pati reflected.

“Our ancestors were voyagers. They set out in the canoe, the waka, and they jumped on it without any guarantee. They were like, ‘there’s got to be something out there.’”

For him, that same spirit drives many Pacific creatives chasing their dreams overseas, but also looking at how these innate Pasifika talents are being nurtured in Aotearoa.

If you’ve ever sat in an Islander church on a Sunday morning, you already know the truth the opera world is finally catching up to - Pacific people were born to sing.

The voices are big, the harmonies are second nature. Someone’s aunty is holding a note longer than humanly possible. And the choir director who is also your cousin, is definitely not letting you sit down until you get it right.

So maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that Pacific singers are now some of the most sought after voices in opera houses around the world.

From Samoa to South Auckland to the grand stages of Europe, Pacific talent has been rising through the classical ranks for decades. Think the Pati brothers, Benson Wilson, Aivale Cole, Isabella Moore, Filipe Manu, Manase Latu and a growing wave of artists who are showing the world what Pacific voices can do when they’re given the stage.

Now, another Pacific creative is stepping into that world. Not as a singer this time, but from the conductor’s podium.

Tongan conductor Samiu Uatahausi has been awarded a Creative New Zealand Pasifika Conductor Observership with New Zealand Opera, giving him the rare opportunity to shadow internationally respected conductor and New Zealand Opera’s General Director Brad Cohen during rehearsals and performances of Bluebeard’s Castle as part of the Auckland Arts Festival.

For Samiu, the opportunity is a major step into the professional world of opera.

“I am undertaking a conducting internship with New Zealand Opera, under the guidance of General Director and conductor of Bluebeard’s Castle, Brad Cohen,” he explains.

“It’s a Creative New Zealand Pasifika Conductor Observership designed to develop Pasifika artistic leadership in the opera space.”

During the observership, Samiu will observe the entire rehearsal process, from piano vocal rehearsals to full orchestral sessions, learning how singers, directors, répétiteurs and musicians all come together to create one of the most complex artforms on stage.

Opera, he says, is unlike anything else.

“I love the challenges opera brings, it is inspiring. From a conductor’s perspective, opera is one of the most complex art forms to lead. It weaves together every element of the arts, blending music, drama, language, emotion and visual storytelling into one powerful experience, with the conductor at the heart of it.”

But if Pacific people seem to thrive in opera, Samiu says the seeds are planted long before anyone steps onto an international stage.

“A lot of it comes from our culture singing in church and family gatherings.”

Anyone who has grown up in a Pacific household will probably nod knowingly at that.

The training starts early in choir practice, youth groups and church performances. Weddings. Funerals. Family events where someone inevitably says, “Oi, you sing now.”

By the time many Pacific singers consider opera as a career, they have already spent years building the vocal stamina and musical instinct that classical training demands.

Brad Cohen says this cultural foundation is one reason Pacific voices have become so prominent in opera casting in Aotearoa.

“At NZ Opera we have a clear casting priority: local first, then regional, then international. This is to support and promote our local artists and grow the ecosystem for opera here in Aotearoa,” he says.

“It so happens that of the many excellent singers living and working here, a lot are Pasifika. I think it’s because singing at church, in choirs and at home is such a big part of Pacific culture, so by the time developing singers even think about opera, they have probably already got their 10,000 hours of mastery on the clock.”

Cohen says Pacific singers also bring something special to the rehearsal room.

“We cast on the basis of talent and ability at NZ Opera, and Pasifika singers have magnificent voices, a really positive attitude to excellence at work, and combine that discipline with a chill attitude, the perfect people to have in the room.”

Many of those singers now live and work internationally, performing in major opera houses across Europe. But Cohen says New Zealand Opera actively encourages those artists to return home whenever possible.

“It’s common for our diaspora to circle back to Aotearoa on a regular basis, someone always seems to be coming or going,” he says.

“We want to keep that circular exchange because it nourishes us and it nourishes our artists, to have that connection with home and family here.”

Opera may have begun in Europe centuries ago, but Cohen believes the artform now belongs to the world.

“I want to challenge the idea that opera is a European dominated industry,” he says.

“Take rugby. It was invented in England, but is it a European sport? The All Blacks sit at the very top of the game as equals.”

“Similarly, we don’t think of opera as being owned by Europe. Opera is now a world artform.”

Pacific artists have certainly taken that idea and run with it.

International tenor Pene Pati, one of the most recognised Pacific voices in opera today, believes that fearless Pacific spirit comes from deep within Polynesian history.

“There was always something at the back of my mind that I wanted to go out there and do more. I’m sure that’s the same for every other Polynesian person that has this mentality that ‘I’m going to do it.’”

And while Pacific singers have been dominating opera stages for years, Samiu Uatahausi represents something just as important. The next generation is stepping into leadership roles behind the music.

From church choirs to concert halls, from South Auckland to the world stage, the Pacific pipeline into opera is still growing.

This time though, it’s not just the voices being heard.

It’s now the conductors of this beautiful music as well.

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Special thanks to Pacific Arts Creative NZ