We know that you love what you’re seeing & hearing from us, but in order for us to keep on singing, we need your donations now!
Please support us now!
Please click on the button above & help us to bring you more seasons of glorious opera Ōtautahi!
Thank you for helping to nurture the artform in the South Island & your world class operatic artists!
Our donee organisation status with Inland Revenue means that individuals may be able to claim a 33.33% tax credit for donations over $5. If you are able to pledge a larger amount or commit to an annual donation, please join Awa, our annual benefaction programme, by reading on, & filling in the form below.
Toi Toi Opera is a charitable trust, run by two volunteer directors donating their services free of charge in order to provide fair pay for all of the world class artists involved in our casts, musical and creative teams, and technical crews - all of whom were born, bred, raised, or reside, right here.
For far too many years, the classical singers of Ōtautahi Christchurch, of Waitaha Canterbury, and the wider Te Waipounamu South Island have been woefully under-recognised and under-utilised at home and around the motu. Don’t take our word for it, read the reviews - like this one of our sold out premiere Ōtautahi season of The Merry Widow in July 2026, from a reviewer who had seen Opera Australia’s lavishly staged version of the same operetta performed just the week prior to seeing our own:
‘But even if Opera Australia is able to call on singers with considerable international standing, Toi Toi’s cast are well up to any comparison.’ Tony Ryan for The Press & Stuff
The talent here is phenomenal, it always has been, and it’s our enormous privilege to showcase it, but CNZ has not renewed our funding for 2027, and outside of the wonderful financial and in-kind sponsorship we have received from the Christchurch City Council, every penny enabling us to deliver our seasons has to be fought for with hundreds of hours of volunteer labour.
Offering affordable ticket prices that are accessible for all in our community who want to experience the thrill of live opera, especially our tamariki and rangatahi, is also hugely important to us. In our first 7 years, we’ve been able to offer free or heavily subsidised tickets to our many family-friendly productions to thousands of young people across our region.
Help us to keep opera alive and relevant here in Waitaha Canterbury!
Click the button above and donate any amount up to NZ $1000 today, or if you are able to pledge a larger amount or commit to an annual donation, please join Awa, our annual benefaction programme, by reading on, & filling in the form below.
Kā mihi nui - thank you, so much, for any support you are able to offer - it means so much to all of us.
Images: Top - Matilda Wickbom stars in the 2026 premiere season of Lehár's ‘The Merry Widow’ at The Tannery in Christchurch; Below - Hundreds of tamariki enjoying a free outdoor performance by Toi Toi Opera’s young artists of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ by John Davies - one of several family friendly opera seasons we have mounted at The Arts Centre’s North Quad & Great Hall in recent years - Photographs both © Peter Moore for Toi Toi Opera 
Awa - Toi Toi Opera’s Annual Benefaction Programme
Named for the nourishing awa (rivers) that flow from the mighty maunga (mountains) which form the backbone of our breathtakingly beautiful region, through the beating heart of Waitaha Canterbury to the sea, please consider becoming a valued member of our benefation family by choosing your donation level, your payment frequency (one-time or annual donation), filling in your details on the form & joining Awa today.
We are the only local producers of opera in our region & with no targeted funding for opera being made available to us from 2027 from either CNZ, or the local Canterbury Opera Foundation - who have refused to provide financial or in-kind support to us since 2022, we desperately need your support to keep on going.
The average cost of mounting one of our mainstage productions is NZ $75,000 - which includes providing fair pay to all of the hundreds of artists we engage annually. Keeping our costs so low is only possible via innovative presentation choices, collaboration with other organisations who value what we’re doing, and hundreds of hours of voluntary labour donated by our co-directors and trustees.
Our impact extends well beyond the acclaimed productions and concert series we produce every year. We support our emerging artists through regular coaching and masterclass opportunities with the country’s finest singers and teachers, provide paid internship opportunities for emerging creatives across our production departments, and provide both artists and also in-kind support for collaborative events with other musical organisations across our region. We also sponsor the annual Toi Toi Opera Trophy and NZ $500 Cash Prize which is awarded to the most outstanding Canterbury singer competing in the annual Christchurch Competitions Society’s senior vocal classes every year.
In addition, we provide hundreds of local school students the opportunity to attend our open dress rehearsals free of charge, and free or heavily subsidised tickets to children and their families to attend our many family-friendly productions. Please help us to keep up all the good work by joining Awa today!
Waimakariri and Ōtākaro Awa members may choose to have a proportion of their donation targeted towards specific projects and artists announced for our forthcoming seasons - please indicate these preferences in the message field of the form; we are immensely grateful for your significant support and delighted to honour these wishes. Any targeted donations will receive additional public and private acknowledgement.
Your choice to join Awa is deeply meaningful to us all, and will make an enormous impact on our ability to continue to deliver extraordinary opportunities for our artists and audiences to engage with our beautiful artform in Te Waipounamu.
Home is where the heart, and the music is, and will remain, but only with your generous support.
Kā mihi nui ki a koutou / Thank you, so very much. 🤍
Toi Toi Opera Trustees & Artists
Our donee organisation status with Inland Revenue means that individuals may be able to claim a 33.33% tax credit for donations over $5. A full donation receipt will be issued automatically to the registered email address - please check your spam folder if you don't see this in your inbox immediately.