Once upon a time, a soprano, a mezzo & a baritone decided to build an opera company…
The Company
Hailed by The Press as 'a company to watch', Ōtautahi's own Toi Toi Opera is fast establishing a reputation as Aotearoa's most exciting and innovative pint-sized opera company. Dedicated to presenting staged opera, Toi Toi Opera was founded in 2019 to celebrate and grow the talent of Waitaha Canterbury's local opera singers, musicians, and associated creative and technical teams, and to make opera more accessible to the community.
Their inaugural season Suor Angelica & Elegies, directed by Sara Brodie, premiered at the newly-restored Great Hall of The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, in February 2021, to great audience and critical acclaim. Featuring Puccini’s exquisite one act opera Suor Angelica, complemented by Elegies a selection of staged scenes of the music of Britten, Butterworth and Vaughan Williams, the production was lauded as 'ingenious' and 'truly spectacular' (The Press), 'innovative, thought-provoking, and imaginative' (Theatreview), and 'an auspicious debut season' (NZ Opera News).
Cast Photo - Toi Toi Opera, Suor Angelica & Elegies, February 2021, The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa NZ.
Photo © Karyn Taylor-Moore for Toi Toi Opera - 2021
This was followed in August 2022 by A Barber & Bernstein Double Bill, a spellbinding new production, and really a triple bill - featuring Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti in its 70th anniversary year, and two works of Samuel Barber A Hand of Bridge and Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Directed by Matthew Kereama and starring some of Aotearoa's finest young operatic talent, it was labelled 'innovative, imaginative and adventurous' (The Press), 'ingenious' and 'compelling' (Theatreview).
Having subsequently gone on, in March 2023, to delight the crowds at the inaugural Off Centre festival at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora with an immersive journey through some of opera's best-known and best-loved highlights (complete with Viking helmets and breast plates, of course!) Toi Toi Opera is thrilled to be partnering with The Arts Centre once again for their 2023-2024 season. This time presenting the new, fully accessible, family-friendly Ōtautahi Summer Opera Festival, running from December 2023 to March 2024, with four entirely new productions, designed to enchant and entrance opera fans both young and old.
Directors
Of course, they knew they couldn’t do it without a tenor…
Kia ora koutou katoa,
Toi Toi Opera was born from a desire to give back something beautiful to the city we love, Ōtautahi Christchurch, Te Waipounamu, Aotearoa New Zealand - a city that has suffered more than its fair share of sorrow in recent years and which needs as many of its artists to shine as much restorative light as they possibly can as we continue to rebuild and recover.
Whether you’re a long-time lover of opera, or you’re just becoming curious about it, our doors are wide open for you to continue to explore and experience this very special art form.
Keep an eye-out here and on social media to find out the details of our open rehearsals. These are free, and open to school students and community groups by invitation. Please contact us if you’d like your school group or organisation to be added to our waiting list. The opportunity to pop by, and see and hear our productions taking shape is very special, and we really love welcoming you all! We hope in doing so that we can broaden the reach, and grow the love of the art form in Canterbury.
We also hold talks and masterclasses in the lead up to each performance season, so that you can get to know the company and our wonderful artists a little better.
Thank you, from all of us, for supporting your local opera artists. We look forward to sharing more of this glorious art form with you all in the years to come.
Kā mihi nui ki a koutou,
Toi Toi Opera Team
December 2023