McDonald's 3 Kiwi Aria finalists

James Ioelu (Baritone)was born in Auckland and grew up studying classical piano. In his high school years at St Kentigern College, he broadened his musical knowledge with the bass guitar, jazz piano and drums and played in a number of school music bands. In his late teens James began taking lessons in classical singing which led to an appearance at Wanganui Opera School where he met his current teacher, Frances Wilson. James has completed a BA majoring in Music and Psychology at the University of Auckland and in August is heading to New York, where he has been accepted at the Manhattan School of Music to further his singing studies. In 2008 James won the Becroft Aria and went on to win the Mazda Foundation National Young Performer Award in voice. He then reached the quarter-finals of the McDonald’s Aria and received third place in the New Zealand Aria. This gave him a Summer School Scholarship at the National Singing School where he won the award for musical excellence. James has performed often with Auckland’s Opera Factory and Auckland Opera Studio. He is to sing the role of Publio in the Auckland Opera Studio’s forthcoming production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.

Darren Pene Pati is a 22 year old Samoan-born tenor who is currently studying towards his BMus (honours) in Voice/BA at the University of Auckland under the tutelage of Patricia Wright and Rosemary Barnes. Pene was the winner of the 2009-2010 New Zealand Aria Competition in Rotorua last year, was third in the Becroft Aria 2010 and won the nomination for the North Shore PACS Mazda Foundation National Young Performer Award in voice which will be contested in Invercargill in October 2010. Pene was also placed second in the 2010 NSPACS Seamus Casey Memorial Award. This aspiring young singer has sung for many great music names including Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Malvina Major and Sir Andrew Davis.

Sarah Ann Walker

Sarah Ann Walker, a soprano from Christchurch, New Zealand, has recently been awarded Grants from The Apex Foundation, The Joan Sutherland Society and The Arts Foundation of Australia, as well as the Opera Guild, The Dame Malvina Major Foundation, and the New Zealand Opera Society, and was a Cynthia Magner Scholar in 2006.

Sarah has been a soloist for the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, The Dunedin Sinfonia as well as in other choral, orchestral and recital settings.

An Emerging Artist for the NBR New Zealand Opera Company in 2006 and 2007, Sarah understudied the roles of Liu in Puccini’s Turandot and Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust Sarah was also a principle artist in the Christchurch Arts Festival production of Anthony Ritchies “the God Boy’

Sarah has also had success in competitions around New Zealand, Australia and Europe including being a semi-finalist in the Lexus Song Quest 2009, and chosen as one of 140 to compete in the Internationally renowned Hans Gabor Belvedere Wien Kammeroper Competition 2009, in Vienna, Austria.

Rosemary Barnes, world renowned accompanist, has supported and mentored our competitors during their preparations and performances in this prestigious event. Rosemary was for more than 25 years one of London’s most sought-after accompanists and vocal coaches. Though only 18 when she left New Zealand on a QE11 Arts Advisory Council bursary to study piano with Franz Reizenstein at the Royal Academy of Music, Rosemary had already appeared as soloist on radio & television and with the Alex Lindsay String Orchestra. In London she incorporated her interest in languages into her future career path as collaborative pianist and voice coach. As one of the official accompanists for NSPACS Festivals, Rosemary has developed huge rapport with our young singers. She will accompany both James and Pene in the first section (with piano accompaniment) of their performance in the Final on 15 August in the Opera Theatre of Sydney Opera House.

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