Budding New Zealand opera stars have been making their mark in the annual Sydney Eisteddfod McDonald’s Operatic Aria for decades.
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Previously known as the Sun Aria, this 82-year-old competition has served as a launching pad for Dame Joan Sutherland and many other great singers.
There has rarely been a year when New Zealand has not been represented in the final, and this year Auckland soprano Isabella Moore is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her contemporaries Pene Pati who triumphed in 2011 and his fiancée Amina Edris who won in 2013. Isabella is a graduate of St. Mary’s College, Ponsonby, where the legendary New Zealand singing teacher Dame Sister Mary Leo taught, among others, Dame Malvina Major and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
"The thought these great singers were once students at the school like me, made the idea of becoming a successful singer seem possible," Isabella says.
"They gave me something to strive for".
Since then Isabella has been striving with great success. She gained a Bachelor of Music and a Postgraduate Diploma in Voice Performance from the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University. Then last year, after studying with Dennis O’Neill and Nuccia Focile at the Wales Academy of Voice in Cardiff, she graduated with a Master of Arts in Advanced Vocal Studies with Distinction and won the prestigious 2014 Lexus Song Quest.
She's been adding to her clutch of numerous prizes and awards in New Zealand and one day hopes to live the dream singing in opera houses around the world.
“My father is my biggest supporter," she says. "He likes to help me in anyway he can.
Having him around takes some of the stress out of things and helps me stay calm and focused". Her greatest inspiration, however, is her grandfather, well-known writer, playwright and artist Albert Wendt.
"He made me believe that I could be whatever I wanted to be," she says.
"He is so passionate about his chosen field, he has made a career out of it and shown me it is possible to live what you love".
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