The Kiri Master Class

About

The germ of an idea to write this opera came as a result of watching a production of Puccini's La Boheme at the movies. I had been aware of the issue for Opera Companies of casting singers in roles so unlike their real selves as to make it difficult for audiences to suspend their disbelief. As Boheme has a cast of student characters, I thought it would also be appropriate for Opera Factory to have an opera about students, as the singers at Opera Factory are often voice majors from Auckland University. I also thought it would be interesting for the audience to have a fly-on-the-wall experience of seeing what the singers are like backstage before a performance, which in this case is a master class with New Zealand icon and Opera Factory's patron, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

I have drawn heavily on my own experiences as a singer for this piece – both with the experience of performing in a master class, and with the personalities which abide regularly amongst singers.

My musical influences for this piece have been the short operas of Menotti and Leonard Bernstein, and the piano writing of Amanda Palmer of punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls.