Queenstowners will have one last chance to hear from a rising Dunedin opera star this week, before she heads off to study at the Boston Conservatory.
Soprano Olivia Pike’s just scooped a highly-coveted spot at the fabled performing arts college, renowned as a production line for Grammy and Tony award winners.
Pike’s one of just 10 selected from hundreds of singers from 45 countries for next year’s opera programme, tutors of which are
described as the ‘dream team’ of opera star development.
She says the wait for news from Boston has bee ‘‘nerve-wracking’’.
‘‘After sending the Conservatory performance tapes, I was next asked to fly to Boston to do three live auditions, each about 10 minutes long.’’
The audition judges were the six specialist tutors she’ll work with next year.
‘‘I had to perform a mix of three arias and three arts songs.
‘‘I got to choose one of them, but the rest were set pieces the panel selects to test your different abilities.
‘‘I’m so fortunate being a winner, because the Conservatory’s tutors are opera’s tops.
‘‘Plus, the alumni they’ve produced include incredible names.’’
A previous winner of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation award and the Braydon Caldicutt area award, Pike was hand-picked by
world-renowned Wagnerian tenor Simon O’Neill to support him on a tour last year, which included a stop in Arrowtown.
She’s returning there this week, to perform again at the Athenaeum Hall, doubling as a fundraiser to help get her back to the US in September and help fund her two-year graduate performance diploma.
Presented by the Arrowtown Creative Arts Society and sponsored by Whitestone Cheese, Pike will be supported by Professor Terence Dennis, a regular accompanist to Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and O’Neill, who’s been in Paris topping the bill in Parsifal — he’s sent his best wishes to Pike for her ‘‘huge undertaking’’.
ACAS committee member and event organiser John Lapsley says she’s a ‘‘big talent on the move’’.
‘‘It will be an exciting night.’’
A Night With Olivia Pike. The Arrowtown Athenaeum, Thursday July 6. Cash Bar 6.30pm for 7pm concert start. Tickets $60, discounted to $50 for ACAS members. Available from Arrowtown Pharmacy or eventfinda
