Let us Lexus!

The excitement is mounting!

On Thursday evening six of our young artists will exercise their vocal prowess before the distinguished German tenor Siegfried Jerusalem, in Auckland's Town Hall. (I recall seeing him in Die Walküre in the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires some years ago.)

The finalists are:

• Wade Kernot
• Aivale Cole
• Kristen Darragh
• Andrew Glover
• Julia Booth
• Polly Ott

The MC for the evening will be Aidan Lang

All but Aivale have been, or in the case of Polly, will be, PwC Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artists with the NBR New Zealand Opera and again all but Aivale have attended the New Zealand Opera School in Wanganui under the guidance of Paul Farrington, Margaret Medlyn, Barry Mora and Richard Greager. Aivale has sung with New Zealand Opera and is a fine performer.

This will be a great evening and I wish all contestants a very happy and enjoyable evening. They will all shine.

Lexus Song Quest Finalists

Warmest congratulations to the six finalists of the 2009 Lexus Song Quest the winner of which will be known after the competition on the 23rd April in the Auckland Town Hall.

The Trustees of the New Zealand Opera School are delighted to see that five of the finalists have all attended the School. I refer to Wade Kernot, Julia Booth, Kristen Darragh, Andrew Glover and Polly Ott. Wade, Julia, Kristen and Andrew have all been Emerging Artists with the NBR New Zealand Opera and Polly may be an Emerging Artist in the next annual session. Also, the sixth finalist, Aivale Cole, has sung with NBR New Zealand Opera. There is no doubt that our combined work and dedication to these young New Zealand Singers is having results.

I look forward immensely to the finals.