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Caitlin Roberts
Voice Type
Soprano
Home Town
Rangitīkei District
How did you become interested in opera singing?
I was blessed to have joined the youth opera intiative Project Prima Volta in Hawkes Bay when I was 15 years old. I sung in my first opera chorus in Puccini’s La Boheme and was given the role of Belinda for Project Prima Volta’s production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. I fell in love with the art form of opera during my high school years and have been focused on this art form ever since!
Performance highlights so far?
Erste Dame - Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), Festival Opera x NZSO (2023)
Soloist - Gloria & Magnificat (Vivaldi) Christmas Oratorio (Saint-Säens), Kāpiti Chorale (2022)
Soloist - Broadway Matinee NZSO x Project Prima Volta (2021)
Soloist - Requiem (Mozart) & Don Giovanni Excerpts (Mozart), Napier Civic Choir (2021)
Chorus - Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci (2020), La Traviata (2019), Madame Butterfly (2018), Carmen (2017), La Boheme (2016), Festival Opera
Photo © Richard Wood
What are you looking forward to about being part of TANZOS?
I am most looking forward to immersing myself and absorbing wisdom from the tutors throughout my time in TANZOS and exploring operatic repertoire with my vocal teacher Nikki Li Hartliep that best represents myself as an artist. Being in TANZOS gives the opportunity to continue to build my confidence to express characters and their emotional journeys to audiences with authenticity while honoring the composer’s intentions in the score.
What are your career hopes following TANZOS?
I strive to continue to build myself as a singer technically and artistically for the next steps in my career, auditioning for young artist programmes overseas with an interest in European countries. After participating in young artist progammes, I would be fulfilled in either having a career internationally of freelance work or in a Fest contract, sharing the experience of opera with audiences and using this experience to give back to my community in later years.
Supported by the Freemasons Foundation
Biography
Caitlin Roberts is a 25-year-old soprano who grew up between the Rangītikei District and Hawke’s Bay. Her passion for opera began with her involvement in Project Prima Volta, a youth opera initiative which led to her involvement as a chorus member in multiple productions for Festival Opera between 2015 to 2020. She is studying at Te Pae Kōkako - The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS) under the tutelage of Nikki Li Hartliep, where she is supported by the Freemasons Foundation Opera Grant.
Caitlin is an alumna of the New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with a conjoint degree of a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Arts. She is also an alumna of the University of Waikato Conservatorium of Music where she completed a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours and a Master of Music under the tutelage of Dr Anna Leese and Catrin Johnsson.
Previous concert engagements have included soloist appearances with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Kāpiti Chorale, Project Prima Volta and Napier Civic Choir. She was the 2021 recipient of the Kapiti Chorale Award in Vocal Performance and was included on the Dean’s List for Academic Excellence for three years consecutively; 2019, 2020 and 2021. She was awarded second at the University of Waikato Aria Competition in 2025 and recently attended the New Zealand Opera School in 2026.