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Tomairangi Henare
Voice Type
Baritone
Home Town
Hawke's Bay
Iwi
Ngāti Kahungunu
How did you become interested in opera singing?
I became interested through Project Prima Volta, a youth opera initiative in Hawkes’ Bay. I joined the programme in 2016 and fell in love with opera when singing in the chorus of Festival Opera’s 2017 season of Bizet’s Carmen.
Performance highlights so far?
“Tōiri” - A concert of popular opera arias translated into Te Reo Māori as part of Te Pou Theatre’s 2024 ‘Kōanga’ Festival.
Massenet’s Cendrillon - Taking part in the New Zealand School of Music’s 2023 opera in the role of ‘Pandolfe’
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony - Singing my first Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Orpheus Choir and Kāpiti Orchestra. Sep 2024.
La Traviata - Festival Opera’s 2019 performance of Verdi’s La Traviata where I sang my first solo role, Marchesi.
'Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!' - NZ Opera and Opus Orchestra’s 2024 concert showcasing the titular character Figaro through arias from Paisiello’s Barber of Seville and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in concert form (semi staged).
Photo © Richard Wood
What are you looking forward to about being part of TANZOS?
I am most looking forward to intensely immersing myself in my singing journey more than I ever have before. The consistency and frequency of lessons, coachings, and lectures will allow me to focus on using my voice in a healthy and refined way moving further into my career as a young artist. I feel privileged to be able to work with some fantastic tutors and teachers throughout 2025.
What are your career hopes following TANZOS?
Following TANZOS I hope to have gained enoughn experience to audition for young artist programmes in Europe. By the end of my TANZOS journey, I hope to hold a much clearer perspective on the career path that would benefit me as a performer. My ultimate goal as a singer is to represent Māori culture on an international stage and to give back to my community as a humble representative in the opera industry.
Tomairangi is supported by a Te Pae Kōkako Scholarship
Biography
Raised in Nuhaka, Tomairangi Henare’s journey with singing began at a very young age through his involvement with kapahaka at his local primary school. It was as a teenager, his love of opera began with the Hawkes Bay youth initiative Project Prima Volta. There, Tomairangi received his first singing lessons. He sang as a chorus member from the age of 15 in Festival Opera choruses including; Carmen, Madame Butterfly, Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci. He also debuted his first opera roles with Festival Opera and Project Prima Volta singing as Polyphemus (Acis and Galatea, Handel) and Marchesi (La Traviata, Verdi).
In 2019, he went on to study at Te Kōki - NZ School of Music as the recipient of the Deane Endowment Trust Scholarship. His roles include; Pandolfe (Cendrillon, Massenet), Pasek (Cunning Little Vixen, Janáček), Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas, Purcell) and Simone (Gianni Schicchi, Puccini). He has worked as a touring artist for Chamber Music New Zealands Regional Tour in 2022 and has sung in oratorio works such as Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Seasons and Lord Nelson Mass, and Mozart’s Requiem.
Tomairangi has been a touring artist for NZ Opera in Schools: Elixir of Love in 2024 and 2025 and was also a soloist in the world premiere of Dame Gillian Whitehead's Journey to Mataatua Whare: The House that Came Home in 2025.
Tomairangi is now finishing his studies at Te Pae Kōkako - The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS), where he has been supported by a Te Pae Kōkako Opera Grant.