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Opera North is evolving! In 2026, a concert 30 years in the making, we re-invent Opera in the Garden. A daytime concert in 3 acts, settle in with your picnic blankets and umbrellas, listen, linger and enjoy the sensory feast that is Opera North at Tahamoana Farm, Waipu Cove.
What began as the kernel of an idea, has evolved into an annual event that is now quite extraordinary. Special Guests for 2026 are Sarah Mileham and Alfred Fonoti Fuimaono, two of Aotearoa’s rising Opera superstars! They join the chorus to sing some of our earliest material, “Votre toast!” (The Toreador Song) from Carmen, and The Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana. The concert also features new contemporary music from Ola Gjielo, Wicked The Musical and a smidge of Radiohead! This journey of song and souls began in Joan and Richard Kennaway’s Glenbervie garden in 1996, and continues to reflect who we are as a community in Te Tai Tokerau, boisterous, exuberant, deeply musical, and rooted in our whenua.
With delectable food vendors to tempt you, there are no velvet seats in sight! But the wide skies of the remarkable Tahamoana Farm in Waipu Cove create an atmosphere no theatre can match.
You’ll need to pack picnic blankets or chairs, and sun-hats or umbrellas, event is BYO. (OK, you can bring a velvet seat if you really like!). Plenty of onsite parking and accessible drop off area.
GROUNDS OPEN AT 12 NOON to pick your perfect spot and set up, buy something delicious to nom and settle in!
Corporate Gazebo Sponsorship available (10 chairs under a gazebo with a bottle of Hunters Mirumiru – incorporating a tax claimable donation) – contact maria.k.satterfield@gmail.com for details.
Conductors: Sarah Whittles, Bronwyn Kennaway
Ensembles: Emma Blood-Mouat
Pianists: Juan Kim & Mirabella Uphof
Orchestral Ensemble led by: Valeria Maw
Rehearsal repetiteur & musical advisor: Roger McClean
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