November 16, 2021

Soprano gets boost to scale career ladder

Adam Gifford Posted On November 16, 2021

Auckland soprano Natasha Te Rupe Wilson has been awarded the $50,000 Dame Malvina Major Award recognising her track record, talent, determination and potential.

Wilson, who has Te Arawa and Ngāpuhi whakapapa, is on an audition tour of Europe and plans to base herself in Germany to further develop her career.

She studied art San Francisco Conservatory of Music and was a resident artist with Pittsburgh Opera before returning home to New Zealand last year due to pandemic.

Wilson says Dame Malvina and her foundation have been supporting her in a variety of ways since she first started entering regional competitions in 2017.

She says the award alleviates the financial strain a singer in her position faces under normal conditions, let alone in the middle of a pandemic.