Wellington Opera, the little opera company that could
Saturday, 4 July 2026
In a year when arts organisations across Aotearoa are grappling with funding cuts and instability, Wellington Opera has done something almost unheard of: it’s sold out an entire four-night season of Manon, months before opening.
With a world-class cast led by married international stars Amina Edris and Pene Pati (SOL3 MIO; Tenor: My Name is Pati) in the roles of Manon and Chevalier des Grieux, and supported by Phillip Rhodes in the role of Lescaut among other talent, the show - being performed next month at the capital’s St James Theatre - promises a story about the tragic tension between true love and an insatiable desire for wealth and luxury.
The organisation’s key artistic staff say the sold-out season is a credit to its guts, confidence, and careful planning and strategy.
Wellington Opera was created in 2020 in the throes of the pandemic with a mission to deliver world-class opera for the capital, bursting into a market dominated by New Zealand Opera - the country’s largest professional opera company headquartered in Auckland - and peppered with other regional companies, including Christchurch’s Toi Toi Opera and Opera Otago.
The company expects its season of Jules Massenet’s Manon, directed by Sara Brodie, to inject $2.1 million into Wellington’s regional economy, with 62% of audience members travelling into the capital for one of the shows, according to data collected by the organisation.
It says each of its productions supports up to 200 jobs spanning singers, musicians, directors, designers, technical crew and administrative staff.
Because of the popularity of Manon, Wellington Opera has decided to add a cabaret-style night to the middle of its August season in which audiences will be able to hear crossover repertoire and aria hits on an off-night.
“It’s special for us, and it’s special for opera in New Zealand. It does seem extraordinary. We’ve gone back through archives and asked people that were involved in [the now-defunct] Wellington City Opera 30 years ago. There’s no knowledge of any sell-out at this scale, which is remarkable in the current economic climate,” said Matthew Ross, Wellington Opera’s founder and artistic director, in an interview.
The organisation reached out to Edris and Pati three years ago to secure their bookings. Ross said the company’s smaller-scale model meant it was agile and flexible to hot-in-demand talent.
Manon is the second show that costume designer Rebecca Bethan Jones has worked on for Wellington Opera, following 2024’s Tosca.
“They’re very willing to support creative decisions, and it’s not locked in, which is really great,” Bethan Jones said.
“It is dynamic, it is responsive, and there is a lot of development as you go. … Particularly with a form like opera, it [can be] much more prescribed than the way you typically work - the technicalities of working in opera do lock you in - but that’s not happening with Wellington Opera. You get a lot more freedom … to explore things fresh.”
Securing Edris, Pati and Rhodes in a single show was “such a coup for New Zealand”, she added.
Bethan Jones described Wellington Opera as an inspiring place to work with a ground-roots feel. She said people genuinely care about its success.
“It means that you get people like Pene and Amina coming back. … It feels like it’s the time to really celebrate it. But it’s not accidental. It’s so well deserved. … They just won’t give up.”
Ross said one of the company’s key strengths was how every aspect of its shows were locally produced.
It regularly partners with other Wellington arts organisations including orchestras, Victoria University’s NZ School of Music, and Toi Whakaari. It had a strong focus on the development of artistic talent, and created engagement pathways for interns and schoolchildren.
“It’s not imported. It’s not licensed, It’s happening here,” Ross said.
But, he added, that focus had also led to negative perceptions by certain funding bodies that Wellington Opera was “some sort of diminutive community group”.
“Maybe our name doesn’t help. … There’s a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of what we are creating and doing.
“I think the track record is now clear and speaking for itself strongly enough that we can get out of that aspect. It’s this interesting dichotomy.”
Wellington Opera was currently booking talent for 2028. It had plans for “quite big work” beyond this year, Ross added. Its 2027 season will be announced in September.
Still, there were challenges. Erratic funding and having to pay its venues so far in advance, means its model is not as financially viable as it could be.
This year Wellington City Council gave Wellington Opera $40,000. The organisation also has money coming in from the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation, the NZ Opera Foundation, private patrons and box office sales.
Earlier this year opera’s value to society was publicly questioned when actor Timothée Chalamet said nobody cared about it any more.
“Wellington Opera has demonstrated that there is genuine appreciation and need and support. The audience is there and they want it to be here,” said Bethan Jones.