History

West Aucklander, Wade Kernot, has appeared in many operas and as soloist in concert performances around New Zealand. He was a founding member of Opera Factory. In 2004 Wade was a PricewaterhouseCoopers Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist and winner of the Circle100 Scholarship. He moved to Perth in 2005 to take up a principal position with the Australian Opera Studio, where his roles included Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. Recently Wade has performed for the Hessisches Staatstheater in Wiesbaden, Germany and sang the bass role in Stravinsky's Pulcinella. He is a current intern in the PWC Dame Malvina Major Young Artist programme.

From Dunedin, Clare is currently studying for a MMus in performance voice with Isobel Cunningham and Terence Dennis at the University of Otago. She is a previous runner-up in the 2006 and 2007 Christchurch Aria. This year Clare was a finalist in the Lexus Song Quest and the Perkel Scholarship. She placed first in Nelson’s 2007 Sealord Aria and the 2007 Wellington Regional Aria and Otago Daily Times Aria.

Past Winners

• 2006     Aivale Cole
• 2005     Philip Rhodes
• 2004     Viktoriya Dodoka
• 2003     Spencer Silby
• 2002     Anna Leese
• 2001     Ben Makisi
• 2000     James Harrison
• 1999     Joanna Heslop
• 1998     Ramonda Te Maiharoa-Taleni
• 1997     Jud Arthur
• 1996     Brent Alcock
• 1995     Richard Weston
• 1994     Virginia Marie Stack
• 1993     Patricia Hughes