Opera Gala 2026 brings some of opera’s greatest music to Auckland Town Hall!
The Manukau Symphony Orchestra and Auckland Opera Studio present Opera Gala 2026 - an evening bringing together some of the most dramatic, beautiful and emotionally charged music ever written for the opera stage.
Conducted by Uwe Grodd and directed by John Davies, the concert features leading New Zealand soloists:
- Felicity Tomkins
- Breony Bearman
- Ridge Ponini
- Alfred Fonoti-Fuimaono.
With Auckland Choral, The Cloud Children’s Choir and internationally renowned violinist Amalia Hall.
The programme moves from the explosive energy of Verdi’s famous ‘Anvil Chorus’ and Puccini’s monumental ‘Te Deum’ from Tosca, to music from Carmen, Faust, Thaïs, Cavalleria rusticana and the devastating final act of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.
Rather than presenting opera as distant or elitist, Opera Gala 2026 focuses on the sheer immediacy of the music itself - massive choruses, soaring voices and sweeping orchestral writing. With stories filled with passion, jealousy, devotion, violence, redemption, and heartbreak. The concert brings together crowd scenes, intimate arias, large-scale finales and orchestral interludes in a single evening designed to showcase opera at its most theatrical and emotionally direct.
Violinist Amalia Hall performs Massenet’s ‘Meditation’ from Thaïs and Sarasate’s dazzling Carmen Fantasy, while the combined forces of orchestra and chorus feature prominently in large-scale scenes from Il trovatore, Carmen, Faust and Tosca.
Whether you already love opera or are experiencing it live for the first time, Opera Gala 2026 promises an evening of extraordinary musical drama in one of New Zealand’s great concert venues.