Featured Artists

New Zealand-born conductor Michael Joel studied at Otago University with Professors Jack Spiers and Peter Adams. Having completed his honours degree, he continued his studies with conductors Heinz Wallberg, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Jac van Steen, and at the Dartington International Summer School.

Equally at home in the orchestra, choral and operatic repertoire, Michael has conducted extensively throughout New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He has worked at The Royal Opera House, assisting Antonio Pappano, Alexander Joel, Dan Ettinger, Placido Domingo, Oleg Caetani and Mark Minkowski.

He has conducted many of the established orchestras and companies in New Zealand – Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, Opera Otago, the City of Dunedin Choir, NZSO National Youth Orchestra and, prior to relocating to London, principals and members of the NZSO and NZ String Quartet in a critically acclaimed performance of Mahler’s 4th Symphony.

Michael is currently Music Director of St Matthews Chamber Orchestra and Bay of Plenty Symphonia. He has worked on the music staff of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as duty conductor on productions of Tosca, La Bohème, La Traviata and Carmen. He also assisted with the music preparation and children’s chorus for La Bohème and Carmen. He conducted pianist, Pascal Rogé in Saint-Saëns 2nd Piano Concerto with the Lakeland Sinfonia in the UK to great acclaim.

Since returning to New Zealand Michael has continued his work with St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra, Opus Orchestra and Bay of Plenty Symphonia.

Michael will conduct Opus Orchestra in “Beethoven Unwrapped” on 24, 25 and 26 July in Hamilton, Rotorua and Tauranga and will lead our Conducting Workshop from 18-20 July.

Let Opus Orchestra take you on a journey of discovery into one of the real gems of Beethoven’s works. With guest conductor Michael Joel as your musical guide, Beethoven Unwrapped! invites audiences to experience Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 in a way they’ve never heard before. 

In a new concept developed by Opus Orchestra in 2025, Michael and the orchestra will “unwrap” the music in the first half of the concert—bringing out key themes, rhythms, and harmonies, and sharing insights into Beethoven’s ideas and emotions through the music itself. This is not a lecture, but an invitation: an open, playful, and informal way to get closer to Beethoven’s genius. After a break with the chance to chat to the musicians,  the orchestra returns to perform the entire symphony in full. With new understanding and familiarity, the second half becomes an unforgettable listening experience.

Known for his energy and ability to connect with audiences, Hamilton-based conductor Michael Joel has stood on the Opus Orchestra podium twice before in much-loved performances of Hairy Maclary’s Greatest Hits and Carnival of the Animals. He has also been leading the orchestra’s community outreach work to local libraries for 2 years. Michael is passionate about making orchestral music accessible, exciting and fun for all.

Whether you’re stepping into an orchestral concert for the very first time or you’re a lifelong Beethoven fan, Beethoven Unwrapped! is designed to welcome everyone.

• Hamilton – Friday 24 July, 7:30pm, Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, Waikato University
  
  

• Rotorua – Saturday 25 July, 3:00pm, St John’s Church, 44 Victoria Street
  
  

• Tauranga – Sunday 26 July, 3:00pm, St Peters in the City, 130 Spring Street

TICKETS HERE

In classic "millennial" fashion, Adam pursues a portfolio existence balancing a thriving freelance musical life with his work as a professional in the coffee industry. In demand as a violist, violinist, arranger and conductor, he has performed with various ensembles both in New Zealand and the UK. Since relocating to London in 2013 he's played in most of the major concert halls in the UK including Royal Festival, Royal Albert, Cadogan and Birmingham Symphony Halls in addition to the Barbican Centre, Sinfonia Square and the Palladium and Coliseum Theatres, performing regularly as Principal Viola with Docklands Sinfonia, London Opera Company, Gooden.semble, Bloomsbury Opera, Orion Orchestra, Oxford University Press Orchestra, Highbury Players, Harmony Sinfonia as well as Europa Kammerphilharmonie (Cologne) and Urban Camerata (Stuttgart).

In addition to working as an orchestral violist/violinist, Adam is extremely active as a conductor working with a variety of ensembles including Highbury Players, Harmony Sinfonia, London Lawyers Orchestra, Oxford University Press Orchestra. He’s deeply passionate about building arts and culture into the fabric of one's community and making it an integral but everyday part of life. As a result, his work curating concerts at the Canvas & Cream gallery in South-East London with the Forest Hill Chamber Collective (which he co-founded) is one of his most prized artistic endeavours.

Adam is a graduate of the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Waikato studying Performance Viola and Violin with Dr Lara Hall and Orchestral Conducting with James Tennant and Kenneth Young. He was the recipient of the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship, a Dame Malvina Major Foundation Greenlea Trust Scholarship, and the “Pou Ahurea” University of Waikato blues award. He is a fellow of the NZSO conductors workshop and was also nominated for the Alex Lindsey award for winning the Principal Viola position of the National Youth Orchestra.

Prior to leaving New Zealand, Adam was an active and passionate contributor for various theatre groups in Hamilton. Besides playing in the pit for several musicals, he was also the music director for Musicmakers productions of ‘Chicago’ and ‘Oliver’ as well as composing original songs with writing partner Dr Jeremy Mayall for the new musicals ‘Alice and the Velvetty Teacup’, ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ and ‘Santa Claus’ (based on the play by e.e.cummings) as well as incidental music for the play ‘Fractur’ by David Foote.

His approach to music-making has primarily been influenced by study with the New Zealand Chamber Soloists (Dr Lara Hall, James Tennant, Katherine Austin) and conductors Kenneth Young and Kenneth Kiesler - all of whom he counts as mentors and friends since completing studies. He's also been privileged to have spent time with Pietari Inkinnen, Neil Thompson, Sergey Malov, Peter Walls and Timothy Deighton either working in masterclasses or receiving private tuition.

https://adammaha.wordpress.com/

Michael is National Director for New Zealand Poetry Slam and creative developer from the Waikato, a descendant of Taupiri Maunga, Tainui Waka, Waikato Awa and Ngati Maniapoto iwi.

As a writer he attributes his inspiration to the words of his Tipuna (ancestors), both near and far, and focuses his pen on scribing new horizons for young indigenous men adrift in the modern world.

Working as a creative developer and spoken word artist in the Waikato he uses his roles to work in corners of his community, bringing transformative art and creativity to the lives of people who often miss out.

Michael has performed and held writing workshops across the country and abroad, he has also been the recipient of writing residences in both Australia and Canada and his most recent travels have opened him up to story telling in a new light. Michael has published poetry in a number of anthologies.

Having an expert interest in early music practices, Chalium enjoys a very multifaceted career as a singer, organist, conductor, accompanist, lecturer, musical commentator, and teacher. He divides his musical interests between both demanding performance and teaching schedules. 

While living in Canada, Chalium served for six years as an organist and choir master. He also appeared as a soloist with many of Western Canada's leading choirs and orchestras including the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Chamber Orchestra, The Galiano String Ensemble and the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. Additionally, he hosted and produced his own regular radio programme, 'Classic Examples', for Canadian radio.

During his time in New Zealand, Chalium has appeared as a guest soloist with the The Handel Consort & Quire, Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, Tauranga Civic Choir, Hamilton's Cantando and Civic Choirs, Auckland's Graduate Choir, Viva Voce Chamber Choir Chamber Choir. He has also appeared as a guest early music conductor for the Bay of Plenty Symphonia. He is currently the Church Musician in Residence for the Anglican Parish of Mount Maunganui. Chalium's expertise is frequently sought after as a concert reviewer for the Bay of Plenty Times. He also often appears as a guest lecturer for the New Zealand branches of the Royal School of Church Music. 

Chalium has also appeared as a soloist on numerous recordings including two recordings of Händel's Messiah, Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium and Vaughan-Williams' Five Mystical Songs .

Scholars Baroque Aotearoa is one of New Zealand's leading baroque chamber choirs.

Not long after organist and choirmaster, Chalium Poppy, settled in New Zealand in 2009, he was approached by numerous singers within the local community who were not only aware of his expertise in baroque music and performance practices but also shared his passion for the early musical traditions of the church. It was their feeling that the community was starved and ready for a locally-based early music ensemble. 

His first endeavour was to form and train a small group of dedicated choristers to sing an occasional service of Choral Evensong at St. Peter's Mount Maunganui, a historic stone church overlooking the central business district of Mt. Maunganui. The first two services of Choral Evensong drew crowds of well over 200 each time, but their scheduling was sporadic requiring only temporary time commitment from the singers. Consequently, the singers began to yearn for something structured more formally with a regular rehearsal schedule. By autumn of 2010, Chalium had painstakingly auditioned and selected the singers he wanted to form the Scholars Pro Musica. The choir changed its name to Scholars Baroque Aotearoa in 2018.

The Scholars are a chamber choir dedicated to informed performances of period music (often baroque) with an emphasis on stylistic excellence and superior choral sound; often exploring forgotten and previously unknown sacred choral works. The Scholars are so called because of each members desire to further and more fully understand the music they perform and share the knowledge of that music with their audiences; whether it be the work's historical  significance or the more complex underlying choral nuances. 

By definition, a chamber choir is smaller in membership than typically larger choral societies or community choirs; however, its smaller size is quite deliberate. The fewer the singers, the greater the possibility of having a more focused and crisper choral sound. But as a consequence of having fewer voices, there is also a greater possibility for individual singers to feel and sound exposed. Thus, much more time and energy is exerted perfecting the overall cohesive, balanced tone and blend of voices. Choral cooperation is paramount as the singer's sensitivity towards their fellow musicians is heightened. Every voice must be strong and confident without exception. It is this style of music-making that defines the Scholar's unique sound of the Scholars Baroque Aotearoa.

Peter Walls was the Music Director and Principal Conductor of Opus Orchestra from 2004-2025.

Peter has had a lifelong engagement with Baroque repertoire both as a performer and scholar. He played Baroque violin in the Academy of Ancient Music and other ensembles in the U.K. in the 1970s and was Music Director of The Baroque Players for many years and of The Tudor Consort from 1993 until 1999. His CD with that choir of motets by Peter Philips was listed by Neue Musikzeitung as one of the top early music recordings of 2002 and received a CHOC award from Le Monde de la Musique (the highest award from one of the leading French magazines for Classical music).

Among the operas he has conducted are Handel’s Semele (for NZ Opera), Imeneo, John Eccles’s Semele (the first setting of the libretto adapted for Handel), Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Marriage of Figaro, Magic Flute, Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Paride ed Elena, Verdi’s Nabucco and La Traviata, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermour and Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi (for Southern Opera in 2009 and Opera Whanganui in 1994). He has conducted many premieres of New Zealand works and has directed “Close Encounters” programmes with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Peter was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Music in New Zealand in 2012. He was also awarded the Silver Medal for Merit Gloria Artis by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (2011) and the Lilburn Trust Citation for Outstanding Services to New Zealand Music in 1998. He is Emeritus Professor of Music at Victoria University of Wellington.

Hailing from Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāariki Kaiputahi, Flaxmere-born soprano Katherine Winitana has built a distinctive career shaped by her diverse musical background in contemporary, jazz, and classical music. She earned a Bachelor of Commercial Music from Massey University, where she was the inaugural recipient of the Vodafone New Zealand Music Award. Her passion for opera was ignited through Project Prima Volta, a Hawke’s Bay youth initiative that introduced her to classical singing.

Since transitioning to opera in 2020, Katherine has completed First Class Honours in Classical Voice, attended the New Zealand Opera School, and spent two years as a Dame Malvina Major Studio Artist with New Zealand Opera. She recently completed her Master’s in Opera with the inaugural cohort of Te Pae Kōkako – The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS) at the University of Waikato.

Katherine has been delighted to be a guest artist with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the Manukau Symphony Orchestra, Napier Civic Choir, and Auckland Opera Studio. Winitana has also made appearances with New Zealand Opera, Wellington Opera, and Festival Opera.

Guided by expressive artistry and a deep connection to storytelling, Katherine brings heart and depth to every performance, qualities that define her growing career.

Katherine performed in Dame Gillian Whitehead’s “The Journey of Mataatua Whare”

Raised in Nuhaka, Tomairangi Henare’s journey with opera began in high school with the Hawke’s Bay youth initiative Project Prima Volta. There he began singing in opera choruses with Festival Opera at the age of 15 before going on to study at Te Kōki - NZ School of Music as the recipient of the Deane Endowment Trust Scholarship 2019. Tomairangi has gone on to sing around the country in roles including: Pandolfe (‘Cendrillon’, Massenet), Pasek (‘Cunning Little Vixen’, Janáček), Aeneas (‘Dido and Aeneas’, Purcell) and Simone (‘Gianni Schicchi’, Puccini). Among that, he has also performed in choruses, schools performances and was a soloist in Dame Gillian Whitehead’s recently debuted “Journey to Mataatua Whare: The House that Came Home. Tomairangi is a NZ Opera School alumni and is currently studying under Te Pae Kōkako - TANZOSat Waikato University.

Tomairangi performed in Dame Gillian Whitehead’s “The Journey of Mataatua Whare”

Hastings-born baritone Samuel McKeever was a 2024/2025 artist at TANZOS (Te Pae Kōkako – The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio) supported by the Freemasons Foundation, training under Nikki Li Hartliep. Prior to this, Samuel was a Project Prima Volta graduate and alumnus of the NZ Opera School summer programme.

In 2024 Samuel was selected for the Lexus Song Quest, and in 2023 he was the winner of the Wellington Aria Competition.

Samuel's stage history includes the title role in Gianni Schicchi (Festival Opera 2025), Count Ribbing in Un ballo in maschera (Wellington Opera 2025), Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette (FO 2024), Papageno in Die Zauberflöte (FO & NZSO 2023), and Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen (FO 2022).

Highlights from Samuel's concert performances include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (2025), Handel’s Messiah (NZSO 2024; Christchurch City Choir and CSO 2024), and Verdi's Requiem (Napier Civic Choir 2023)

Samuel performed in Dame Gillian Whiteheads’s “The Journey of Mataatua Whare

New Zealand pianist Stephen De Pledge has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician since winning the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Gold Medal in his final year of study in London.  Concerto performances include the BBC Scottish Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Philharmonia (London) and many orchestras in New Zealand and Australia.  He has broadcast for BBC radio and television, and made more than 20 commercial recordings, including premiere recordings for Arvo Pärt, Henryk Gorecki and Ned Rorem.  He has collaborated with many musicians, including the Berlin Philharmonic’s Wind Quintet, the Scottish Ensemble and Chamber Domaine.  

Stephen has performed at many international festivals, including Bargemusic (New York), Edinburgh International Festival and City of London Festival, often giving the world premiere of new works.  He has commissioned many composers in New Zealand and abroad and has amassed a large body of new work for piano solo and ensembles.  In addition to his performing career Stephen is Head of Piano at the University of Auckland. 

Stephen performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”)