Katherine began a new journey at the start of 2018 when she had the opportunity to perform a duet with Festival Opera’s Madama Butterfly, Toni Marie Palmertree. This experience uncovered her love for singing opera and inspired her to spend many weekends travelling between Wellington and Napier to take vocal lessons with Anna Pierard.
This is an exciting time for Winitana who is weeks away from finishing her Bachelor of Commercial Music at Massey University in Wellington.
In October she sang in her first solo operatic performance, at Sound Bites. This was followed by a challenging opportunity which arose while she was directing a scene from Puccini's La Boheme, at the Hawkes Bay Arts Festival, where her leading lady fell ill and Winitana had to step into the lead role of Musetta.
Up next:
Katherine will be a soloist for the Napier Civic Choir performance of Haydn's Mass in Time of War, Paukenmasse
She is working towards a solo recital early 2019 and will also be involved in Festival Opera's production of La Traviata during Art Deco weekend, February 2019
Katherine is a strong believer in the power of music and arts in education to improve educational outcomes for students. She is currently working as a Student Mentor for Project Prima Volta in Hawkes Bay. This is a program which draws teenagers from diverse backgrounds together, to help them find common ground through music and performance.
Once she has graduated from University she will be taking a more active role in increasing the reach and the impact of this program across more schools with her goal being to help students who are struggling to fit within the current education framework.
She will also continue her vocal tuition with Anna Pierard, acclaimed soprano and creative director of Festival Opera, as she prepares to audition for Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK in 2020.
