Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest winner announced
By RNZ
A 19-year-old countertenor from Auckland is the 2026 Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest winner.
Samuel Mataele won the $50,000 first prize at a gala event in Wellington on Saturday night, in Aotearoa New Zealand’s most prestigious opera competition.
The runner-up was soprano Sarah Mileham, 23, from Tauranga who won $20,000.
Auckland-born tenor Samuel Downes, 29, came third and took home $15,000.
The six finalists performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre in the presence of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and international head judge, acclaimed American opera star Frederica von Stade.
Mataele, hailed as one of New Zealand’s most promising young singers, has earned multiple competition prizes, performed major Handel and Bach roles with leading ensembles, and studies music and psychology at the University of Auckland.
Fellow finalists Faamanu Fonoti-Fuimaono and Jordan Fonoti-Fuimaono each received prizes of $3500 in recognition of their achievement.
The finalists were: Cecily Shaw, (32, mezzo-soprano); Faamanu Fonoti-Fuimaono, (26, baritone); Jordan Fonoti-Fuimaono, (25, tenor); Samuel Downes, (29, tenor); Samuel Mataele, (19, countertenor); and Sarah Mileham, (23, soprano).
In its 70-year history, the biennial Song Quest has launched the careers of some of New Zealand’s most celebrated singers, including Te Kanawa, Dame Malvina Major, Phillip Rhodes, Jonathan Lemalu, Sol3 Mio’s Amitai Pati and Filipe Manu.
Mezzo-soprano Katie Trigg won Song Quest in 2024.
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz 
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