Night of Nights

Night of Nights - The Dame Malvina Major Waikato Aria Competition

The annual University Aria Competition promises to be another spectacle of superb music and singing as students vie for the top spot. Prizes sponsored by the Dame Malvina Major Foundation with the support of the Greenlea Foundation Trust.

Our distinguished adjudicator for the evening's competition will be Andrew Crooks. Andrew Crooks is currently the Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching and Musical Director of Opera at Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, and prior to that lived and worked in Germany for many years, first at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and most recently at the Komische Oper Berlin, where he held the position of Deputy Chorus Master. While at the Komische Oper he was in sole-charge of chorus preparation for several operas including critically-acclaimed productions of Massenet’s Cendrillon and Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges. He was also heavily involved in the musical preparation of Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron, for which the Komische Oper chorus was awarded the title of “Chor des Jahres” (Chorus of the Year) by the Opernwelt magazine in 2015. Andrew assisted on over 80 different operas and worked with conductors such as Donald Runnicles, Henrik Nánási, Alberto Zedda and Sir Simon Rattle, and directors including Barrie Kosky, David Alden, Robert Carsen and Graham Vick.

Andrew has served as faculty coach for the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz and the Sankt Goar International Festival and Academy and also has experience as conductor, most recently for Opera Otago’s Le Nozze di Figaro. He looks forward to future collaborations as conductor with Puccini’s Tosca, a ‘pop-up opera’ organization in Berlin.

Tickets can be purchased from the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts. Free for Students with ID.