Thomas Atkins has ‘magic dust’—Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has been singing the praises of a Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music (NZSM) graduate.
Bachelor of Music in Classical Performance graduate Thomas Atkins has been accepted for the highly prestigious Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden.
Thomas is among five singers chosen from a pool of more than 400 applicants from 50 countries to join the programme for two years from September 2016.
The search began last September and since then three rounds of auditions have taken place, including an audition on the main stage at Covent Garden, where the applicants sang in front of a panel including Antonio Pappano—Music Director of The Royal Opera, and Kasper Holten—Director of Opera.
Thomas graduated from NZSM in 2013. He is currently in London studying opera at Guildhall School of Music.
Jenny Wollerman, senior lecturer at NZSM, says she is delighted at now having had two of her students accepted for the programme.
Thomas follows in the footsteps of Madeleine Pierard, also taught by Jenny, who was on the programme from 2010 to 2012 and has gone on to become a well-known name in opera circles.
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has been singing Thomas's praises and recently said, on Radio New Zealand: “You’ve got to be totally original, individual… and that’s what makes the difference between being a good singer, and being an exceptional singer… you’ve got to be able to have that amazing thing that I call magic dust. We’ve got one singer over in England at the moment, Thomas Atkins, who is now just one of those singers.”
In her 2015 highlights newsletter Dame Kiri wrote: “I saw Thomas Atkins in Le Donne Curiose, an Opera by Wolf Ferrari, where he was, dare I say without being biased—fabulous. So funny and such a good personality. He is doing very well and has many projects on the horizon and a lot of interest from the opera houses.”
She was also quoted in a recent article in the Manawatu Standard as saying “people are jumping listening to his gorgeous voice”.
You can listen to Dame Kiri and Thomas singing together on YouTube.
On the Jette Parker programme, singers are employed as members of The Royal Opera over a two-year period, and work on productions singing small roles, covering larger roles or joining the music or directing staff. The programme normally includes 10 singers, a conductor, a répétiteur and a stage director.