Hohepa

World Première 

A powerful story, spine-tingling staging and our finest operatic talent all come together in this new New Zealand opera from acclaimed composer Jenny McLeod.

From one of the most turbulent times in our country’s history comes this tragic true story of Maori chief Hōhepa Te Umuroa.

In a production of sweeping scale, we travel from the fertile earth of the Hutt Valley and the barren brutality of Tasmania’s Maria Island penal colony to the Whanganui River in the 1980s. This is the sacred journey to reunite Hōhepa Te Umuroa with the soil of his homeland.

This groundbreaking new work features an outstanding 17-strong cast of New Zealand’s most acclaimed opera singers, including Phillip Rhodes, Jonathan Lemalu, Martin Snell and Jenny Wollerman.

“By turns jubilant, anxious, spooky, hilarious, heart-rending, brutal, quirky, touching and tragic, this is a kiwi story covering nearly a century and a half, in which truth is ever stranger than fiction.” - Jenny McLeod, Composer

Director:  Sara Brodie
Conductor:  Marc Taddei

Accompanied by players from the Vector Wellington Orchestra
Sung in English and Maori

Presented by The NBR New Zealand Opera and The New Zealand International Arts Festival

Venue
The Opera House

Performance
7.30pm, Thursday 15 March
7.30pm, Saturday 17 March
5.00pm, sunday 18 March

Tickets
$48.00* - $108.00*
*Service fees apply