Emmanuel sings in Beethoven's 9th Symphony - featured in THE CLASSICAL STYLE on Saturday 6 July.
Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono is a Samoan tenor from Flaxmere, Hastings. His passion for music began in church during family prayers and developed further after joining Project Prima Volta, which introduced him to the world of classical music. In 2023, Emmanuel won the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition and the Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Award Scholarship (previously known as McDonald Aria), as well as becoming the inaugural winner of the Nicholas Tarling Aria Competition. In 2022, Fonoti-Fuimaono won the Lockwood NZ Aria, the Dame Malvina Major NZ Opera School Award, was a finalist in the Lexus Song Quest and received the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Scholarship for Potential.
Recent opera roles include Tamino in The Magic Flute for Hawkes Bay’s Festival Opera, Malcolm in Verdi’s MacBeth for NZOpera, and Gastone in Wellington Opera’s La Traviata. In late June, he performs the role of Gerontius in Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with the Melbourne Symphony.
Emmanuel attended the New Zealand Opera School from 2019-2022. He is in the process of auditioning for young artist programs in the UK, US, and Europe, and hopes to inspire young people from all backgrounds to appreciate the magic of classical music and singing.
