Wade Kernot bass

Wade got his first taste of Opera as a member of Opera Factory in New Zealand, he performed roles in Orpheus in the underworld, Cherryomuski and A Christmas Carol. In 2003 Wade joined the NBR New Zealand Opera for productions of Boris Godonov (Mussorgsky) and Tosca (Puccini).  He also performed the role of the Sprecher and Sarastro in productions of Die Zauberflöte (Mozart) and was an Emerging Artist at the New Zealand Opera. 

He also appeared as soloist in many concert performances in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.  He worked with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland and Wellington Philharmonic orchestras.  In 2004 he was awarded the Circle 100 scholarship. He was a member of “New Vintage”, a group of young talented performers who performed in the “Our Giants Concert” with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

In 2005 Wade moved to Perth and took up a principal position with the Australian Opera Studio.  During his two year contract his performances included Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos (R. Strauss), Elijah in Elijah (Mendelssohn), Crespel, Luther, and Coppelieus in Les Conte D’Hoffmann (Offenbach), Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte (Mozart), Unulfo in Rodelinda (Handel), Colas in Bastien und Bastienena (Mozart), The Count des Grieux in Manon (Massenet) and Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart). Wade was the Dame Malvina Major PriceWaterhouseCoopers Young Artist 2007-08 for the NBR New Zealand Opera Company.

In 2007 he performed for the Hessishes Staatstheatre in Wiesbaden, Germany, he sang the Bass role in Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” and performed the role of Zuniga in Southern Opera’s Carmen. Also he won the NZ Aria, the Napier Aria and was runner up in the Lexus Songquest. This year he performed principal roles for Opera de Lyon in a Kurt Weil Double Bill of The Seven Deadly sins and The Lindberg Flight for the New Zealand International Festival. He played Colline in Opera New Zealand’s La Boheme, and Ferrando, for Southern Opera’s Il Trovatore.

For more information, visit www.operasingers.co.nz.