Ridge Ponini

Bio

Ridge’s time at the Studio is kindly supported by the Elizabeth Barnard Memorial Bursary.

Proud Cook Islands tenor Ridge Ponini holds a Bachelor of Music with Honours from the University of Otago under Judy Bellingham, and a Master of Music in Advanced Opera Study from the University of Waikato as a 2024–25 Resident Artist at Te Pae Kōkako: The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio (TANZOS), studying with Nikki Li Hartliep. In 2023, he was a Studio Artist with New Zealand Opera and attended the New Zealand Opera School for four consecutive years.

Operatic highlights include roles in John Drummond’s War Hero (Opera Otago), chorus Don Giovanni (Opera Otago), and chorus appearances in semi-staged performances of Fidelio and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (New Zealand Opera). He toured nationally as The Prince in Respighi’s La Bella dormente nel bosco for Opera in Schools (New Zealand Opera), and portrayed Alexander the Great in Mozart’s Il ré pastore (Days Bay Opera).

His awards include the Sydney Eisteddfod International Opera Scholarship, the Iosefa Enari Opera Award (Creative New Zealand), the Spirit of the School Award, the Freemasons Foundation Prize, the Opera School Runner-Up Award, and the University of Waikato Blues Award. Concert highlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang Hymm of praise with Bach Musica Nz Inc, and upcoming soloist performances of Mozart’s Requiem and Christopher Tin’s The Shiver on the Sky with Wellington Orchestra and Orpheus Choir.