2018 Lexus Song Quest winner Joel Amosa is stepping up in New Zealand Opera’s The Barber of Seville tomorrow night in Wellington.
Joel Amosa sings with the NZSO at the Lexus Song Quest Grand Final Photo: Norrie Montgomery
Joel Amosa is the 2018 winner of the Lexus Song Quest, Dame Malvina Major Young Artist with New Zealand Opera, and now he’s playing the role of Fiorello in New Zealand Opera’s The Barber of Seville.
The bass-baritone picked up his musical gifts as a child, learning piano and singing in the church choir growing up and then perfecting his craft at high school and university.
He graduated from the University of Otago in 2011 with a music degree under the tutelage of Isabel Cunningham and Frances Wilson. He returned in 2013 to complete a Postgraduate Diploma in Music.
Lexus Song Quest winners 2012 - 2018 L-R Amitai Pati (2012) Benson Wilson (2016) Frances Wilson (Akld Opera Studio) Isabella Moore (2014), Joel Amosa (2018) Photo: Clarissa Dunn
Currently, Amosa works as a Regional Admin Manager for ASB in Auckland. He balances his job and his passion for singing by bringing the two together, forming the ASB Voices Choir and the ASB Pasifika Choir, which he leads.
Amosa also regularly performs with the ASB Kapa Haka as an honorary member. And he's a member of the quartet Operanesia, who perform everything from Handel to Elvis with Polynesian flair.
It’s clear Amosa is proud of his culture; his parents Joyce Amosa-Leavasa and father Tevaga Leavasa are Samoan.
During his years at Otago, he was heavily involved with the Pacific Islands Centre, where he assisted with Pasifika Welcome, O Week stalls, language weeks and choirs.
Joel Amosa was also the 5th consecutive Samoan winner of the Lexus Song Quest.
New Zealand Opera's The Barber of Seville is at the Wellington Opera House until 6 July, then in Christchurch from August 1 to 7.
