Opera star to join Porirua’s youth orchestra
It’s not every day aspiring musicians get to play with a Grammy Award-winning singer, but 50 Porirua students will step on to the stage with one. Opera singer Jonathan Lemalu is home visiting New Zealand and, for a one-of-a-kind performance, he’ll be partnering with Virtuoso Strings, the Porirua-based youth orchestra made up of students from decile 1 and 2 schools.
The music charity, founded in 2013, provides free music education and chances for aspiring musicians to perform.
‘‘I like to think [the orchestra] is bigger than the music,’’ Lemalu says.
Lemalu, who was recently made a patron of the orchestra, will be joining the students on stage on Monday to perform a range of classics, bass arias and old favourites like Ol’ Man River.
He knows all too well the nerves the young musicians may be facing ahead of the concert – after all, he was in their shoes once upon a time.
As a kid growing up in Dunedin, Lemalu made his start singing in school and church choirs.
‘‘I’m pretty sure I wasn’t a very good singer,’’ he says.
But he reckoned his enthusiasm more than made up for that and as he grew, so did his skills.
He made a name for himself scooping prestigious awards, signing with a record label and winning a Grammy Award in 2010 for best opera recording soloist.
‘‘I think it was really at college that people got to see me doing my thing and I got a lot of my first opportunities there.’’
Before the Virtuoso Strings concert, Lemalu was looking forward to rehearsing with the young musicians and passing on some tips.
‘‘Your New Zealand grounding of just try everything and enter everything is the right way to do it because you have to find your own comfort on stage,’’ he says.
‘‘If you’re nervous, I’m nervous. If you’re relaxed, I’m relaxed.’’
Lemalu arrived in Wellington yesterday for his first rehearsal with the youth orchestra before the Some Enchanted Evening concert on Monday at the Wellington Opera House.
He says he admires the ethos of the orchestra and the work that founders Siang Lim and Liz Sneyd have put in.
‘‘It’s really exciting to be part of something I believe will gain roots and traction.’’
Earlier this year, Sneyd won the Tui Teacher of the Year Award at the New Zealand Music Awards.
More than 200 students from about 10 schools come through the music programme each year.
Some Enchanted Evening is on Monday, 7.30pm at the Wellington Opera House. Tickets through ticketmaster.co.nz.
‘‘I think it was really at college that people got to see me doing my thing and I got a lot of my first opportunities there.’’
Jonathan Lemalu
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