Opera singer living la dolce vita
Singer, nurse and teacher Tania Dreaver tells Frances Chin about the beauty and creativity that comes with living in Wellington.
Tania Dreaver is an opera singer who learned her craft at Trinity College of Music in London, as well as being a singing teacher and a registered nurse.
She sang alongside Boyd Owen and the Ten Tenors for Global Wellness Day last week, and will be performing in Mark Dorrell’s production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.
What does it mean to be a Wellingtonian?
It means being part of a harbour city. I used to live in Gore and to me that is a place where nothing much shifted . . . I need to feel like anything can happen, anything can come in.
I live here because . . .
I worked in London as an opera singer for four years with Opera Holland Park. It was my dream job but while London stimulates, it does not sustain. London exhausts you, where I feel like Wellington has the spaces and the ease of getting around. People are kind . . . the communities here are very connected.
Where is the best place to swim?
It has got to be Thorndon Pool in the sunshine. That is why I have my nails like this. I have glittery nails, because the light hits them in the water and makes little rainbows and brings joy.
What is the best festival in town?
The Festival of the Arts. It is international, you can see opera, and you can see comedy, and every kind of different music. I totally overdose. Also, the street performers go crazy. I love sitting at St John’s Bar and watching the aerial performers; it is magic.
What is your ideal night out in Wellington?
Going to theatre, of course; to see a show at Circa or at the Opera House. Asking the bartender at Crumpets to make me something I might like, and then going out to some place like Vinyl, where I can rediscover the 1980s. Shabby chic and dancing like a nutter.
My guilty pleasure in the city is to go to ...
It is hard to have a guilty pleasure as an opera singer because you don’t have guilt about anything. La dolce vita. You learn to enjoy your food and enjoy your friends, love life, and sing. But my guilty pleasure is sitting at Portofino restaurant watching the boats come in and out, and my boys looking for orca and stingrays along the waterfront. La dolce far niente – the joy of doing nothing.
What part of the city are you most at home in?
Crofton Downs. I run a free glee club at the school there, so they can have music and the performing arts, and it is just the most gorgeous little school. I am very centred in my heart there.
What is your greatest hope for the city?
That we continue to be the arts and creative capital, and continue to be innovators. The way that Te Papa leads the way with Matariki; they began a sort of driving national force. I would love to see Guy Fawkes dumped like a hot potato for a Parihaka Day. Move the fireworks and focus on peace, rather than an irrelevant terrorist.