Youth project helps teen hit right notes

Emmanuel Fuimaono has gone from strength to strength since joining Project Prima Volta and finding a passion for opera singing. PHOTO / DUNCAN BROWN

Hastings teenager Emmanuel Fuimaono could have played rugby but chose opera.

When the 16-year-old tenor from Hastings Boys' High School tentatively put his name forward to be part of Project Prima Volta last year, he could not have foreseen the transformation.

Singing had always been a part of life, he was vocal at church and sung in a barbershop group with two of his brothers at school, but opera was never on the radar. That all changed when he joined a youth initiative run by Hawke's Bay company Festival Opera, which has seen him tune into a natural talent to produce something truly special.

"I listen to mainly opera now, I always thought opera was old stuff but it's a lot of fun. I like the people and the music - it's technical and different," he said.

"In Year 11, I got a little serious about it. I enjoy it, there's sports like rugby but if you get injured it's no good ... [opera] uses your whole body and when you hit the right note, it just feels good."

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Emmanuel relished the opportunity to sing for audiences throughout the region with other students from all walks of life, meet Sol3 Mio and support a U-Turn Trust fundraiser fronted by Flaxmere success story Phillip Rhodes.

He and elder brother Alfred were also selected to perform alongside international opera singers in The Marriage of Figaro held over the Tremains Art Deco Weekend last February.
Its cast included Hawke's Bay-born and now UK-based soprano Carleen Ebbs and Welsh baritone Gary Griffiths, and was directed by Jose Aparicio. Emmanuel will take the stage again this year with 15 of his Project Prima Volta peers to form a chorus for The Elixir of Love at Napier Municipal Theatre on February 17 from 7pm, 19 at 5pm and 21 at 7pm.

"I had a few lessons from the lead stars in Figaro, it's weird I never knew I would be able to sing that high," Emmanuel says.

There were other new challenges such as learning to apply mascara and finding a costume to fit, but the overriding theme was one of enjoyment.

His parents fully supported their son's operatic endeavours and hoped Emmanuel's younger siblings might follow his lead.

This time around, Festival Opera founder singer and creative director Anna Pierard made some changes to give the young singers more stage time and extra guidance. "We have built it into the singers' contracts that they spend two hours a week with the kids."