Virtuoso opera repetiteur Bruce Greenfield is probably the finest accompanist a singer could have, for he believes the voice is the finest musical instrument.
"Every voice is utterly unique, every singer has their own sound. You see a pianist is just a pianist and to me that all sounds the same."
Bruce
says when it comes to music, he would have loved to have been a singer.
"Fortunately for me, because I'm not a singer, I discovered opera and it really is my calling ... the beauty of the music with the beauty of the voice ... perfect for me."
After more than 50 years he has now retired from the New Zealand Opera Company but accompanying and coaching students at the New Zealand Opera remains a lasting love.
"I suppose I could say I am retired but it doesn't really feel right ... it sounds too final."
Bruce has been at the NZ Opera School since its inception in 1994.
"All thanks to the wonderful Donald Trott who was determined to further the careers of young New Zealand opera singers. He is the real hero in all of this."
As well as still taking private students at his Wellington studio and teaching at the New School of Music, Bruce is the official pianist for Government House.
"I love the official ceremonies at Government House and our new Governor-General Cindy is a gorgeous woman."
Bruce Greenfield is acclaimed as one of New Zealand's greatest repetiteurs. It is a specialised field in that it means you don't simply play the accompaniment for a singer, you have had to have learned the entire score of an opera and are able to rehearse the singer or singers through the entire opera singing the other roles when required.
He started playing the piano at just three years old.
"We had a grand piano and I instinctively started playing."
But he is adamant he didn't really learn to play properly until he was 19 and finally had a decent teacher.
"Until then I was learning from the nuns at school and local teachers ... I was stunned when I had my first real teacher at university, it was like starting all over again."
The calibre of New Zealand's singers is remarkable, he says.
"But it irritates me when people talk about us being multicultural as though it's a new thing. It's such rubbish: we've had wonderful Maori and Polynesian singers and classical singers for decades. Who could forget Inia Te Wiata, for example, and that was over 60 years ago ... the magnificent production of Porgy and Bess, directed by opera legend Phyllis Brusey."