Ms Kapohe's main contact with Wanganui until now has been singing in two operas and teaching at the New Zealand Opera School during three January visits.
"My husband loved Wanganui from the first. We often thought we would like to live here, so when this came up we didn't think twice," she said.
She was loving the warm autumn weather.
She said Wanganui people were noticeably friendlier than their more withdrawn southern counterparts.
"The children say that too. We notice it. It's so cool."
She intends to throw herself into facilitating Wanganui arts and wanted to talk to everyone involved.
"Come and see me. Tell me what you've got going on and what you want to do. Ask what the council can do to facilitate an arts project."
She hopes the arts will help with Wanganui's economic development and national reputation.
As a child, Ms Kapohe showed early talent in both sport and music, and by age 14 was having weekly tuition at Otago University. The first degree of her tertiary education was in Italian art and literature, and for her second in voice and music she got to masters level. The third, a law degree at Sydney University, was with honours.
She had also been a self-employed singer for most of her adult life.
She sang lead roles in Die Fledermaus and La Boheme in Wanganui in 2000 and 2005 for the Wanganui Regional Opera Foundation.
Her favourite roles are in modern New Zealand operas, and she sang in Jenny McLeod's Hohepa during this year's New Zealand International Arts Festival.
