Donald Trott says awards are “always a great surprise”, but behind them is the support of a community.
The founder of the New Zealand Opera School in Whanganui has been made a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to opera, 26 years after becoming an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM).
“That [community] is where thanks and gratitude are due, not to you specifically as a person,” Trott said.
“All you did was do what you do.”
He said he began singing at the age of 4, and took it to another level while attending Whanganui’s St George’s School.
“I was in the choir and just loved it. That was the real foundation, as a boy of about 8.
“On a Friday, a woman used to come and have the whole school singing, and there were various shows we did.
“One was called Once Aboard the Lugger, which we did on stage in ‘Big School’.
Trott said it was at Whanganui Collegiate School where he first heard a pipe organ, and that began a lifelong love of the instrument.
He moved to Auckland at the end of 1977, becoming principal singer for the Perkel Opera Company after an audition.
In the 1980s, Perkel helped fundraise for the construction of the Aotea Centre and its main theatre. Trott is now chairman of the company.
“That’s not something I’d recommend doing - being principal singer and chairman at the same time - but it was because of my management training, I suppose,” he said.
“When an opera made a profit, we’d give it to the Aotea Centre.”
At a Perkel annual general meeting in 1987, he pitched the idea of starting a new company to put on productions in the soon-to-open facility.
“I said ‘who’s coming with me?’. One person out of about 70 put up their hand,” Trott said.
“But with his help, and the help of one or two other supporters, we put together a trust.
“Kiri te Kanawa opened the centre in 1990, and two months later we did the first opera there: Die Fledermaus."
The company was first called Auckland Metropolitan Opera, then Auckland Opera, then Opera New Zealand.
“There was a move to merge Wellington Opera and Opera New Zealand in 2000, and it became a new company called New Zealand Opera Ltd,” Trott said.
“That’s the company that exists today.”
In 1993, he boarded a plane to Whanganui to begin planning the New Zealand Opera School, securing the use of facilities at Collegiate and the Royal Whanganui Opera House.
“Then I went to see the bank manager, and, swallowing hard, asked for an overdraft for $10,000.
“Luckily, he agreed.”
The school launched the following year, with Virginia Zeani as its first international vocal tutor.
Trott said Zeani remained a tutor for seven years and “she was wonderful”.
“We take 21 students every year, then there are pianists and tutors, so it’s about 45 people to deal with,” he said.
“They are working extraordinarily hard, not only in vocal tutorials, but in acting and languages: French and Italian.”
On the first day of the school, all students performed individually onstage at the Prince Edward Auditorium, he said.
“That’s a bit of test to see where they’re at.
“By the end of the season, the difference in them is amazing.”
More than 700 students have attended the school since its inception, including Pene Pati, Amina Edris, Simon O’Neill, Madeline Pierard, Phillip Rhodes, Samson Setu, Bianca Andrew, Amitai Pati, Stephen Diaz and Felipe Manu.
Te Kanawa conducted one masterclass at the school in 2016, the same year Trott returned to live in his hometown.
He said he never needed to call on the $10,000 overdraft.
“People were prepared to give me money to get the school going, and one person, Dame Jenny Gibbs, has been a supporter right the way through.
“She’s been absolutely wonderful, and there have been so many who came on later that have also been absolutely wonderful.”
Students take part in Whanganui Opera Week every January, with a series of public events around the city and a concert - Great Opera Moments - at the Royal Whanganui Opera House.
In 2026, the school runs from January 4 to January 18.
Trott said it was now owned by the Opera Whanganui Trust, but he remained executive chairman and director.
The school’s motto, “Nihil tumultus, tantum opera”, translates as “Minimum fuss, maximum work”.
“I don’t like it being called a summer school, because that gives the impression of lying on the beach and occasionally doing a bit of singing,” he said.
“It’s definitely a joyous time, but it’s hard work.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.