Christopher Keith Doig (4 April 1948 – 13 October 2011) was a New Zealand opera singer and sports administrator. In 1972 he won New Zealand's
Mobil Song Quest
The Lexus Song Quest (formerly known as the Mobil Song Quest) is a biennial opera singing competition, held in New Zealand since 1956. The competition is managed and presented by Tāwhiri, which also runs the New Zealand Festival of the Arts. Win ...
and studied at the Vienna Music Academy before becoming principal tenor at the Vienna State Opera. After ten years in Austria, Doig returned to New Zealand, where he was appointed chief executive of New Zealand Cricket and was a member of the New Zealand Rugby Union board.
In 1990, Doig was the artistic director of the
New Zealand Festival of the Arts
Aotearoa New Zealand Festival is a multi-arts biennial festival based in Wellington New Zealand that started in 1986. Previous names are the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, New Zealand International Arts Festival, New Zealand Arts ...
. He staged Wagner's ''
Die meistersinger von Nürnberg
(; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...
'', starring
Donald McIntyre
Sir Donald Conroy McIntyre (born 22 October 1934 in Auckland) is an operatic bass-baritone from New Zealand.
Operatic career
McIntyre made his formal debut as Zaccaria in ''Nabucco'', at the Welsh National Opera, in 1959. In 1964 he created ...
.
Awards
In 1990, Doig was awarded the
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal
The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people.
Background
The New Zea ...
. He was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
Christopher Doig had four children: Rachel, Paul, and Brendon with his first wife Jane Doig and one child Lukewith his second wife Suzanne Prain. At the time of his death he had 10 grandchildren. He also had three brothers an older brother John Doig and two younger brothers Quentin and Hamish Doig. His parents names were Roger and Ngarie.
Doig died on 13 October 2011 after a two-year battle with bowel cancer, aged 63.