Samson Setu (born ) is a New Zealand-born

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

opera singer of Samoan descent.

Early life

Setu was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, and grew up in the

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

suburb of

Manurewa Manurewa is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand. It was part of Manukau City before the creation of the Auckland super city in 2010. It is located south of the Manukau, Manukau City Centre, and southeast of Auckland CBD. The subur ...

. He attended a church in Manurewa where his grandfather was a pastor. He gained initial experience in singing and playing in a band at the church. Setu's singing talent was identified while he was a student at

Dilworth School Dilworth School, often referred to simply as Dilworth, is an independent full boarding school for boys in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest full boarding school in both the country and Australasia. Owned and operated by a charitable tru ...

in Auckland, and he credits his participation in the school choir with developing his interest in classical singing. He was the head chorister of the school choir in 2011, and was the cultural leader for the New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir trip to South Africa in 2012. He recalls that when he started, he was the only choir member who could not read music.

Career

Setu undertook tertiary education in music at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, but pulled out in his third year of studies, and travelled to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in England with the hope of an alternative career in professional rugby. He was offered a contract, but a last-minute intervention by his mother encouraged him to complete his studies in music. He transferred to the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

where there were other vocal students from Pasifika backgrounds, and he completed his studies under Te Oti Rakena. Setu has participated in the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Programme for Young Singers. In 2018, Setu won a Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist Scholarship with the New Zealand Opera School and was awarded the 2018 'Merle Higgie' Opera Prize for Potential. In 2019, Setu won the

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...

Arts Pasifika Iosefa Enari Memorial Award. In 2019, along with Tongan tenor Manase Latu, Setu was awarded a Circle100 scholarship that enabled both singers to travel to London as Kiri Scholars, to study at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

. While studying in London, both singers were invited to travel to New York and audition at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

. Both were subsequently accepted into the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 2020, and were the first New Zealanders to win a place in this programme. Setu has been a member of a vocal quartet, ''The Shades'', comprising singers of Tongan and Samoan heritage. The group was formed in 2015, and has learned Croatian music under the leadership of Goran Kačurov, a

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

-born teacher who is now a New Zealand resident. In 2020, ''The Shades'' collaborated with

Goran Karan Goran Karan (born 2 April 1964) is a Croatian vocalist. He specializes in songs influenced by Dalmatian folk music and is known for his powerful and refined tenor voice. Karan's collaboration with composer Zdenko Runjić led to some of his most acc ...

on a video dedicated to a victim of the

2020 Zagreb earthquake At approximately 6:24 AM CET on the morning of 22 March 2020, an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 , 5.5 , hit Zagreb, Croatia, with an epicenter north of the city centre. The maximum felt intensity was VII–VIII (''Very strong'' to ''Damaging'') o ...

. In September 2023, Setu will sing the lead role in ''(m)Orpheus'' in the

New Zealand Opera New Zealand Opera is New Zealand's only full-time professional opera company, formed in 2000 from the merger of companies in Auckland and Wellington (and later Christchurch). New Zealand Opera is headquartered in Parnell, Auckland, stages severa ...

post-modern version of ''

Orfeo ed Euridice ' (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on Orpheus, the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the ''azione teatrale'', mea ...

''. He will then take up a contract with the

Zürich Opera House The Zürich Opera House (german: Opernhaus Zürich, links=no) is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zürich. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zürich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. ...

in Switzerland.

References

External links

Samson Setu performs “''Madamia il catalogo e questo''” from Don Giovanni by Mozart, in 2019
{{Authority control 21st-century New Zealand male opera singers Musicians from Auckland New Zealand people of Samoan descent University of Auckland alumni Alumni of the Royal College of Music Operatic bass-baritones Living people 1990s births People educated at Dilworth School University of Otago alumni People from Manurewa