Wellington soprano Katherine McIndoe edged out a competitive field of young New Zealand opera singers at the weekend to win the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Wellington Aria.

The 21-year old, who is currently studying at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University and is a former head girl of Wellington Girls’ College, took out the $4,000 first prize, with second place awarded to soprano Chelsea Dolman.

Adjudicator Amanda Atlas said each of the competitors demonstrated an excellent level of study and attention to detail, so in the end it was about the performance and the ‘it’ factor.

“For me, it all came down to the singer whose preparation, technique and musicality culminated in the portrayal of characters whose situations and emotions moved me.”

The Dame Malvina Major Foundation Wellington Aria is the second of the 2015 regional Dame Malvina Major Foundation Aria Competitions that lead into the New Zealand Aria Competition held in Rotorua in early November.

Organised by the Wellington Regional Vocal Competitions, 22 vocalists from across New Zealand performed in the preliminaries at St Andrew’s on the Terrace on Saturday evening with eight going through to the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Aria finals on Sunday night.

Dame Malvina Major said that competitions such as these enabled promising young performers to develop the edge required to succeed on the international stage.

“The opportunity to perform and participate in a competition of this calibre is invaluable for young New Zealand artists.  It is a privilege for the Dame Malvina Major Foundation to be able to invest in their future in this way. Congratulations to Katherine on her much deserved win.”