Samson Setu
{{short description|New Zealand opera singer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox musical artist
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| name = Samson Setu
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| image = Samson Setu singing 2024 (cropped).jpg
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| caption = Setu in 2024
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| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |29 | 2023| 07 | 23 }}
| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand
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| genre = Classical
| occupation = Opera singer
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Samson Setu (born {{birth based on age as of date |29 | 2023| 07 | 23|noage=1}}) is a New Zealand-born bass-baritone opera singer of Samoan descent.{{Cite web |title=Samson Setu - Artist Profile |url=https://www.thecoconet.tv/moana-arts/digitalmoanaarts/samson-setu-artist-profile/ |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=www.thecoconet.tv |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105204209/https://www.thecoconet.tv/moana-arts/digitalmoanaarts/samson-setu-artist-profile/ |url-status=live }}
Early life
Setu was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and grew up in the South Auckland suburb of Manurewa. 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 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.{{Cite web |title=Samson Setu |url=https://www.aucklandoperastudio.co.nz/samson-setu |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=aucklandoperastudio |language=en |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124211735/https://www.aucklandoperastudio.co.nz/samson-setu |url-status=live }} He recalls that when he started, he was the only choir member who could not read music.{{Cite web |date=2020-08-26 |title=Outstanding Pasifika singers win places on Met Opera's Young Artist Program |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/upbeat/audio/2018761221/new-york-beckons-for-singers-samson-setu-and-manase-latu |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=RNZ |language=en-nz |archive-date=27 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827230308/https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/upbeat/audio/2018761221/new-york-beckons-for-singers-samson-setu-and-manase-latu |url-status=live }}
Career
Setu undertook tertiary education in music at the University of Otago in Dunedin, but pulled out in his third year of studies, and travelled to Brighton 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 where there were other vocal students from Pasifika backgrounds, and he completed his studies under Te Oti Rakena.{{Cite web |last=Betts |first=Richard |date=23 July 2023 |title=Samson Setu, the unlikely opera star with no ordinary voice |url=https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/wellbeing/350039103/samson-setu-unlikely-opera-star-no-ordinary-voice |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=The Post |archive-date=22 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722231620/https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/wellbeing/350039103/samson-setu-unlikely-opera-star-no-ordinary-voice |url-status=live }}
Setu has participated in the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Programme for Young Singers.{{Cite web |title=Samson Setu |url=http://www.kiritekanawa.org/grants/profile/6/77 |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=www.kiritekanawa.org |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604181137/http://www.kiritekanawa.org/grants/profile/6/77 |url-status=live }}
In 2018, Setu won a Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist Scholarship with the New Zealand Opera School{{Cite web |title=NZ Opera names DMMF Scholarships for 2018 |url=https://dmmfoundation.org.nz/dame-malvina-major-foundation-scholarships-for-2018/ |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=Dame Malvina Major Foundation |language=en-NZ |archive-date=31 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331185348/https://dmmfoundation.org.nz/dame-malvina-major-foundation-scholarships-for-2018/ |url-status=live }} and was awarded the 2018 'Merle Higgie' Opera Prize for Potential.{{Cite web |date=2021-12-30 |title=Alumni 2018 - New Zealand Opera School |url=https://operaschool.org.nz/alumni-2018/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=operaschool.org.nz |language=en-US |archive-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530012533/https://operaschool.org.nz/alumni-2018/ |url-status=live }}
In 2019, Setu won the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Iosefa Enari Memorial Award.{{Cite web |date=6 July 2020 |title=Samson Setu - Creative NZ Arts Pasifika Iosefa Enari Memorial Award |url=https://omny.fm/shows/pacificmedianetwork/samson-setu-creative-nz-arts-pasifika-iosefa-enari |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=Pacific Media Network |language=en-NZ |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307021509/https://omny.fm/shows/pacificmedianetwork/samson-setu-creative-nz-arts-pasifika-iosefa-enari |url-status=live }}
In 2019, along with Tongan tenor Manase Latu, Setu was awarded a Circle100 scholarship{{Cite web |title=Samson Setu |url=https://www.circle100.co.nz/scholars/samson-setu |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=CIRCLE100 |language=en |archive-date=23 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723234424/https://www.circle100.co.nz/scholars/samson-setu |url-status=live }} that enabled both singers to travel to London as Kiri Scholars, to study at the Royal College of Music. While studying in London, both singers were invited to travel to New York and audition at the Metropolitan Opera. Both were subsequently accepted into the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 2020,{{Cite web |title=Samson Setu |url=https://www.metopera.org/about/auditions/lindemann-young-artist-development-program/2020-21-roster/samson-setu/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=www.metopera.org |language=en |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603044029/https://www.metopera.org/about/auditions/lindemann-young-artist-development-program/2020-21-roster/samson-setu/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=7 September 2020 |title=Grew up singing in South Auckland, now singing at The Met |url=https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2020/09/06/grew-up-singing-in-south-auckland-now-off-to-the-met.html |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=The University of Auckland |archive-date=21 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021134802/https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2020/09/06/grew-up-singing-in-south-auckland-now-off-to-the-met.html |url-status=live }} and were the first New Zealanders to win a place in this programme.{{Cite web |title=Reframing Tradition: Māori and Pasifika Voices in Opera |url=https://toiotautahi.org.nz/views/opera-pasifika/ |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=Toi Ōtautahi - The Virtual Arts Office For Christchurch |language=en-NZ |archive-date=4 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204101830/https://toiotautahi.org.nz/views/opera-pasifika/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Kiwi singers selected for New York Metropolitan Opera's elite Lindemann programme |url=https://www.circle100.co.nz/news-lindemann-programme |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=CIRCLE100 |language=en-NZ |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322192805/https://www.circle100.co.nz/news-lindemann-programme |url-status=live }}
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-born teacher who is now a New Zealand resident. In 2020, The Shades collaborated with Goran Karan on a video dedicated to a victim of the 2020 Zagreb earthquake.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-29 |title=VIDEO: Goran Karan and New Zealand vocal group The Shades with song dedicated to Zagreb earthquake victim |url=https://www.croatiaweek.com/video-goran-karan-and-new-zealand-vocal-group-the-shades-with-song-dedicated-to-zagreb-earthquake-victim/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=Croatia Week |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602043846/https://www.croatiaweek.com/video-goran-karan-and-new-zealand-vocal-group-the-shades-with-song-dedicated-to-zagreb-earthquake-victim/ |url-status=live }}
In September 2023, Setu will sing the lead role in (m)Orpheus in the New Zealand Opera post-modern version of Orfeo ed Euridice. He will then take up a contract with the Zürich Opera House in Switzerland.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu3jcpNckJ0 Samson Setu performs “Madamia il catalogo e questo” from Don Giovanni by Mozart, in 2019]
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{{Authority control}}
Category:21st-century New Zealand male opera singers
Category:Musicians from Auckland
Category:New Zealand people of Samoan descent
Category:University of Auckland alumni
Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music
Category:Operatic bass-baritones
Category:People educated at Dilworth School