The woman in breeches
Andrew is Oberon, King of the Fairies, in the New Zealand School of Music’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s a “trouser” or “breeches” role, which in opera refers to any male character sung and acted by a female singer.”
“Mezzo sopranos have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos and a higher range than than contraltos,” the 21 year old explains. “Most often the character is an adolescent or a very young man.”
Andrew has worn the pants before. She played Cherubino in the Wellington production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro last year.
“Trouser roles are very liberating and great fun to sing and perform. The really cool thing about a mezzo soprano playing Oberon is that it makes the character more mysterious and dangerous. The audience sees a flash of masculinity and then a flash of female sensuality.”
Born in Wellington, Andrew grew up in Eastbourne. She’s currently studying for a postgraduate diploma in music at the New Zealand School of Music and has already won a string of scholarships and awards including the Dame Malvina Major Foundation High Achiever’s Award and the Moyra Todd Memorial Scholarship.
But her move into opera and singing was an accidental one. Her love of singing developed after she auditioned for a part in a school musical, and she fell in love with classical music after shopping at The Warehouse.
“I wanted to buy some music CDs and the classical ones were really cheap. I bought Madame Butterfly and a whole new world opened up to me. I really fell into opera and I’ve never looked back.”
Andrew has been described as one of New Zealand’s most exciting young opera singers and she aspires to a career as a professional opera singer. She has plans to move to Europe for further study but at the moment she’s finding plenty of opportunities at home. At the same time as rehearsing for Midsummer she’s performing in two other roles, in the New Zealand Opera Company chorus and in a production for Wellington’s Baroque Voices.
“Wellington is a real hub for creative events and I’ve got plenty going on,” Andrew says.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten, Memorial Theatre, Victoria University, August 3-9.










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