Frances Wilson-Fitzgerald, of Auckland, ONZM, for services to opera
Mrs Wilson-Fitzgerald is Director of the Auckland Opera Studio. Her past students include Marlena Devoe, the Sol3 MIO brothers, and operatic tenor Simon O’Neill. She has taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and worked as an accompanist and coach for Elder Conservatorium, Adelaide University, and as a Lecturer in Vocal Performance at the University of Otago. With the New Zealand Opera Company, she has served as Repetituer, Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart and Chief Repetiteur, coach and chorus master. She founded the New Zealand Summer Opera School in Whanganui (now the New Zealand Opera School). She formed the Auckland Opera Studio as a charitable trust to serve New Zealand’s musical talent. Mrs Wilson-Fitzgerald previously formed Opera Corp. for young singers in Auckland.