Manase Latu

New Zealand–born Tongan tenor Manase Latu is now in his third year in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. During the Metropolitan Opera’s 2022–23 season, he sings the role of a Trojan Soldier in Idomeneo and the First Guard in the holiday production of The Magic Flute. He made his Met debut as the Second Player in Hamlet during the 2021–22 season and participated in the annual Lindemann Program recital series held at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The September 17 and 18 performances of the Mozart Requiem mark his debut with Music of the Baroque.

In the summer of 2022 Manase Latu made his role debut as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at Aspen Opera Theater as a Renée Fleming Artist Fellow. While he was a young artist with New Zealand Opera, he performed and covered a number of roles, including Spoletta in Tosca, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, the Defendant in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury, and Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

Recent concert engagements include Haydn’s Theresienmesse and Mozart’s Sparrow Mass with the New Choral Society, Elgar’s The Apostles with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah with the Auckland Choral Society, among others. In 2019, Manase Latu placed first in the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition, the New Zealand Aria Competition, and the Dame Malvina Major Napier Aria Competition, and was a finalist in the Lexus Song Quest Competition.

Manase Latu holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Auckland, where he graduated with first-class honors, and a postgraduate diploma from the Royal College of Music, where he attended as a Kiri Scholar.