Voice for change

The power of music drives new NZ Opera head Brad Cohen, and it's something he's keen to share. 

- ELIZABETH KERR

Brad Cohen always knew he’d make his life and career in music. The incoming general director of New Zealand Opera says, “It was always a given, I never had to make a choice. I feel very, very lucky.”

Telling his story, he reveals the strategic determination that will stand him in good stead as he steps off the podium into his new leadership role. His predecessor, Thomas de Mallet Burgess, took the cash-strapped NZ Opera in new directions, including small-scale and contemporary repertoire and fewer mainstage productions, his five years in the role attracting controversy and opposition from traditionalists. Cohen and the company’s board nonetheless plan to build on his approach.

Born in Mauritius to Australian missionary parents, Cohen began his “long, circuitous musical journey” in Wellington, playing Suzuki violin aged four. Later, in Sydney, he became a chorister, attending St Andrew’s Cathedral School on a scholarship.

“That was wonderful training. As a chorister you’re working at a high level of professionalism before you’re aware of what you’re doing. And it was like a brotherhood; we all grew up together in Sydney. Many of my fellow choristers now work for Australian Opera or are international singers.”

Cohen turned to the organ when his voice broke. The surprisingly forward-looking teenager was already planning his next step, one that meant leaving Australia and his family. “I was determined to be an organ scholar at Oxford or Cambridge, and knew I needed to get into the British system before A levels.”

Aged 16, he won organ and academic scholarships to the King’s School, attached to Canterbury Cathedral in England. “Off I went without a second thought in the world.”