Filipe Manu returns home to give back to the school that helped shape his opera sound

For internationally-acclaimed Tongan tenor Filipe Manu, coming home to Aotearoa New Zealand is about more than performing.

The former Dilworth School student has returned to the Auckland school where his love of classical music started.

Manu donated his performance at its Fortissimo concert fundraiser to help raise money for the International Music Fund.

“I used to go there, and so I'm donating my performance for this fundraiser, and what a beautiful way to give back in such a small way,” he tells PMN Tonga.

Manu has since performed at some of the world’s biggest opera houses including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera and Paris Opera.

In 2024, Manu became the first singer from the Pacific and Australasia to win the Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition.

Watch Filipe Manu's full interview below.

But he says the foundations of his career wee laid at Dilworth where free singing lessons first opened the door to opera.

"They were offering free singing lessons, and along with a few of my other friends, we all sort of got out of class," Manu says.

Pasifika students make up the majority of Dilworth’s enrolment and Manu credits music educator Claire Caldwell with helping reshape the school’s singing culture and giving students the confidence to find their voices.

Dilworth School's Fortissimo Choir celebrates big wins at The Big Sing 2026. Photo/Facebook

“Singing and telling stories is very part of our fabric, and so when it came to singing and opera, it didn't feel like a big step. Whilst music was very familiar, opera was the only thing that was foreign,” he says.

That work is now showing in Dilworth’s results. The school’s Fortissimo choir won gold at this year’s Big Sing competition, making it three consecutive years of top-level achievement.

The choir also won the Tour Time Cup for Best Performance in a piece of Choral Art and was jointly awarded the Big Sing Pasifika Award.

Dilworth has also welcomed Manu’s return, describing the event as a chance to showcase the journey from discovering a young singer’s voice to performing on the world stage.

“We are delighted to present A Night with Our Stars - an inspiring evening of musical excellence at Dilworth - following a singer’s journey from first discovering their voice to performing on the world stage,” the school said in a social media post.

“How lucky are we that Dilworth Old Boy, Filipe Manu (Class of 2010), has so generously given up his time and will be taking the stage!”

'The Pearl Fishers' poster featuring Niu FM radio host, Gaby Solomona. Photo/NZO/Facebook

Manu says giving back means helping make sure more young people get the same chance he had.

His return to Dilworth comes as he prepares to take the lead role of Nadir in New Zealand Opera’s The Pearl Fishers, alongside Sāmoan-Niuean-Pākehā soprano Madison Nonoa as Léïla.

The opera, which was staged by NZO over 20 years ago, has been reimagined in a luxury resort and follows two friends caught in a love triangle.

“Basically, two guys who love the same person. We have themes of love, betrayal, jealousy, all things that we would see…[on] Netflix. It's very relatable. It's very down to earth. But at the heart of it is a story that has this inner turmoil,” Manu says.

The production brings together internationally-acclaimed opera talent from Australasia, the Freemasons Foundation New Zealand Opera Chorus, the Auckland Philharmonia and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

The Pearl Fishers opens at Auckland’s Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre on 23 September with further performances on 25 and 27 September, before moving to Christchurch’s Isaac Theatre Royal in October. Tickets are available here.