Filipe Manu

Full Biography

The New Zealand-raised tenor of Tongan heritage, Filipe Manu, is increasingly establishing himself as one of the most versatile tenors of his generation. In 2024, he became the first singer from the Pacific region and Australasia to win the prestigious Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition. A graduate of the renowned Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Manu has since made important debuts at the Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra National de Paris, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and the Hamburg State Opera.

Filipe Manu opens the 2026-27 season with his role debut as Nadir in Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles for New Zealand Opera. At the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, he appears as Jamal in the world premiere of Zombie Opera, a new opera by Andrea Battistoni inspired by The Walking Dead. He also makes his house debut at the Teatro Regio Torino as Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata, returns to the Vienna State Opera as Ferrando in Così fan tutte, and sings Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for Opera Australia in Melbourne.

Highlights of recent seasons include his house debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona as Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) and his role debut as Alfredo for Opera Australia in Melbourne. Further debuts include Fenton (Falstaff) at the Glyndebourne Festival, Paris (La Belle Hélène) in Toulon, and Ernesto (Don Pasquale) for Scottish Opera. Other highlights have included Eduardo in Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel at the Opéra National de Paris, Tamino at the Royal Opera House, Nemorino at the Glyndebourne Autumn Festival, and Ferrando for Opera Australia, the Hamburg State Opera, and in Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed production of Così fan tutte at the Vienna State Opera. From 2021 to 2023, Manu was a member of the ensemble at Bühnen Bern, where his repertoire included Tamino, Ruodi (Guillaume Tell), Arbace (Idomeneo), Tebaldo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), and Froh (Das Rheingold).

On the concert stage, Manu has appeared at prestigious venues and festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, Peralada Festival in Spain, Royal Albert Hall, and Wigmore Hall, collaborating with distinguished conductors such as Dalia Stasevska, Lothar Koenigs, Sir Antonio Pappano, and Mark Wigglesworth. He has also performed alongside Lisette Oropesa and Gerald Finley.

Manu is the recipient of the New Zealand Performer of the Year Award, the Dame Heather Begg Memorial Award, and first prizes at both the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition and the Lexus Song Quest.

His early artistic development was supported by the Dame Malvina Major Young Artist Programme of New Zealand Opera. He was a member of the New Zealand Opera School, the opera programme at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and the inaugural programmes of both the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation and the Dame Malvina Major Foundation. A Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar at the University of Waikato, he earned his Bachelor of Music and Postgraduate Diploma there before completing a Master’s degree at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.