A chat with Benson Wilson on his opera journey and latest role

Benson could harmonise at the age of five and singing was a natural gift. Growing up in south Auckland, surrounded by a musical family and singing in church, he always loved the way it brought him together with other people.

It wasn’t until his family moved to Havelock North when he was at high school that Benson discovered classical music when he found a haven in the music rooms and a student overheard him, telling a teacher, resulting in him being asked to join the school choir.  Without the Polynesian groups he’d been a part of in Auckland, Benson was drawn to the choir as an opportunity to sing with others and feel a sense of community..

It was a natural progression from there, until one day, that same friend who first heard him singing in the music room filled an application form on his behalf for the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir. “She was in the cycle before me, and filled out the form and sent it off because I had missed the initial application dates because I didn’t believe in myself and didn’t think it was an option.”

Here was where his love for classical music really blossomed. He felt he didn’t have the same skillset as the rest of the choir, reading music didn’t come naturally to him and he didn’t always believe in himself. But it was here where his confidence and passion for the gift became more realised. “ Because I couldn’t read music, I would listen to my colleagues to get the tune and use my voice help amplify the sound. But I was encouraged to audition for solos and got them! Here I started to think am I considered to be good? What?”. It was here where his confidence and passion for classical music became more realised. But here his love for classical music blossomed and his confidence grew.

“I think it was realising there were many similarities between my world and the classical world, a strong connection to that gut instinct of feeling good and singing with other people ... and the idea of telling stories on stage and singing together is where the passion for opera came in,” he reflects.

“Music does something for the soul that only music can do, that’s been the most rewarding thing about this career, seeing how it can affect other people, and what it does for me as well. Seeing audience members cry or laugh, joining together and reminding us that we’re all human.”

Competing in the Lexus Song Quest stood as a real milestone for Benson. He competed twice, firstly in 2014 making the finals and then again in 2016, winning the crown. He admits auditioning that first year went against the advice of many of his teachers at the time, but making the finals, performing alongside the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and competing against such talented peers was a big catalyst for his personal development.

“It’s so valuable for a singer, not only to have the opportunity to sing with an orchestra, but to understand the relationship and learn how to really listen. Learning to connect with a conductor, working with an orchestra, being on stage with 100+ people all with the same aim to tell the same story ... and I remember the joy of having the opportunity to sing in a competitive environment, doing something I love, next to people I’m inspired by.”

With a ticket to London booked before the Lexus Song Quest Grand Final Gala, Benson’s win allowed him an unexpected level of financial security once he arrived - “I could fully immerse myself in my studies, which is exactly what I did. I could land in London and hit the ground running without the financial burden that comes with moving to a foreign country.”

Three months after arriving in London, he was performing on BBC3.

Almost a decade later, his life experience and perspective of the industry overseas – where he has sung in Robin Norton-Hale’s new film of La bohème for Finite Films, Britten’s War Requiem with Orchestra Wellington, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Sakari Oramo both performed at the Barbican Centre. - have provided him a multitude of opportunities to upskill. “I’m constantly a sponge, absorbing, admiring, learning – even here with the NZ Opera, there are so many things I admire within my colleagues’ artistry and craft. I’m always taking the opportunity to learn from others, be collaborative, and take notes.”

His first professional debut was singing the role of Schaunard in La bohème for Festival Opera in Hawkes Bay in 2016. Now, back in Aotearoa, he’s about to make his NZ Opera debut in that same role. Opening night in Auckland on 29 May, will mark his 30th performance as Schaunard. On bringing it back to Aotearoa he says, “I’m ecstatic, I’m excited – in Kiwi lingo – I'm stoked.”

Rather than seeing this as coming full circle, he likens this chapter to a koru - when it reaches the other side the coil continues to unravel, creating new life and growth. He sees this in his relationship with the NZ Opera, his turangawaewae – a place to stand within the world.

“I have sung in many places around the world, but to be able to come home, take my shoes off and put my bare feet on the ground in Aotearoa and make my debut with the national company, singing one of my favourite roles Schaunard, in one of my favourite operas. I feel honoured, it just feels so right”

He looks forward to performing for New Zealand audiences again too, and comments how loyal and special performing to his family and extended family is each time. "Singing for people who have supported or followed me for a very long time is heartwarming. To see my family in the audience is something I don’t take for granted, and the people who follow my career do feel like my singing family. So, to see people you know – there's no feeling like it.”

La bohème opens in Auckland on 29 May – 6 June at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, travels to Wellington 18 – 22 June at St James Theatre, and finishes in Christchurch 2– 6 July at the Isaac Theatre Royal. Tickets and info nzopera.com