Worldwide, few professional opera- singers can claim so diverse a repertoire of talents as Deborah Wai Kapohe, M.Mus(Dis)(Otago), BA (Auckland), LRSM (Classical Guitar) and LLB(Hons) (Sydney).

Born in Southland, she has performed in operas, musicals, contemporary Maori music , arts festivals, proms, concerts, recitals ,self accompanied guitar and voice recitals and special events throughout New Zealand and Australia, as well as in the UK, China and South Africa.

Her traditional operatic roles include Pamina in The Magic Flute, Mimi in La Boheme, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Sophie in Massenet’s Werther, Adalgisa in Norma, Nannetta in Falstaff,Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Leila in The Pearl Fishers, Marguerite in Faust and most recently the role of Carmen in Carmen.

“There were no redeeming features about a creature like Carmen apart from the accolades that Deborah Wai Kapohe should take for portraying the role in such a fearful fashion” Opera-Opera,2006.

Her Premiere Opera performances include Outrageous Fortune by New Zealand composer Gillian Whitehead; Wide Sargasso Sea and Gauguin for Chamber Made in Australia; and Grandma's Shoes, a joint production between Opera Australia and Theatre of Image in Sydney, Jan 2000. In 2008 Deborah sung the role of the Queen of Tahiti in New Zealand composer’s Matthew Suttor’s Opera Trial of the Cannibal Dog at the 2008 New Zealand International Arts Festival.

“Deborah Wai Kapohe gave the outstanding performance of the evening, giving point to every entry and action she had” Review of Trial of the Cannibal Dog, New Zealand Listener, 2008.

Special events include singing for The Duke of Edinburgh World Fellows at St James Palace, Cathcart Spring proms at the Royal Albert Hall, the Sydney and Beijing Olympic Arts Festivals, Anthems for the All Blacks and the Silver Ferns in New Zealand and Australia and for Royalty at Huka Lodge.

From 2007 until 2009 Deborah completed a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney Law School in Sydney, Australia. However, she continued her singing in Beijing with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and as part of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs Cultural Diplomacy International Programme in Beijing and Hangzhou, 2008. In addition, she performed an event in Papua New Guinea and concerts in New Zealand with the Southern Sinfonia, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

From 2010 until 2013, Deborah will based at the University of Otago Legal Issues Centre in Dunedin, New Zealand. She will be resuming studying classical singing privately with Isabel Cunningham at the University of Otago Music School. This study will be focussed on gaining a deeper knowledge of Spanish vocal recital repertiore and English vocal recital repertoire.