Countertenor Samuel Mataele, winner of the 18 Years and Under section of the 2025 Nicholas Tarling Aria Competition. Photo: Supplied / Nicholas Tarling Aria Competition 2025
It was only a matter of time.
Samuel Mataele loves singing - he'll sing anywhere.
His mum should know, he would fill the car with his voice whenever she drove him to a music lesson.
The difference between Samuel Mataele and most other teenagers who love singing anywhere, is that Mataele has an extraordinary voice.
So when his flute teacher heard Mataele approaching in the corridor of the school music department singing César Franck's "Panis Angelicus", that flute teacher got in touch with vocal coach Fiona Ferens.
And when Ferens heard Mataele's voice she offered to teach him for free.
That partnership led to Mataele winning this year's Nicholas Tarling Aria Competition in the 18 Years and Under category (he was 17 at the time) singing "But Who May Abide" from Handel's oratorio Messiah.
One aspect of that prize is getting to sing the aria with the Manukau Symphony Orchestra this weekend in their Family Concert.
Mataele spoke with RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump ahead of his performance.
He says while his parents aren't musicians themselves they made sure Mataele and his siblings learned to play instruments to "give them something to do".
As well as picking up the flute, Mataele can also play the violin, piano and organ, but it's singing that really lights his fire.
Performing with the Auckland Boys Choir from the age of six exposed him to classical and opera music.
Mataele couldn't get enough of it, and he was soon finding opera tracks on YouTube to play and sing along to. He especially loves J S Bach, and his B Minor Mass.
He doesn't remember when his voice broke; he's always been able to sing high.
But it was a downwards "slide" in his range last year which opened up the possibility of performing Handel's "But Who May Abide".
He's always had plenty of power in his top notes, now Mataele found he had some extra oomph in his voice singing below middle C.
Uwe Grodd, who judged Mataele's performance at the Nicholas Tarling competition praised the singer's sense of Baroque style and phrasing.
Mataele has yet to finish his secondary schooling at Auckland's Sacred Heart College, but he already has his sights set on a musical career.
His mother couldn't be happier, and even if Mataele heads overseas, we're confident she'll still be able to hear him singing in the car, only in future that voice might be coming over the stereo.
