10 FEBRUARY, 2004
Song Quest a Perfect Fit with Festival
“In the 20th year of presenting the country’s premier arts festival, the New Zealand International Arts Festival is
delighted to be adopting the country’s premier singing competition,” according to Fran Wilde, Chair of the NZ
International Arts Festival.
Mobil Oil New Zealand, the founder and organiser of the Mobil Song Quest, has announced that it will be handing the
ownership and management of the Song Quest to the New Zealand International Arts Festival.
“The Mobil Song Quest has become an icon in the New Zealand cultural landscape and we salute Mobil for their nurturing
of this great event and the young singers involved in it over the last 48 years,” says Wilde.
“We believe there is a perfect fit between the quality of the Song Quest and the events that the Festival presents. The
Festival has the infrastructure, artistic and production expertise, and the vision to ensure that this event lasts and
prospers for its next half century.”
Mobil Song Quest winners and finalists have been prominent performers in Festival programmes since the Festival’s
inception. Leading roles in the two opera productions being presented in the 2004 Festival are taken by Mobil Song Quest
alumni – Linden Loader (winner 1981) is in Quartet and Paul Whelan (2nd 1987) is in The Elixir of Love.
The New Zealand International Arts Festival will announce the details of the next Song Quest in late April.
(ends)