Teddy Tahu Rhodes (born 30 August 1966) is a New Zealand-born operatic baritone based in Australia. He has performed at opera houses in New Zealand, Australia, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, New York City and throughout Europe. Apart from many appearances in the standard repertoire, he has sung leading roles in Australian and world premieres. His recordings range from Baroque oratorios, operas, Lieder cycles to nursery rhymes and musical theatre. His album The Voice won the Fine Arts Award at the 2004 ARIA Music Awards.
Early life
Rhodes was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 30 August 1966,[1] to a British mother, Joyce, and a New Zealand father, Terrence Tahu Gravenor Rhodes. The Maori word "Tahu", which means "to set on fire", was added to the family name soon after they settled in New Zealand. His parents divorced when he was an infant, and he grew up with his mother. His aunt Margaret Rhodes, the wife of his paternal uncle Denys Rhodes, was a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.[2][3] Crime novelist Ngaio Marsh was a friend of the family and lived on and off with Rhodes' grandparents (Arthur) Tahu Rhodes and Helen "Nelly" Rhodes (née Plunket) in Britain in the 1920s and 30s;[4] in a 2011 documentary, Rhodes recalled "the magnificent Christmases that Marsh put on for her friends' children".[5]
In his final year of secondary school, Christ's College, Christchurch, Rhodes was selected for the New Zealand Youth Choir, where his musical potential was first identified. Following a relatively short period of formal lessons, he was entered into the 1986 Dame Sister Mary Leo Scholarship competition, which he won. He pursued private studies while studying at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, subsequently qualifying as an accountant.[6] His teachers, at this time and later, included Mary Adams Taylor, Rudolf Piernay and David Harper.
In 1991 Rhodes won the Mobil Song Quest, the major competition of its type in New Zealand, securing funding to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He turned down an offer by the Guildhall of a scholarship for two years of further study, returning to New Zealand where he worked as an accountant for some years.
Career
While working as an accountant in Christchurch, Rhodes maintained an association with Canterbury Opera, the local repertory opera company. In 1998 he made his international debut as Dandini in La Cenerentola for Opera Australia.[7] Following his Australian debut, in 1999 Rhodes represented New Zealand in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.[8]
Rhodes substituted at three hours' notice in January 2010 for an indisposed Mariusz Kwiecień in the role of Escamillo in the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD telecast of Carmen, a role he was to take over from Kwiecień later in the season.[11]
In March 2024, Rhodes was appointed to the Elder Conservatory in Adelaide in a leading role as teacher and mentor.[13]
Personal life
Rhodes first married in 1989, a union that was dissolved amicably in 1996. He married mezzo-sopranoIsabel Leonard in December 2008.[14] In September 2013, this marriage was reported to have ended.[15]
2010: The Bach Arias, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Antony Walker, Brett Weymark; with Sara Macliver; ABC Classics – nominated for Best Classical Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2010
2015: There Was a Man Lived in the Moon, nursery rhymes and children's songs, arranged by Andrew Ford, with Jane Sheldon (soprano); ABC Classics
2018: I'll Walk Beside You, Southern Cross Soloists, Karin Schaupp (guitar)
Awards
Rhodes won the 2004 Mo Award as Classical/Opera Performer of the Year.[17]
In 2006 he was the winner of the Limelight Award for Best Performance by a Soloist with an Orchestra for his Australian tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
