Tongan-American and California native Saane Aziza Halaholo is quickly gaining recognition as a promising, young lyric soprano. In the 2024-2025 season, Ms. Halaholo joins Palm Beach Opera as an Apprentice Artist, where she will cover Annina in La traviata, and appear as Susannah in scenes from Susannah directed by Paul Curran. Ms. Halaholo will also join Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist, where she will make her debut as Mrs. Páskova in The Cunning Little Vixen, directed by Kristine McIntyre and conducted by Maestro David McNeely. She will also appear in their Apprentice Artist Scenes Program as Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Clarissa in Kevin Puts’ The Hours, and Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Most recently, Ms. Halaholo was a Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival, where she performed Edith in The Pirates of Penzance and covered Giunone in La Calisto.
In recent seasons, Ms. Halaholo has sung with Wolf Trap Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Colorado, and Cincinnati Song Initiative. Her repertoire includes the title role in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, New Prioress in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, Susannah in Floyd’s Susannah, Contessa Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Léontine in Bologne’s L’Amant Anonyme, Alice Ford in Falstaff, Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Nina in Massenet’s Chérubin. A fierce proponent of contemporary music, Ms. Halaholo has performed the role of Maya in Robert Paterson’s one-act opera The Companion and workshopped the role of Marilyn in Santa Fe Opera's commission of The Righteous by Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith. Equally comfortable on the oratorio stage, she has appeared as the soloist in Fauré's Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Haydn’s Harmoniemesse, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
A winner of the 2024 Denver Lyric Opera Guild’s Competition for Colorado Singers and the 2022 Tuesday Musical Association Voice competition, Ms. Halaholo has trained at prestigious institutions including the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and the Bob Cole Conservatory at California State University, Long Beach.