Whangārei-born soprano Rhiannon Cooper began her tertiary education at the University of Otago, earning a Bachelor of Music in Classical Performance endorsed with First Class Honours, before completing a Master of Music (Advanced Opera Studies) in the inaugural cohort of Te Pae Kōkako – The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio, University of Waikato. During her studies she was the recipient of multiple awards, including the Colin McDonald Memorial Prize, the Victor Galway Medal, the Ida G. White Memorial Prize, and the RSA Choir Scholarship.

Rhiannon’s voice and artistry have seen her win numerous awards across Aotearoa, including first place in the Otago Daily Times Dunedin Aria, the Canterbury Opera Foundation Aria, and the Dame Malvina Major Waikato Aria. She has been a finalist in various other national competitions, including the Lockwood New Zealand Aria and Nicholas Tarling Trust Aria, and is a two-time nominee for the PACANZ Young Performer of the Year.

In 2023, Rhiannon was selected as a Studio Artist with New Zealand Opera for their Artist Development Programme. She is a three-time alumna of the prestigious New Zealand Opera School, where she received the Merle Higgie Memorial Opera Prize for Potential (2022), the Spirit of the School Award (2023), and the School’s premier award, the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Scholarship (2023). She has also received support from Circle100 and been invited to participate in development weekends with the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation.

Rhiannon’s onstage credits include Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi – Marlborough Opera Festival), The Mikado (Peep-Bo – Opera Otago) Celebrating 2021 and Mozart’s Monster Mash (Soloist – Dunedin Symphony Orchestra), Macbeth (Ensemble – New Zealand Opera) and scheduled performances of Die Fledermaus (Rosalinde – Opera Otago). A dedicated ensemble singer, Rhiannon was a member of the New Zealand Youth Choir from 2017 to 2019, during which she toured internationally.