New Zealand soprano Felicity Tomkins graduated from the University of Waikato as a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar with conjoint Bachelor of Music (voice) and Bachelor of Science (biochemistry) degrees, and in 2019, she completed her Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours. Under the tutelage of Gina Sanders, she has recently completed her Master of Music with First Class Honours in 2021. She joined the Freemasons New Zealand Opera Chorus (Auckland) in 2019, and was a Dame Malvina Major Foundation (DMMF) Studio Artist with New Zealand Opera for 2020. In 2020, Felicity was awarded a Tayla Made Foundation study grant, and at the 2021 NZ Opera School, Felicity was awarded the Dame Sister Mary Leo Scholarship, and the Susie and Guy Haddleton Emerging Artist Award. 

This year, Felicity has also been the recipient of a Kiwi Music Scholarship, a Dame Malvina Major Foundation Arts Excellence Award, and is the 2021 Circle100 Scholar. Felicity holds ATCL Diplomas with Distinction in Classical Singing Performance (2017), Public Speaking (2016), and Speech and Drama (2014). She was selected to be a member of the 2014 Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand (SGCNZ) Young Shakespeare Company (YSC), a three-week workshop experience, culminating in a performance of Julius Caesar at The Globe Theatre, London. Felicity was awarded the Sir Edmund Hillary Arts Medal (2018), the University of Waikato Dr. Beverley Pullon Vocal Prize (2019), winner of the Norah Howell Award for 2021, and in 2017 won the University of Waikato Aria Competition. Felicity has been a recipient of a Wallace Corporation University Blues Award for Performing Arts from 2017 to 2020. In 2019, she was one of ten finalists in the Australasian Lockwood New Zealand Aria Competition, performing with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and maestro Giordano Bellincampi, and was a semi-finalist at the 2018 PACANZ National Young Performer of the Year, and winner of the award for the singer with the most potential. 

As a former Tauranga Girls’ College student, Felicity has been involved in vocal performance for 16 years, originally exposed to music from a young age through the influence of her older brother, who also took singing lessons. She has also attained her Grade 8 in Piano, and was awarded the Trinity College of London NZ Highest Mark and Recognition of Excellence for the Highest Mark for Grade 5 Theory of Music (2014). Felicity has also had past involvement in dance, with jazz up to Grade 6 and tap to Grade 10 with the NZ Tap and Jazz Associations. At the 2014 Regional SGCNZ Festival, she was awarded the most outstanding performer award, and is an Adastra Foundation Scholar Alumna. 

During her studies at the University of Waikato, Felicity has been involved with a wide variety of concerts and showcases, both through the music conservatorium and in the wider community, including fundraising concerts for the Dame Malvina Major Foundation. 

At University, she has also participated in several masterclasses with visiting tutors, including Pene and Amitai Pati, Julien Van Mallaerts, James Baillieu, Simon O’Neill, Iain Paterson, Terence Dennis, Penelope Cashman, Rosemary Barnes, and José Aparicio, as well as being involved with other University events such as presenting at Headz Up, a day designed specifically for School Head Students to explore and develop their individual leadership qualities. In 2018, her own piece, African Beggar was a finalist in the Lilburn Composition Awards, and in 2019, she was involved in performing for the premiere of composer Abby Pinkerton’s new work As the Flowers Bloom and Fade. She has also been involved in Janet Jennings Voices of Women CD, and recorded a song cycle with pianist Maria Mo, entitled Myself When Young, released in July 2020. 

Felicity has appeared as a soloist with several choirs, including The Graduate Choir New Zealand, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle and Malcolm Archer’s Requiem with Cantando Choir, and Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Hamilton Civic Choir. 

Most recently, she attended the 2021 NZ Opera School for the fourth time, and during these schools, she has worked with guest New Zealand and internationally based tutors including Simon O’Neill, Emma Pearson, Pene Pati, Amina Edris, Dame Malvina Major, César Ulloa, Della Jones, Russell Smythe, Glenn Winslade and Nuccia Focile. Felicity was involved with Festival Opera in Napier as a cover for Nedda (I Pagliacci) as part of their 2020 production season of Cavalleria rusticana & I Pagliacci. During 2020 with NZ Opera, Felicity covered Elle, La voix humaine (Poulenc), and performed in the Studio Artist staged scenes concert, “it is animal…” directed by Jon Hunter. 

In October 2020, Felicity had her role debut as Giulietta in The Tales of Hoffmann (University of Waikato.) With NZ Opera in 2021, Felicity covered the Countess Rosina Almaviva, and was also in the Auckland Chorus for Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart), and has been involved with various concerts and projects with the company throughout the year, such as the Opera in Schools Tour as Norina (Don Pasquale), and Beethoven’s Fidelio (Chorus). 

In August 2021, Felicity has traveled overseas to pursue further graduate studies under the tutelage of Stuart Skelton at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Ohio USA, commencing her Artist Diploma in Opera Vocal Performance.