Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation Acquires Naming Rights for New Zealand's Singing Competition

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performs with the Russian National Orchestra directed by Vladimir Spivakov in 2004.
Photo: Dennis Sinkakov / AFP/Getty Images

From 2026, the competition will be known as the Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest

The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation has announced that it is the new Principal Naming Rights Partner of New Zealand's foremost singing competition.

Previously known as the Lexus Song Quest and the Mobil Song Quest, the competition will be known as the Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest from 2026.

The announcement represents a natural next step in the Foundation's relationship with the Song Quest, as the two organizations have been working in partnership for the last decade.

The Song Quest has been running for the last 69 years, and is widely regarded as an international launchpad for New Zealand's best young singers, including Dame Kiri Te Kanawa herself, who won the competition in 1965.

Other past winners of the contest have included Christopher Doig, Malvina Major, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Jonathan Lemalu, Madeleine Pierard, and Anna Leese.

Entries for the 2026 edition of the Song Quest open in December 2025, the semi-finalists will be announced in April 2026, and the Grand Final Gala will take place on Saturday July 11, 2026.

"This is a huge and exciting personal honor," Dame Kiri te Kanawa said. "The Song Quest is a New Zealand icon. It’s a great and venerable institution which over the years has been the catalyst and launch-pad for so many outstanding careers – including my own."

"My Foundation is now taking the leading role in sustaining the Song Quest into the future which is a practical way of ensuring that the opportunity I was given all those years ago will continue to be available to the cream of our young singers."

"My Foundation supports young New Zealand classical singers with exceptional potential. With its invaluable and prestigious on-stage experience and support for our country’s finest young singers, the Song Quest has always been a perfect fit for the Foundation’s work."

First published at The Violin Channel, October 7, 2025