Pictures: Jesse and Jessie, Ben Reason.
The jet-set life of Kiwi-Samoan opera singers Benson Wilson and Isabella Moore sounds like something out of a film, with dazzling performances, glamorous international fashion shoots and even singing for royalty at Westminster Abbey.
Now the London-based couple is spending the longest time apart since their dreamy wedding at Markovina Estate in Auckland almost three years ago.
Benson, an award-winning baritone, is delighted to be home in Aotearoa to make his professional debut for New Zealand Opera in Puccini’s tragi-romance La Bohème.
Meanwhile, Isabella – who’s an international model as well as a soprano – is spending an exciting couple of months navigating New York’s fashion scene after being signed with State Model Management in the Big Apple.
After almost a decade in the UK, Benson, 34, is enjoying getting amongst NZ Opera’s distinctive “Kiwi flavour”.
“We work at a high level, but there is still a relaxed feeling and whakawhanaungatanga, where everyone feels a bit like family,” he shares. “It’s also been great to spend time with whānau as we’re super-far from them for most of the year.”
Benson believes La Bohème is the “perfect first timer’s opera”. He’s looking forward to playing the principal role of Schaunard during the company’s three-city tour of the country.
It’s a part he knows well, having played it for both the Welsh and English National Operas, including a memorable performance in a London car park in 2020 during the height of the Covid pandemic.
“We were the first company in London to put on a show after the lockdown. People drove their vehicles into a big car park to watch our performance. Then, they tuned their car radios to get a live feed of the sound,” he tells. “It was such a pioneering thing to do and is definitely an up-there moment in my career!”
Isabella, 34, whose curves have graced many fashion campaigns in Aotearoa, from Bendon to Saben, booked her first job in New York just a few days after her arrival – a modelling gig with Macy’s, the biggest department store chain in the US.
“It’s pretty exciting here,” she admits. “Although I feel disappointed not to be able to get back to Aotearoa to support Benson and see La Bohème. It’s one of everybody’s favourite operas. It has all the bangers!”
Alongside the excitement of her international modelling career, opera is never far from Isabella’s mind. Once she returns to London, the soprano hopes to return to juggling both, although she admits it’s not always easy to balance the two.
“So much work goes on behind the scenes as an opera singer – chasing auditions, doing admin, learning music and coaching. On the other hand, modelling can be so last-minute,” she says.
“I might get a call one evening and be on a train at 6am the next morning out of London.”
The multi-talented couple loves to sing together. A highlight was their stunning performance of Tōfā Mai Feleni at Westminster Abbey, while representing Samoa at the 2024 Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration.
Unsurprisingly, it was singing that first brought the lovebirds together. They met as teenagers as members of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir and became great friends.
However, romance didn’t blossom until 14 years later, when Isabella arrived in London to take up a modelling contract. It was 2019 and Benson was already establishing himself in the British capital’s opera scene.
“I started texting Benson before I arrived as I knew I’d need someone to hang out with,” shares Isabella. “Then our texts turned into half-hour calls, then three-hour calls. When I arrived, we went for a pint and three days later, we were dating!”
Not long after, Covid hit, their professional lives were turned upside down and the couple found themselves locked down together. Despite the challenges of living in such close quarters, Benson had no doubts his “best friend” Isabella was “the one”.
He planned a surprise romantic proposal for Valentine’s Day in 2021. The surprise started with a video of pictures of them together right back to when they first met as teenagers.
Various family members held up signs matching the lyrics of the Justin Bieber track Anyone, which was playing. The final words at the end were, “Will you marry me?”
Laughs Isabella, “I didn’t give him a chance to ask out loud before I said yes! What I didn’t know was that our families back home had Zoomed in. They were watching with Champagne glasses in their hands. I was bawling my eyes out and didn’t realise they were watching me ugly-cry!”
The pair expects to be reunited in London before spring, with Benson heading off to make his debut for an opera company in Amsterdam.
Despite the glitz and glamour of their careers, the couple is clear about what keeps them grounded.
Enthuses Benson, “Just like the artists in La Bohème, our biggest wealth is in our relationships – with each other, and with our friends and whānau.”
NZ Opera’s La Bohème opens Thursday in Auckland, 18 June in Wellington and 2 July in Christchurch. To purchase tickets, see here.
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