Samson Setu

New Zealand born Samoan bass-baritone Samson Setu is currently an artist on the International Opera Studio at the Opernhaus Zürich. In 2020-2022 Samson was an artist on the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera and in the 2021/2022 of the Metropolitan Opera season, Samson debuted as a Flemish Deputy / Verdi’s Don Carlos. Samson is also an alumnus of the Royal College of Music, completing a Post-Graduate Diploma in 2020.

Samson is a former student of the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Programme for Young Singers and is still supported by Dame Kiri and the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation.

While Samson was at the Royal College of Music he was cast as Simeon / Debussy’s L’Enfant prodigue and the Sprecher and Sarastro / Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Bloomsbury Opera in London which were both cancelled due to the pandemic. In June of 2022 Samson was a participant of the annual Georg Solti Accademia which is held in Castiglione Della Pescaia, Italy and the Opera for Peace academy in Rome that same year.

In 2023 Samson sang the title role of  Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with New Zealand Opera. This production was a re-imagined take on the classic opera with changes to the orchestration and the entire text sung in English. The opera was well-received throughout the country. Samson made his debut with the Opernhaus Zürich in the 2023-2024 season, singing Nick Bottom / Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the International Opera Studio opera and in that same season he sang Mathieu / Giordano’s Andrea Chenier and the role of Mandarino / Turandot on the mainstage. In the 2025/25 season, Samson sang in a new Barrie Kosky production of Manon Lescaut as both the Sergente and Commandante. He also sang Gregorio / Roméo et Juliette and Lord Sidney / Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims as part of the International  Opera Studio Production in Winterthur, Switzerland. Later this season,  Samson will sing Ceprano / Rigoletto and will also cover Sparafucile,  the Notario / Don Pasquale and Schlemil / Les Contes d’Hoffmann.

Representation : General Management