In 2011 Kawiti Waetford received a Foundation grant to enable him to attend the Solti Te Kanawa Accademia Del Bel Canto in Tuscany. He also received the Ngarimu VC & Maori Battalion Scholarship in 2011 and 2013 and has been the recipient of several other prestigious scholarships, including the Allens Educational Foundation Scholarship and the University of Otago Maori and Pacific Island Scholarship.  In 2013 Kawiti Waetford completed his Bachelor of Music in Performance Voice at the University of Otago under Isabel Cunningham and Professor Terence Dennis. 

Kawiti has performed two major Mozart roles: Figaro in Opera Otago’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro, and Guglielmo in the Auckland Opera Studio’s production of Cosi fan tutte (2012) and at various concerts as invited guest alongside Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Simon O’Neil, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

He was a member of the Sheila Winn Shakespeare Festival, New Zealand Young Shakespeare Company, playing the role of Orlando in As You Like It at the Globe Theatre summer programme, London (2009)

Further Foundation grants and donations from generous supporters enabled him to further his studies at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice. Earlier in 2014 he graduated with a Masters in Advance Vocal Studies and with additional support from the Foundation intends to continue a further year of post-Masters study with Dennis O’Neill in 2014/15 as well as auditioning for London-based programmes such as the National Opera Studio and roles in smaller operatic productions and companies in order to gain essential experience and training in staged works