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Hayley Dee Westenra (born April 10, 1987) is a New Zealand soprano who has released two widely distributed albums. Her first album, Pure, reached #1 on the UK classical charts and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. Hayley is the fastest-selling debut classical artist to date. In addition to her success at selling albums, she became an international star at the age of sixteen when the first of her international albums were released. She has performed for dignitaries of the Western World. She has donated money to UNICEF.

Biography

Early life

Westenra was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, the daughter of Jill and Gerald Westenra, with two siblings, Sophie and Isaac. She comes from a musically-inclined family; her grandmother (Shirely Ireland) was a singer, and her grandfather was a pianist and played the piano-accordion.

Her musical career began at the age of six when she was cast in the role of "the Littlest Star" in her school's Christmas play, with a singing part. After the show, a teacher who had watched the performance, approached her parents and informed them that their daughter had perfect pitch. The teacher encouraged Westenra to pick up a musical instrument to improve her abilities, and she began to take violin lessons. Along with the violin, she took up the piano and the recorder, and learned to read music by the age of seven. She began voice lessons and discovered a passion for musical theatre. By age 11, she had performed more than 40 times on stage. Out of these performances, she remembers not always getting the parts she wanted, "...I got boy parts quite often. In ballet, there were not enough boys. So they ended up choosing half and half. I got chosen to wear the grey suit and the wig, and not the pretty dresses. In A Christmas Carol, I was Tiny Tim, so I got to be quite a sick, sick boy. There was a severe lack of singing boys and, at the time, it was quite disappointing."

At the age of 12, Westenra entered a professional recording studio to record Walking in the Air, a demo album done for friends and family; only about 1000 copies were made. Some time later, after finishing her album, both Hayley and her sister, Sophie, busked in the Christchurch streets. The pair drew a large crowd, and one woman asked the girls if they had ever recorded anything. This woman turned out to be a journalist with CTV, and asked Hayley to appear on air. A concert promotion company watched the show, and signed her to the Universal New Zealand Label. The concert promoter who saw her and was responsible for this deal was Gray Bartlett. Without even meeting her in person, she was offered a deal on the Universal New Zealand label. On this label, Westenra released a self-titled album of show tunes and light classical songs, as well as My Gift To You, a CD of Christmas music. As a result of her success of selling albums in New Zealand, she was offered and later received lessons from Dame Malvina Major.

International success

Although her albums were quite successful in New Zealand, Westenra was unknown worldwide until she landed a contract with the Decca Music Group and recorded Pure, a CD of classical, light pop, and traditional Māori songs. Decca's U.K. president was also impressed with her voice when they signed her to the label, he said that he was, "captivated by the beauty and expressiveness of her voice." Pure enjoyed record-topping success. It became the fastest-selling debut album in the history of the UK classical charts. Pure sold 19,068 copies in its first week alone, flew to Number 1 on the UK classical charts, and entered the UK Pop Chart at #8. To date, over two million copies of Pure have been sold. In New Zealand "Pure" has been certified 10x platinum, making her the best-selling artist (regardless of genre) in the country's history. This album ensured that Decca, her record label, would take her seriously. When the facts are presented about her fame today, some of her fame can be directly attributed to the way in which Decca promoted her. Although the traditional audience of Classical Crossover Music is that of adult women, they also promoted her to children and teenagers. Westenra recorded the end-title song for Disney's movie Mulan 2. They also featured her on the national Radio Disney music education tour for middle-school students. David Horn, the producer of her live tv special which aired on PBS' Great Performances, said this about her, "Her singing is so gorgeous it's reminiscent of the great boy-soprano sound of Anglican church choirs". This special was entitled, "Hayley Westenra: Live from New Zealand."

Decca has also promoted her in other ways as well. In the US they promoted her by attempting to gain attention from the TV and film industries. She took her first acting role on Episode 46 (Charade) as a Singer in the Lair on the TV show American Dreams (NBC) where she played the guitar and sang "Who Painted the Moon Black?". While she was being promoted in L.A., Marc Johnston, senior VP/GM for the Universal Classics Group, said that, "When she was out there, people were giving her scripts to read, and she had a few rather impromptu auditions. So some film and TV roles are currently in the works." In November 2004, Westenra performed in a concert for Her Majesty The Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and President George W. Bush. In 2005, she was featured in the song Bridal Ballad that was recorded for the movie The Merchant of Venice. More recently, she was featured on the 13th track of the soundtrack to the motion picture The New World; the title of the song which she is featured on is entitled Listen to the Wind.

After releasing Pure, Westenra and her family moved to London. She continues to live in her own central London flat, even though her family subsequently returned home to Christchurch. Although she spent most of 2006 touring, she did her best to visit them when she could. Westenra was the 2004 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards winner of "Highest Selling New Zealand Album" and "International Achievement Award" On 20 February, the Prime Minister Helen Clark awarded her for being the first New Zealand artist to receive the tenfold platinum status in the New Zealand market, where she held the number one artist position for 18 weeks. She has won two Japanese Grammies for her work (Song of the Year, "Amazing Grace" and Album of the Year, "Pure"). Also in 2004 she began her world tour of New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the UK. At the Sydney Opera House she received a rare standing ovation. She concluded 2004 with a successful Christmas tour of the East Coast of the US as guest soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra.

In 2005, she released a new album called Odyssey. A mix of classical, pop, Celtic, and new age, she co-wrote and arranged some of the tracks on the album, which was released in the US on October 18. A more recent version of Odyssey was released in the United Kingdom on April 10 2006. It has several new recordings not on the original album. Ending 2005, she made an appearance on Kurt Browning's Gotta Skate, which aired on NBC on December 18 and where she performed with Andrea Bocelli.

She spent the first half of 2006 performing as a supporting act for the pop-opera quartet Il Divo on a worldwide tour, though in March she performed several solo concerts in the US as well. That tour officially ended in June, but was then extended by six dates. She then performed several concerts in the UK and Germany through the end of the summer.

In August 2006, she joined Celtic Woman, and is featured on their second major DVD/CD album, Celtic Woman - A New Journey, which was released January 30, 2007 and immediately hit the Billboard Top 200 music chart at Number 4. She will be touring with the group in the US in 2007, although specific details have yet to be released. On 5 September 2006, Miss Westenra was named as one of the 10 outstanding young people in the world by the Junior Chamber International. Later in 13 November of the same year, she participated in the dedication of the New Zealand War Memorial in London.

February 26, 2007 saw the UK release of Hayley's third international album "Treasure". Tracks on this album, which has a celtic feel, include E Pari Ra, One Fine Day, Let Me Lie, Danny Boy, Abide With Me and several others. Hayley has co-written four of the fifteen tracks, and the album also features singer Humphrey Berney. The US release will follow in March under the name "Celtic Treasure".

Hayley has dedicated the album to her "nanna", Shirley Ireland. Inside the sleeve of the UK edition, she wrote "I come from a musical family, and one with a real sense of history. My forefathers were on the maiden voyage from Ireland to Christchurch, New Zealand in 1850 - there's even a plaque in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, which bears the name Westenra to commemorate this. My grandmother used to sit me on her knee and sing songs like "Danny Boy" from as early as I can remember. A singer herself in her earlier years, she has always been a never-ending source of songs. It's this legacy of music that she's been passing down to me since my childhood, and it's many of these beautiful old songs that I've explored here on my album."

Philanthropy and charity

Westenra is the youngest UNICEF Ambassador to date. In 2005, Westenra visited Ghana to publicize her latest project and actively help funding for UNICEF; this involved raising money to purchase bicycles for young girls, allowing them to get to their schools from outlying surrounding areas. On June 8th 2007 Westenra will be performing in a fundraising concert for her UNICEF charity at the Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent. She has also been the ambassador for Save the Children in Hong Kong. More recently, she took part in a breast cancer awareness campaign in New Zealand. One of the other charities which she helps, is the Women's Environmental Network. Another major charity which she helps is the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy. All of the children who receive her help at this Center for Music Therapy are disabled.

Discography

Albums

NZ albums

International albums

Featured

Notable tours and concerts

References

1. ^ "Biography". Hayley Westenra Official Web Site. Retrieved 2006-12-13. Cite error: The named reference "officialsite_bio" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. "Links". Hayley Westenra Official Web Site. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
3. ^ Hayley Westenra: Live From New Zealand. DVD. Universal Music, 2005. (UPC 044007430859)
4. "Hayley Westenra: Teen Angel". CBS News. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
5. ^ Sexton, Paul, and Christie Eliezer. (2004). "Hayley Westenra: Kiwi star impresses the world.(Platinum Stars)" (Reprint). Billboard. 15 (3). Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: year (link)
6. Anderman, Joan. (2004-07-04). "At 17, New Zealand Soprano Has a Voice to be Reckoned With Hayley Westenra Sings Her Way Up". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-03-02.
7. Hayley Westenra: My Gift to You. Universal New Zealand, 2001.
8. McNickel, David. (2002). "Teen-age classics". Billboard. 41 (1). {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
9. "Teenage songstress Hayley Westenra brings gorgeous classical crossover music to the Phillips Center" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-03-22.
10. ^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia. (2004). "In hailing distance of U.S. debut" (Reprint). Billboard. 15 (2). Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
11. Mulan 2. Dir. Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland. Disney, 2004.
12. "Hayley Westenra: Live From New Zealand" (HTML). PBS. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
13. ^ "Music and Video". Hayley Westenra Official Web Site. Retrieved 2006-04-13. Cite error: The named reference "officalwebsite_music_and_video" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
14. "Charade." By Emily Whitesell. Dir Robert Singer. American Dreams. NBC. 3 October 2004.
15. D'Souza, Nandini, and Venessa Lau. "Can't Stop the Music; From Bach to Brahms, Kids are Going Crazy for the Classics These Days. Cases in Point: 17-Year-Old Soprano Hayley Westenra Tours the U.S. With Her Album "PURE", While Juilliard Students Show Their Distinctive Style and SONY Unveils the Youngest Conductor Ever to Take on Beethoven.(QRIO conductor robot)(Juilliard music students and their clothes)." WWD (April 29, 2004): 6. InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. Susquehanna University. 13 December 2006 .
16. The Merchant of Venice. Dir. Michael Radford. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., 2004.
17. The New World Soundtrack. New Line Records, 2006.
18. "March 2006 Newsletter". Hayley Westenra Official Web Site. Retrieved 2006-04-13.
19. "2004 Vodafone Winners". Vodafone. Retrieved 2005-08-03.
20. "Kurt Browning's Gotta Skate: 2005." NBC. 18 December 2005.
21. ^ "News". Hayley Westenra Official Web Site. Retrieved 2006-04-13. Cite error: The named reference "officalwebsite_news" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
22. ^ "The Billboard 200". The Billboard. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
23. ^ "Celtic Woman News". Official website of the Celtic Woman. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
24. ^ "Main Page". Hayley Westenra Official Web Site. Retrieved 2007-01-24. Cite error: The named reference "officialsite_main_Jan_07" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
25. "Main Page". Women's Environmental Network Web Site. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
26. "CNN covers singer Hayley Westenra's visit to the Nordoff Robbins Center!". Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
27. "World Premiere of UNICEF song". UNICEF Official Web Site. Retrieved 2006-12-13.

Further reading

• Little, Paul. Hayley Westenra: The World At Her Feet. NZ: Penguin Books, 2005. ISBN 0-14-301926-0

External links

• Official website
• Hayley Westenra BBC Radio Gloucestershire interview on The John Rockley Show 22/02/07
• HayleyWestenraFans : World's first website for Hayley Westenra
• Additional Biographical notes
• The PBS page about her special
• Yahoo! LAUNCHcast music videos featuring Hayley
• Hayley Westenra International World's biggest Fan Site

• The Hayley Westenra section at ClassicalX

2. Part 2

• 1987 births
• Buskers
• Female singers
• Classical musicians
• Crossover (music)
• Living people
• New Zealand musicians
• Sopranos