| Hayley Westenra |
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Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987 in Christchurch )1 is a New Zealand Soprano of Irish heritage. Her first album, '' Pure '', reached #1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide. Westenra has received awards for her contribution to music, both in New Zealand and worldwide. '' Pure '' is the fastest-selling debut classical album to date, and Westenra became an international star, aged 16, when the first of her international albums were released. In August 2006, Westenra joined the Irish group Celtic Woman and toured with them on their 2007 Spring Tour. Westenra has performed for dignitaries around the world. She is the youngest UNICEF Ambassador to date and has been lauded for her charitable contributions to the world. BIOGRAPHY Early life Westenra's parents, Jill and Gerald Westenra, have two other children, Sophie and Isaac. The family has a history of music: Westenra's grandmother Shirley Ireland was a singer, and her grandfather was a pianist who also played the Piano Accordion .2 Her pursuit of a musical career began at the age of six, when she was cast in the lead singing role of "Little Star" in the ,'' 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."4 At the age of 12, Westenra entered a professional recording studio to record '' Walking In The Air '', a demo album originally created for friends and family; only about 1000 copies were made. Some time later, after finishing her album, both Westenra and her sister, Sophie, Busked in Christchurch. The pair drew a large crowd, and one woman asked the girls if they had ever recorded anything. The woman turned out to be a journalist with Canterbury Television , and she asked Westenra to appear on air.5 A concert promotion company, under the direction of Gray Bartlett, watched the show and became interested in working with Westenra. Shortly after this, she was offered a recording deal with Universal New Zealand before she met any representatives of the company.6 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. Following the success of her albums, 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 s, sold 19,068 copies in its first week alone, quickly reached #1 on the UK chart, and entered the UK Pop Chart at #8.8 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.9 ''Pure'''s success ensured that Decca would take Westenra seriously. Some of her fame today 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 music to children and teenagers.10 Westenra recorded the end-title song for Disney 's movie '' Mulan II ''.11 They also featured her in 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, "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''.12 '']] Decca has also promoted Westenra on television. She took her first acting role on the US programme '' American Dreams '' ("Charade"), where she played Guitar and sang "Who Painted the Moon Black?".13 While she was being promoted in Los Angeles, California , Marc Johnston, senior VP/GM for the Universal Classics Group, said, "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 2005, she was featured in the song " Bridal Ballad " recorded for the movie '' The Merchant Of Venice ''.14 In 2006, she was featured on the motion picture soundtrack for '' The New World '' for the song "Listen to the Wind". Westenra was the 2004 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards winner of "Highest Selling New Zealand Album" and "International Achievement Award"15 On 20 February 2004 , 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 , performing in a concert in November for Her Majesty The Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair , Prince Charles , Colin Powell , Condoleezza Rice and President George W. Bush .16. 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 United States as guest soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra .17 In 2005, she released a new album called ''Odyssey''. A mix of classical, pop, Celtic, and new age music, she co-wrote and arranged some of the tracks on the album, which was released in the United States on 18 October 2005 . A more recent version of ''Odyssey'' containing several recordings not on the original album was released in the United Kingdom on 10 April 2006 , her 19th birthday. To conclude 2005, she made an appearance on Kurt Browning 's programme ''Gotta Skate'', which aired on 18 December , in which she performed with Andrea Bocelli .18 Westenra 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 solo concerts in the U.S. as well. That tour officially ended in June, but was then extended by six performances. She then held several concerts in the UK and Germany through the end of the northern summer.19 On 5 September 2006 , Westenra was named as one of the ten outstanding young people in the world by the Junior Chamber International . On 13 November 2006 she participated in the dedication of the New Zealand War Memorial in London.20 Three of Westenra's great-uncles served in World War II , one was killed. After releasing ''Pure'', Westenra and her family moved to London . She continues to live in a central London flat, even though her family subsequently returned home to Christchurch. Although she spent most of 2006 touring, she did visit them when her schedule allowed.21 Beyond her initial success In August 2006, Westenra joined '', which was released January 30 2007 and immediately hit the Billboard Top 200 music chart at #4.23 She toured with the group in the United States in 2007, with scheduled appearances in 88 venues across the country; the tour ended in June of the same year.2425 Westenra's third international album, ''Treasure'', was released on 26 February 2007 in the UK. All the songs on this CD were chosen by Westenra, who gave her record company "no say in the matter. I basically didn't let them in on what I was recording until the last minute so they had no choice. I didn't give them much room to disagree.""Hayley Westenra in charge of her career", The New Zealand Herald, 2007-04-28 . Lexis Nexis. Susquehanna University. 25 May . 2007 . Tracks on this album include "E Pari Ra", "One Fine Day", "Let Me Lie", " Danny Boy ", and " Abide With Me ". Westenra co-wrote four of the fifteen tracks, and the album also features singer Humphrey Berney . The US/Australia/NZ edition followed in March under the name ''Celtic Treasure''. Westenra dedicated the album to her grandmother, 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 commemoration plaque in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, which bears the name Westenra. 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." As her success increased so did her political activism. On St. Patrick's Day 2007, she performed again for President George W. Bush at the White House."UCJ to target Aussies and Kiwis for latest Hayley Westenra album." Music Week (March 17, 2007): 20. InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. Susquehanna University. 23 May . 2007 . She had plans to present the president with a petition to place a mandatory carbon cap on the United States .26 The goal of the petition was compliance with the commitment made by President Clinton in previous years to follow the Kyoto Protocol .27 However, she was not able to present the petition because the president was rushed away after her concert, due to a terrorist threat.Moffatt, Alex. "Young Haley's already become an old hand." Daily Mail Westenra starred as Maria in the 2007 recording of West Side Story , which was released on 30 July. On 28 July , she starred in Woburn LIVE 2007, where she performed a selection of the music of West Side Story with the other recording artists from the 2007 release.28 Westenra is known as a Vegetarian / Pescotarian , and is currently nominated for PETA 's 'Sexiest Vegetarian' for 2007. 2930 31 32 However, when touring she is sometimes unable to carry on her ''modus vivendi'', concerned about getting the appropriate amounts of nutrients. She is sometimes unable to obtain the vegetarian sources she prefers, and on those occasions she eats meat to fulfil her nutritional requirements. Westenra told the New Zealand Herald, "I'm completely bursting the bubble now, aren't I? That's that ruined."33 The song "Prayer" by Westenra is featured in the trailers for the Nintendo Wii video game, '' Forever Blue '' (''Endless Ocean'' in North America), as well as in the game itself. Westenra also contributes several other songs including her rendition of the Māori folk song " Pokarekare Ana ".34 PHILANTHROPY AND CHARITY ]] Westenra is the youngest 2007 , Westenra will be performing in a fundraising concert for her UNICEF charity, Bikes for Ghana, at the Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent .37 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.38 Another major charity she helps is the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy. All the children who receive her help at this Center for Music Therapy are disabled.39 DISCOGRAPHY Albums NZ albums International albums Featured NOTABLE TOURS AND CONCERTS REFERENCES FURTHER READING EXTERNAL LINKS
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