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| Birth Name(s) : Hayley Westenra |
Date of Birth: N/A |
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Single
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| Profession:
Singer |
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Full Hayley Westenra Biography
Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987 in Christchurch) is a New Zealand soprano of Irish heritage. Her first internationally released 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 international 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.
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. 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.
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. 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. Three of Westenra's great-uncles served in World War II, one was killed.
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. She had plans to present the president with a petition to place a mandatory carbon cap on the United States. The goal of the petition was compliance with the commitment made by President Clinton in previous years to follow the Kyoto Protocol. However, she was not able to present the petition because the president was rushed away after her concert, due to a terrorist threat.
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.
Westenra is known as a vegetarian/pescotarian, and is currently nominated for PETA's 'Sexiest Vegetarian' for 2007. 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."
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".
Westenra is the youngest UNICEF Ambassador to date. In 2005, Westenra visited Ghana to publicize her project, Bikes for Ghana, 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. When she was later interviewed about her charity work in Ghana she had this to say, "I met girls who had been given bikes and I could see how much it meant to them. We wanted to borrow one just for a photo and they wouldn't let them go they were really reluctant". On 8 June 2007, Westenra will be performing in a fundraising concert for her UNICEF charity, Bikes for Ghana, 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 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.
Recording of a live concert in New Zealand; also includes biographical information as a special feature on the DVD
Sang the official UNICEF song "Children First" at the H.C. Andersen jubilee in Copenhagen, Denmark, 2005. The song is a duet and was sung with Morten Harket, vocalist of the Norwegian band, a-ha. |
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