She is an opera singer born in Gisborne, New Zealand who was adopted when a baby, but it is known she is of Maori and European descent, as are her adoptive parents.
Studying with Dame Sister Mary Leo, RSM, at Saint Mary’s College in Auckland, she started singing as a mezzo-soprano and would become a soprano later. She began her performing career as a teenager when she started singing in pop bands and by the time she was in her 20s she was popular in many of New Zealand’s clubs.
After winning the Mobil Song Quest in 1965 she studied in London on a scholarship and enrolled in the London Opera Centre without an audition in 1966. Making her first performance in 1968 she went on to carve out a career that has taken her to all corners of the world and working with many acclaimed artists in numerous major venues of the world.
Although having seen major success in the opera world over two decades, she came to the forefront of public attention when she sang at the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. After that she was seen on television regularly and became known to millions. In 1982 Queen Elizabeth II made her a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and she would also honour her again in the 1995 Birthday Honours list where she was awarded the Order of New Zealand. She would, in turn, sing a “Happy Birthday/God Save the Queen” medley to the Queen at the 2006 Commonwealth Games to recognise her up and coming birthday.
She has given several opera performances in the 2010s as well as in the Tokyo Global Concert in 2013. Carrying on in the industry she has created the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation, which assists music students and continues to give concerts and recitals.
Having made numerous recordings over the years, she won New Zealand’s first ever gold disc for Nun’s Story when she was in her teens/early 20s, and has appeared with many artists from the operatic and pop world including Paul McCartney on his Liverpool Oratorio .
The Abbey Road Ensemble recordings
Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson)
EMI 56176 (CD: Our Christmas Songs For You)
Conductor – Jonathan Tunick
London Voices
Soprano – Kiri Te Kanawa
Tenor – Roberto Alagna
Baritone – Thomas Hampson
Kiri te Kanawa recordings
Good King Wenceslas (John Mason Neale)
TELDEC 99000 (CD: Christmas with Kiri te Kanawa)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Choir of Lichfield Cathedral
The Choir of Coventry Cathedral
Conductor – R. Stapleton
Baritone – Michael George
Treble – Timothy Norris
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Charles Wesley/Felix Mendelssohn)
TELDEC 99000 (CD: Christmas with Kiri te Kanawa)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Choir of Lichfield Cathedral
The Choir of Coventry Cathedral
Conductor – Robin Stapleton
Soprano – Kiri te Kanawa
Baritone – Michael George
Trumpet – Jouko Harjanne
The Holly and the Ivy (Traditional English)
TELDEC 99000 (CD: Christmas with Kiri te Kanawa)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Choir of Lichfield Cathedral
The Choir of Coventry Cathedral
Conductor – Robin Stapleton
Soprano – Kiri te Kanawa
Baritone – Michael George
I Saw Three Ships (Traditional/Anonymous)
TELDEC 99000 (CD: Christmas with Kiri te Kanawa)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Choir of Lichfield Cathedral
The Choir of Coventry Cathedral
Conductor – Robin Stapleton
Soprano – Kiri te Kanawa
In Dulci Jubilo (Anonymous/Henry Suso)
TELDEC 99000 (CD: Christmas with Kiri te Kanawa)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Choir of Lichfield Cathedral
The Choir of Coventry Cathedral
Conductor – R. Stapleton
Soprano – Kiri te Kanawa
Joy to the World (Isaac Watts/Lowell Mason/Georg Frideric Handel)
TELDEC 99000 (CD: Christmas with Kiri te Kanawa)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Choir of Lichfield Cathedral
The Choir of Coventry Cathedral
Conductor – R. Stapleton
Baritone – Michael George
O Little Town of Bethlehem (Phillips Brooks, Lewis Redner)
TELDEC 99000 (CD: Christmas with Kiri te Kanawa)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Choir of Lichfield Cathedral
The Choir of Coventry Cathedral
Conductor – R. Stapleton
Trumpet – Jouko Harjanne
Here she is singing “World in Union”…
Sources:
- http://www.kiritekanawa.org/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiri_Te_Kanawa
- http://library.christchurch.org.nz/kids/famousnewzealanders/kiri.asp
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0853490/