Hayley Westenra

At 37 years old, Hayley Westenra has this physical status:

Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter.

Pure, her first internationally released album, debuted on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has more than two million copies sold worldwide.

Westenra is one of the youngest UNICEF Ambassadors to date, with songs in English, Maori, Welsh, Welsh, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Latin, Japanese, Standard Mandarin Chinese, Catalan, and Taiwanese Hokkien.

Early life

Westenra was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. Sophie and Isaac, Gerald and Jill Westenra's children, are two years old. Sophie is an academic and teaches law at Oxford. Shirley Ireland, a grandmother of Westenra, was a pianist, and her grandfather, who also played the piano accordion, was a pianist. She is of Irish, Dutch, and English origins.

She began playing in the Christmas play at her kindergarten, Fendalton Open Air School, at the age six. A teacher told Westenra she was "pitch perfect" and encouraged her to play a musical instrument; soon after, she learned to read music and played the violin, piano, guitar, and recorder. She began singing lessons and discovered a love for musical theatre. By age 11, she had appeared on stage more than 40 times, and she was often given male roles. Westenra attended Cobham Intermediate School in 1998 and 1999, where a performing arts building was later named in her honor.

Personal life

Arnaud Sabard, a French-born engineer who served as a sound engineer during her tours, was married by Westenra in 2013. She split with Sabard and then in 2019, she married guitarist Chris Gaelan McFarland in Los Angeles.

Source

Career

Westenra began a professional recording studio to record Walking in the Air, a demo album that was made for friends and family; they soon produced 1000 more copies, and attracted the attention of a journalist from Canterbury Television who asked Westenra to appear on television. Gray Bartlett, the show's producer, attended the premiere and was offered a recording contract with Universal Records New Zealand shortly after. Westenra, who was attending Burnside High School at the time, has released a self-titled album of show tunes and light classical songs, as well as My Gift to You, a CD of Christmas music. She was then invited and later received lessons from Malvina Major following the success of her albums.

Westenra's debut on international radio when she signed with Decca Records and released Pure, a collection of classical, light pop, and traditional Mori songs. Pure released the first week alone, making it the highest-selling international debut album in the UK classical chart's history, with 19,068 copies being sold in its first week alone. On the British charts, number 1 is the most popular chart, while number 8 on the UK Album Charts. Pure has more than two million copies since being released. Pure has been named platinum in New Zealand 12 times, making her the country's best-selling artist regardless of genre. Westenra produced the end-title song for Disney's Mulan II in 2004. She was also included in the national Radio Disney music education tour for middle-school students. She appeared in the song "Bridal Ballad" recorded for the film The Merchant of Venice later this year.

Westenra was named the recipient of "Highest Selling New Zealand Album" and "International Achievement Award" at Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards in 2004. Prime Minister Helen Clark honoured her on 20 February 2004 for being the first New Zealand artist to be rewarded with tenfold platinum status in the New Zealand market, where she remained the country's first female artist to be granted tenfold platinum status for 18 weeks. She has received two Japanese Grammies for her work (Song of the Year, "Amazing Grace" and Album of the Year, Pure). Amazing Grace's version was used as the theme song for the famous Japanese drama, Shiroi Kyote (The White Tower). On a promotional tour of Japan in October 2003, Westenra met the cast of the film.

She began her world tour in 2004 with Queen Elizabeth II, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, performing in a concert for Queen Elizabeth II, Prince of Wales, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and President George W. Bush. She remembered getting more anxious in an audition where she sight read to Andrew Lloyd Webber an unveiled piece that she had written in her autobiography.

Westenra produced Hayley Westenra: Live from New Zealand, which included duets with baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes and soprano Sophie Westenra in the St. James Theatre during her world tour. "Her singing is so lovely, it's reminiscent of the great boy-soprano sound of Anglican church choirs," said David Horn, the maker of her PBS program Great Performances. She appeared on the Boston Pops Orchestra as a guest soloist on their Christmas tour at the end of 2004.

Westenra was listed as one of the top ten outstanding young people in the world by the Junior Chamber International on September 5, 2006, becoming the first New Zealander to be honoured. On November 13, 2006, she appeared in the dedication of the New Zealand War Memorial in London, performing "God Save the Queen" and "Defend New Zealand," the UK and New Zealand national anthems. Three of Westenra's great-uncles were killed in World War II; one of them was killed.

Westenra joined Celtic Women in August 2006 and was featured on their second major DVD/CD collection, Celtic Woman: A New Journey, which was immediately released on the Billboard Top 200 music charts at number four. In 2007, she toured with the organization in the United States, with scheduled appearances in 88 venues around the country; the tour ended in June. Westenra changed from maternity leave to a five-member lineup during this period.

Treasure, Westenra's third international album, was released in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2007. Westenra's album was chosen by the artist, who gave her record company "no comment in the matter." "I basically didn't let them know on what I was recording until the last minute," she said, so they had no choice but to listen." "I didn't give them much space to disagree."

"E Pari Ra," "One Fine Day," "Let Me Lie," "Danny Boy," and "Abide with Me" are among the tracks on this album. Westenra co-wrote four of the fifteen songs, and the album also stars Humphrey Berney. Under the name Celtic Treasure, the US/Australia/NZ edition was released in March. Westenra dedicated the album to her grandmother, Shirley Ireland. Sarah wrote on the back of the British edition's sleeve:

She appeared as part of Celtic Women for President George W. Bush at the White House on the day before St. Patrick's Day 2007. She had intended to present the president with a petition seeking to place a mandatory carbon quot on the United States. The petition sought to comply with President Bill Clinton's pledge to follow the Kyoto Protocol in previous years.

Westenra's vocals appeared on the soundtracks of the movie Flood and the television series Jekyll, composed by Debbie Wiseman in the United Kingdom, in 2007. Westenra hosted a Japan "treasure" concert tour in Fukuoka, Sapporo, Tokyo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Japan.

Westenra provided guest vocals for Mike Oldfield's album Music of the Spheres in early 2008, and the vocal on the track "On My Heart" and its reprise. On the British ITV daytime TV show "The Alan Titchmarsh Show" on Sunday, Westenra and Oldfield performed "On My Heart" live on the Australian ITV daytime TV programme The Alan Titchmarsh Show on March 18, 2008.

Westenra performed solo vocals on the CD Different Voice, created and conducted by Debbie Wiseman and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's, with narration by Stephen Fry and lyrics written by Don Black. Westenra was awarded by Elaine Paige of the Variety Club Showbiz Awards, 2008 Classical Performer of the Year for raising funds to support sick, injured, and homeless children and young adults.

Westenra began collaborating on her album Paradiso in the spring and summer of 2010. The collection contained new songs by Morricone as well as some of his best known film compositions of the last 50 years. During the summer 2010, Westenra recorded the album with Morricone's orchestra in Rome.

In an East Asian concert tour, Westenra staged a recital at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on October 30, 2010 with international backing musicians.

On Memorial Day, Westenra was invited to perform at the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C., following the tragic life of a woman who never met her father, who died in the Vietnam War but who later discovered him via a soldier who served alongside him. Westenra was one of the artists on the BBC Concert Orchestra's American West-themed concert on Friday Night Is Music Night on July 22nd.

Westenra performed the New Zealand national anthem "God Defend New Zealand" at Eden Park in Auckland on October 23, 2011, and the event came to an end.

Westenra's "Whispers in a Dream" and "Amazing Grace" were broadcast in October 2011. Westenra's On the 31st of October 2011, the singer "Dreaming of New Zealand" was included on André Rieu's classical music album And the Waltz Goes On.

Paradiso Westenra, a From 17 September 2011 to 8 March 2012, Paradiso Homecoming Tour, a youth promotion group. Westenra attended a reception on March 12, 2012 to commemorate inspirational women. The Duchess of Cornwall held a reception on March 12th, 2012 to commemorate Commonwealth Day. Westenra performed a debut concert at the Koncerthuset in Copenhagen on April 22, 2012, and Westenra staged a concert with RTÉ Concert Orchestra and David Brophy at National Concert Hall in Dublin on June 14th.

In April 2013, Westenra held a Far East tour in Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and met with Chinese tenor DinYi in Beijing. Westenra performed a concert in Hong Kong with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir, and the Hong Kong Treble Choir.

Westenra was one of the performers at Classic FM Live in Royal Albert Hall London on Sunday, April 29th.

Source