Kiri tekanawa biography

Kiri Te Kanawa was born in New Zealand with European and Maori heritage, and first sang in public when she was six years old, on Gisborne’s radio station.

By the time she was 20 she had won the major vocal prizes available in the South Pacific, and – unusually early for a prima donna in any era –  had also started her recording career, and was awarded New Zealand’s first Gold Disc for sales.

 In 1966 she moved to London to study at the London Opera Centre.

After first appearing in Carmen in New Zealand, and Otello in Britain, the young Te Kanawa was marked for Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, first at Santa Fe, USA, then at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1971.

Her sensational London debut in Figaro gained Kiri Te Kanawa legendary status almost overnight and rapidly moved her into the front rank of international opera.

She became one of the most famous sopranos in the world, a familiar figure in leading opera houses - including Covent Garden, the Metropolitan, Chic