Hayley Westenra

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Hayley Westenra, 2006

Hayley Dee Westenra (born April 10, 1987 in Christchurch ) is a New Zealand singer with Irish and Dutch roots.

Career

Early years

Hayley first appeared on stage at the age of six. She sang the main musical role in the nativity play Little Star at her school Cobham Intermediate. A teacher who had watched the performance noticed that Hayley's pitch was perfect, and he recommended that her mother, Jill, learn Hayley an instrument to develop her talent. She soon learned to read sheet music and play the violin , piano , guitar and recorder . By the age of eleven, she had already participated in over 40 stage productions, sang in television shows and appeared in larger concerts.

In 2000, when he was twelve, Westenra recorded a CD. This demo was primarily intended as a personal souvenir; first 70 CD-Rs were copied and then 1000 copies were pressed in a slightly modified version. A Canterbury Television journalist took notice and asked Hayley to sing on the air . Gray Bartlett, the director of a concert agency, saw the show and signed Hayley. Soon after, she was offered a recording deal with Universal Records New Zealand.

Their (actual) debut album Hayley Westenra immediately reached number 1 in the pop charts and stayed at the top for four weeks. The Christmas album My Gift To You soon followed .

After these successes, Hayley was offered singing lessons from Dame Malvina Major , and she later took up this offer.

International success

While Hayley Westenra's albums were very successful in New Zealand, she was relatively unknown abroad until she signed a deal with Decca Records and recorded her first international album Pure in 2003 . Pure contains a wide selection of pieces, such as a version of Who Painted The Moon Black ( cover version of the original by Nianell ), Hine e Hine (a song of the Māori , the indigenous people of New Zealand ), In Trutina from Orff's Carmina Burana , Wuthering Heights (the first hit in Kate Bush's long career ) and the eternal spiritual classic Amazing Grace . Also included is Pokarekare Ana , a New Zealand love song of lasting popularity. Pure became the best-selling debut album in the history of the UK Classical Charts, beating Charlotte Church's previous record . The album became number 1 on the UK Classical Charts and number 8 on the UK Pop Charts. It has been sold over 2 million times worldwide. Pure went platinum twelve times in New Zealand . Hayley Westenra holds the sales record in the history of the country, regardless of the genre.

Hayley Westenra won the 2004 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards in the Highest Selling New Zealand Album category and the International Achievement Award . She received two Japanese Grammies (Song of the Year, Amazing Grace and Album of the Year, Pure ). Also in 2004 she embarked on a world tour that took her to New Zealand , Australia , Japan and the UK . In November she performed in a concert a. a. in front of Queen Elizabeth II. In Sydney Opera House Hayley received a rare standing ovation and closed the year with a successful Christmas tour on the east coast of the United States as a guest soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra .

In 2005 her new album Odyssey was released , a mixture of classical, pop and Celtic music. It was released on April 15, 2006 in Germany. In the first half of 2006 she appeared in the opening act for the quartet Il Divo on their world tour. In March she also had a few solo concerts in the USA. On September 5, 2006, Hayley became the first New Zealander to be named one of ten outstanding young people in the world by the Junior Chamber International .

On November 13, 2006, she attended the inauguration of the New Zealand War Memorial in London. Hayley Westenra's three great uncles served in World War II, one fell. After Pure was released , Hayley Westenra moved to London.

Time after the first international success

Hayley Westenra at the Classical BRIT Awards 2009

In August 2006 Hayley Westenra became a member of the group Celtic Woman and can be seen or heard on their second album (CD / DVD), released on January 30, 2007, Celtic Woman: A New Journey . She went on a US tour with the group in 2007 (until June 2007), with appearances in 88 venues across the country. At the end of this tour, the ways parted.

The third international album Treasure was released on February 26, 2007 in the UK. The album includes songs like E Pari Ra , One Fine Day , Let Me Lie , Danny Boy and Abide with Me . Hayley was co-author of four of the fifteen titles. The version for the USA, Australia and New Zealand followed in March under the title Celtic Treasure .

The song Prayer is the theme song for the Wii game Endless Ocean , to which she has contributed other titles.

Hayley Westenra sang the part of Maria in a recording of the West Side Story released on July 30, 2007 .

In November 2008 she was named Classical Performer of the Year by the Variety Club in London.

Westenra can also be heard on Mike Oldfield's album Music of the Spheres ( 2008 ), where she sings On My Heart . The work premiered on March 7, 2008 in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao . A recording of the concert has been available on iTunes since March 17th and has been included in the limited version of the studio album since November 2008 . She also worked on Jocelyn Pook's music for the film The Merchant of Venice (UK / LUX / IT 2004), in which she sings a love song.

In 2009 she sang a duet with Paul Potts on his album Passione and with Lee Mead on his CD Nothing Else Matters .

On October 23, 2011, she sang the New Zealand national anthem God Defend New Zealand before the final of the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup in Eden Park . In 2011 she produced the album Paradiso with newly recorded film themes in Rome together with the film composer Ennio Morricone .

Private

Hayley Westenra has two younger siblings Sophie and Isaac. There is a musical tradition in the family: her grandmother Shirley Ireland was a singer and her grandfather was a pianist.

On December 29, 2013, she married the French sound engineer Arnaud Sabard in Hawarden's Flaxmere Gardens in North Canterbury .

She currently lives mostly in London .

social commitment

Hayley Westenra is the youngest UNICEF ambassador to date . In 2005, she visited Ghana in order for their project Bikes for Ghana to advertise and helped active in raising funds for the purchase of bicycles to young girls to attend school even allow but living further away.

In September 2008 she visited Ghana again on behalf of UNICEF. She planned to take care of the promotion of clean drinking water and to do something against the contamination of the drinking water with a parasite.

In 2008, Hayley Westenra received the New Zealand Society 's Global Kiwis Young Achiever Award , as well as other awards, both in New Zealand and in other countries.

She is also an ambassador for Save the Children in Hong Kong and has participated in a breast cancer prevention campaign in New Zealand, supports the Women's Environmental Network , the Nordoff - Robbins Center for Music Therapy , which provides assistance to disabled children, and the Royal British Legion .

From 2008 she joined the annual Poppy Appeal campaign in Great Britain .

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US NZ NZ
2001 Hayley Westenra - - - - - NZ1
Triple platinum
× 3
Triple platinum

(18 weeks)NZ
First published: April 26, 2001
2003 Pure DE73 (3 weeks)
DE
- - UK7th
Double platinum
× 2
Double platinum

(31 weeks)UK
US70 (6 weeks)
US
NZ1
Twelve times platinum
× 12
Twelve times platinum

(56 weeks)NZ
First published: July 10, 2003
2005 Odyssey - - - UK10
gold
gold

(18 weeks)UK
- NZ1
Triple platinum
× 3
Triple platinum

(26 weeks)NZ
First published: August 8, 2005
2007 Treasure - - - UK9
silver
silver

(6 weeks)UK
US184 (1 week)
US
NZ1
Double platinum
× 2
Double platinum

(27 weeks)NZ
First published: February 26, 2007
2011 Paradiso - - - UK13 (5 weeks)
UK
- NZ1
gold
gold

(12 weeks)NZ
First published: April 18, 2011
with Ennio Morricone
2013 Hushabye - - - UK35 (2 weeks)
UK
- NZ14 (7 weeks)
NZ
First published: June 14, 2013

More albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US NZ NZ
2001 My Gift to You - - - - - NZ4th
Triple platinum
× 3
Triple platinum

(6 weeks)NZ
First release: November 15th, 2001
Christmas album
2008 River of Dreams: The Very Best of - - - UK24
silver
silver

(4 weeks)UK
- NZ13
platinum
platinum

(10 weeks)NZ
First published: November 10, 2008
compilation
2009 Christmas Magic / Winter Magic - - - UK95 (1 week)
UK
- NZ20 (6 weeks)
NZ
First release: November 16, 2009
Christmas album

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US NZ NZ
2011 World in Union
The Rugby World Cup 2011 (The Official Album)
- - - UK70 (2 weeks)
UK
- NZ23 (1 week)
NZ
First published: August 26, 2011

Regional albums

year title Remarks region
2000 Walking in the air An independently produced demo CD in two editions: 70 CD-R copies and 1,000 pressed copies. The latter has one less title. Both editions were not intended for general sale. New Zealand
2004 Wuthering Heights Listed as a "mini-album" in the autobiography Japan
2006 Crystal Japan
2007 Amazing Grace - The Best of Hayley Westenra Japan
2007 Prayer Contains recordings not previously published in Japan Japan
2008 Hayley sings Japanese Songs Contains Hayley's English interpretation of Japanese pop titles Japan
2009 Hayley sings Japanese Songs 2 CD and DVD - Japanese songs, following the album released in 2008 Japan
2009 Winter Magic (Japanese: Fuyu No Kagayaki - Koibito Tachi No; 冬 の 輝 き - 恋人 た ち の ピ ュ ア ・ ヴ ォ イ ス) Released September 30, 2009 in advance of their October tour of Japan; in a regular and an (extended) limited edition Japan

International albums

year title Remarks
2005 Live From New Zealand DVD; Live recording of the concerts on August 15 and 16, 2004 at the St. James Theater in Wellington , New Zealand ; published April 4, 2005
2007 Celtic Woman: A New Journey Hayley Westenra appears as part of the group Celtic Woman ; published on February 23, 2007

More singles

year title region
2003 Amazing grace Japan
2005 Lullaby Japan
2009 Nemunoki no Komori Uta / Tsubomi Japan

Artistic participation

year Involved in Remarks
2003 Russell Watson Live Sang " I Dreamed a Dream " and a duet with Russell Watson " Pokarekare Ana "
2004 Nutcracker and Mouse King Sang "Peaches and Creamy World"
2005 Mulan II soundtrack Sang "Here Beside Me"
2005 The Merchant of Venice Soundtrack ' Sang "Bridal Ballad"
2005 Lilo & Stitch 2 Sang "Always"
2006 The New World Soundtrack Sang "Listen to the Wind"
2007 Celtic Woman : A New Journey Sang with the group "The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun", "Over the Rainbow", "Beyond the Sea", "The Last Rose of Summer", "Spanish Lady", "Mo Ghile Mear" and "You Raise Me" Up "and as a soloist" Scarborough Fair "and" Lascia ch'io pianga ".
2007 West Side Story Sang the part of Maria
2007 Jekyll (BBC series) Sang for the soundtrack
2007 Flood Sang for the soundtrack
2007 Endless ocean Sang u. a. "Prayer" and "Pokarekare Ana"
2007 Music of the Spheres Sang "On My Heart" and "On My Heart (reprise)"
2008 Tenor at the Movies Sang "Un Giorno Per Noi" from Romeo and Juliet with Jonathan Ansell
2008 Different Voices composed by Debbie Wiseman
2009 Nativity! Soundtrack Sang "Silent Night" from Winter Magic and "One Night One Moment"
2009 Paul Pott's Passione Sang the duet "Sei Con Me"
2009 Lee Mead Nothing Else Matters Sang the duet "When The Stars Go Blue"
2010 Karl Jenkins Gloria Sang the solo in "I'll Make Music"

Tours and concerts

year Name of the tour Remarks
2004 Pure New Zealand tour
2005 UNICEF Benefit Concert Sang the official UNICEF song "Children First" during the HC Andersen anniversary in Copenhagen with Morten Harket , singer of the Norwegian group a-ha .
2006 Il Divo World Tour in the preliminary program
2006 Celtic Woman - A New Journey Concert Live concert at Slane Castle, Ireland
2007 Celtic Woman - A New Journey - US Tour Toured with Celtic Woman between March and April, e.g. T. also in May
2008 Northern Ireland Concert Tour
2008 Classical Brit Award Ceremony Finalist, sang the duet Un Giorno Per Noi with Jonathan Ansell at the Royal Albert Hall
2008 Japan tour Performances in May and June
2008 USA - Independence Day Celebration Sang "Shenandoah" to an audience of 300,000 in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC
2008 United Kingdom Tour Performances in July and August, mostly open air
2008 Iraq Tour Sang to British and Allied forces in Basra , Iraq in October 2008
2008 River of Dreams Tour Appearances in numerous houses across the UK, including advertising for the River of Dreams CD ; due to health problems e.g. T. postponed to 2009.
2009 The Valentines Tour Performed in several houses across the UK in February with Jonathan Ansell.
2009 Japan tour 15 concerts all over Japan, March / April
2009 World Games 2009 , Taiwan Sang multiple titles during the World Games opening ceremony in Kaohsiung , Taiwan on July 16
2009 Taiwan Tour (TSO & Hayley) Performs at the National Theater in Taipei , Taiwan on October 3rd with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra.
2009 Japan tour 5 concerts in Japan in connection with the release of the current album - from October 11th to 18th.
2009 Winter Magic Christmas Tour Performances from November 23rd to December 21st in English cathedrals and the Barbican, London
2010 Battle Of Britain 70th Anniversary UK Tour Performances from July 6th to August 2nd with the Central Band, Regiment Band and the College Band of the RAF
2010 Taiwan, China Tour Performances from October 27th to November 1st in Kaohsiung, Shanghai and Taipei
2010 Christmas Wishes Tour Performances from December 14th to December 22nd in Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and the Barbican, London

literature

  • Paul Little: Hayley Westenra: The World at Her Feet. Penguin Books, London 2005, ISBN 0-14-301926-0 (English).
  • Hayley Westenra: Hayley Westenra: In Her Own Voice. Virgin Books, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-905264-20-9 (English).

Web links

Commons : Hayley Westenra  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1.  (2000). IMDB . 4th August 2013.
  2. Hayley Westenra . In: CMusic.tv . Retrieved January 30, 2009.
  3. a b c Hayley Westenra: Hayley Westenra: In Her Own Voice . Virgin Books Ltd, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-905264-20-9 .
  4. Hayley Westenra . In: Christchurch City Libraries . Retrieved August 26, 2007.
  5. a b c d e Hayley Westenra: Hayley Westenra: Live From New Zealand (DVD) . Universal Music, 2005.
  6. Nandini D'Souza, Venessa Lau: Can't Stop the Music . In: Women's Wear Daily , April 29, 2004. Retrieved December 13, 2006. 
  7. Biography . In: HayleyWestenra.com . Archived from the original on March 5, 2005. Retrieved July 5, 2005.
  8. a b Biography . In: HayleyWestenra.com . Archived from the original on January 22, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2006.
  9. ^ Jarrod Booker : Hayley Westenra 'outstanding young person of the world' . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , September 5, 2006, accessed April 16, 2019 .
  10. ^ Andy Macdonald: Queen, Blair, Clark at opening of NZ memorial . In: New Zealand Herald , November 12, 2006. Retrieved September 6, 2009. 
  11. Hayley Westenra . Celtic Woman , archived from the original on February 16, 2008 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).
  12. ^ The Billboard 200 . In: Billboard . Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  13. Tour info . Celtic Woman , archived from the original on August 31, 2009 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).
  14. Westenra wins UK award . In: Otago Daily Times . Allied Press Limited , November 18, 2008, accessed April 16, 2019 .
  15. stuff.co.nz
  16. nzherald.co.nz
  17. hayley-westenra-international.com
  18. Sabine Dolan: UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and singing sensation Hayley Westenra visits Ghana . In: UNICEF.org , April 11, 2005. Retrieved April 15, 2007. 
  19. UNICEF Ambassador Hayley Westenra To Visit Ghana . In: Scoop Independent News . Scoop Media , September 19, 2008, accessed June 5, 2018 .
  20. Hayley Westenra joins prominent women backing WEN . women's Environmental Network , February 26, 2007, archived from the original on June 30, 2007 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).
  21. ^ Hayley Westenra visits the Headway Center . Nordhoff Robins , archived from the original on December 4, 2010 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).
  22. British legends unite with Forces songbirds for charity CD . The Royal British Legion , October 6, 2010, archived from the original on October 18, 2010 ; accessed on June 5, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
  23. a b c Chart sources: DE UK US
  24. Music Sales Awards: NZ UK
  25. a b Discography ( Japanese ) In: universal- music.co.jp . Retrieved January 4, 2008.
  26. SHM-CD Winter Magic [Limited Edition Hayley Westenra], accessed on January 27, 2015.
  27. ^ Tom Newton Dunn: Poppy man goes to frontline . In: The Sun . October 24, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  28. Hayley Westenra & Jonathan Ansell . Shalit Global , archived from the original on September 19, 2012 ; accessed on June 5, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
  29. TSO40– 飛 樂 40Ⅳ】 純淨 美 聲. 海莉 - 奇異 恩典 TSO & Hayley. National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center , archived from the original on July 22, 2009 ; accessed on June 5, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).
  30. Events . April 15, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2010.