Malvina Major

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Malvina Major, 2016

Dame Malvina Lorraine Major ONZ GNZM DBE (born January 28, 1943 in Hamilton , New Zealand ) is a New Zealand opera singer ( soprano / mezzo-soprano ).

Life

education

Malvina Major comes from a large family of musicians. She has been singing in the family group and playing the ukulele since she was three . As a child, she performed several vocal appearances in the field of country and pop music. She received her training in classical music from 1955 with various nuns near her native Hamilton, including piano lessons, and later at the music school of St. Marys College in Auckland . To do this, she traveled 120 km a week to Ponsonby . She then began studying music at the London Opera Center in the British capital, which closed in 1977.

Career

Major has taken on more than 30 opera roles and has appeared in numerous international concerts, such as a radio concert for the BBC in London, an open air concert with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in Egypt and the benefit concert for Vera Lynn in London.

In 2006 she was a member of the jury of the International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition for Young Opera Singers at the invitation of the Mariinsky Academy in St. Petersburg .

In 2008 Malvina sang Major How Great Thou Art at the funeral of New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary . The following year she presented her album My Life in Song on a tour through the north of New Zealand, and in 2010 she continued the tour on the South Island.

Several records and CDs appeared with their recordings. The operas Tosca , The Abduction from the Seraglio , The Barber of Seville and Carmen were recorded for New Zealand television with her participation.

In 1992 she established a foundation to promote young talent from New Zealand, later the support was extended to Holland and the USA. For example, aspiring singer Hayley Westenra received private singing lessons from her. In August 2008 she sang solo pieces as well as a duet with her student on a tour of the Christchurch Cathedral Choir through Great Britain.

She is currently a professor of singing at the University of Waikato in her hometown of Hamilton. She received honorary doctorates from both Waikato University and Massey University .

For three years she was President of the Diana Foundation , Princess of Wales Memorial Fund , which was dissolved at the end of 2012.

Orders and decorations

In recognition of her achievements, she was ennobled by the British Crown in 1991 as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and was accepted into the New Zealand Order of Merit as Dame Grand Companion in late 2007 . In 2012 she was inducted into the Order of New Zealand .

Discography

  • 1989 - Il Barbers Di Siviglia
  • 1990 - Arias From Die Entführung aus Dem Serail, Don Giovanni, Elisabetta Regina d'Inghilterra, Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, Suor Angelica, Carmen, Otello
  • 1992 - I Remember
  • 1992 - Dame Malvina in Concert
  • 1997 - Alleluia
  • 2003 - Viva Malvina !: The Lives of Dame Malvina Major
  • 2003 - Perfect Strangers: A Chilling Romance
  • 2004 - Recital 1968
  • 2005 - Dame Kiri and friends - Gala Concert
  • 2008 - L'Amico Fritz, Act I: Viva lo zingaro! (with Luciano Pavarotti)
  • 2009 - My Life in Song
  • 2011 - Christmastime
  • 2012 - Casta Diva

Awards

  • 1963: Winner of the Mobil Song Quest singing competition in New Zealand
  • 1965: Winner of the Sun Aria Singing Competition in Melbourne
  • 1966: Kathleen Ferrier Award
  • 1998: Benny Award from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography on Amplifier ( memento from February 23, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) (English)
  2. ↑ a b c d Dame Malvina Major ( Memento from May 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on: University of Waikato
  3. ^ DVD Hayley Westenra: Live From New Zealand. Universal Music 2005
  4. ↑ Great Britain tour ( Memento from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  5. ↑ New Year Honors List 2008
  6. ↑ Benny Award Recipients ( Memento from October 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Major, Malvina
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Major, Malvina Lorraine (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand opera singer (soprano / mezzo-soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamilton , New Zealand