An Evening with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa at Capitol Theatre Tamworth

By the time she was twenty Kiri Te Kanawa had won the major vocal prizes available in the South Pacific, and had also started her recording career - unusual for a prima donna in any era. She moved to London and studied at the London Opera Centre. After first appearing as Carmen in Britain and New Zealand, the young Te Kanawa was marked for Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, first at Sante Fe then at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1971. After her sensational debut in Figaro Kiri Te Kanawa gained legendary status almost overnight and moved rapidly into the front rank of international opera.

Created a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1982, Kiri Te Kanawa has been conferred with honorary degrees from 11 Universities. She was invested with the Order of Australia in 1990 and the Order of New Zealand in 1995.