Hayley Westenra - The 'Paradiso' 10th Anniversary Homecoming Tour
10 cities, 10 concerts this November
Hayley Westenra, New Zealand’s biggest selling artist of all time, has just announced she will be returning home in November to celebrate 10 fabulous years since her career began. Hamilton is set to host her first performance on Tuesday September 15 at Claudelands Arena – one of only 10 concerts in 10 cities during the tour.
Her ‘Paradiso’ 10th Anniversary Homecoming Tour - her first NZ tour in four years - will be a very special tribute to the success she has enjoyed over the past decade as well as to her greatest supporters, New Zealanders.
There’s just something about Hayley Westenra’s voice. It’s not just a beautiful voice. It’s a voice that moves you, gets inside of you, because you feel it’s coming from a woman who has felt everything – love, joy, anger, despair – the whole range and then some.
It soars and swoops as much as it ever did on her first international Number 1 album Pure, released in 2003 when she was just 15. Now 24, Hayley’s pure tone is edged with experience, confidence and power.
The catalyst for her staggering development was working on her latest album in Rome with legendary film composer Ennio Morricone and his orchestra.
She says, “I spent the whole of last year working on it. I’m happy with the input on so many different levels. He really got involved with me, directing me and getting the best performance out of me. I found that invaluable. I’m really happy with the album.”
Westenra speaks with poise. Her looks are striking, with the beauty of a 1940s pin-up. She is a girl who has just become a woman - and the album marks this transition. “There’s been a lot going on since I got my first record contract. Then I only knew a few songs from the musicals I did when I was a kid and a few Andrea Bocelli tracks.”
Pure became the fastest selling international debut album in the history of the UK classical charts. Proceeding albums Odyssey (2005), Treasure (2007) and River of Dreams: The Very Best of Hayley Westenra (2008) – all showcased her sensational voice and won her international acclaim, selling over four million copies worldwide to date.
After all, she has sung for such luminaries as George W. Bush, Tony Blair and both Princes William and Harry. She has also been personal songbird to Her Majesty The Queen four times.
“Over the years I’ve learnt more and more about music and my interpretation of the music is different. I suppose I’m digging deeper and deeper in myself and putting more out there rather than just singing a song – it’s no longer singing without any life experience.”