Saturday (Oct. 1), 7:30pm, Castle Theater, MACC (One Cameron Way, Kahului); $75/$100/$125
Only fascinating lives earn the after-name acronyms ONZ, DBE, AC (which stand for Order of New Zealand, the country’s highest honor, “to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity”; Most Excellent Order of the British Empire; and Order of Australia)–and star sporano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has lead a fascinating life. Born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron in Gisborne on New Zealand’s North Island in 1944, she was adopted as an infant by Maoris Thomas and Nell Te Kanawa (later, she adopted two children of her own, Antonia and Thomas). Educated at Saint Mary’s College in Auckland, Te Kanawa continued her studies at London Opera Centre where word of her talents and captivating stage presence spread fast and far. Her recording of “Nuns’ Chorus” from Strauss’s operetta Casanova, became New Zealand’s very first gold record, and was awarded a Grammy for her performance of Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro,” produced by Christopher Raeburn and the London Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Georg Solti. Oh, and she’s got honorary degrees from the likes of the UK’s Cambridge, Dundee, Durham, Nottingham, Oxford, Sunderland, Warwick unis, among others internationally. Obviously we could go on and on as long as her pipes’ sustain, but you get the idea, right? Point is: this lyric soprano is not to be missed.
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