| Communications and Development |  |
Published by Communications and Development
University of Canterbury performance music student, Sarah Walker, will compete in the Sydney McDonald's Aria Competition in August after winning this year's Becroft Grand Opera Aria in Auckland last week.
Sarah is a second year performance voice student who receives vocal coaching from School of Music professor, Dame Malvina Major. She won two of her classes plus the big aria prize in the week-long competitions run by the North Shore Performing Arts Competitions Society.
She was first in both the British art song and the oratorio aria classes during the week and on the Friday of competition she competed against 12 others in a heat for a one of six places in the Becroft Aria final. Her performance of 'Leise, Leise' from Weber's Der Freischütz, accompanied on piano by fellow School of Music student David Kelly, earned her a spot in Saturday night's final held in The Pumphouse in Takapuna.
Sarah's husband and her mother were in the audience and so were able to celebrate with her when she was judged the top performance by adjudicator Judy Bellingham, senior lecturer in voice at the University of Otago. Sarah's prize was $5000 cash, plus $2000 to put towards getting to the aria competition in Sydney in eight week's time.
The young soprano says she was surprised by her win in what is considered to be the second biggest competition in New Zealand for classical singers after the Lexus Song Quest.
"I had it as a goal to try and get into the finals for it in about three years time, so I was going up this year to get a feel for what it was like. To win it was a big surprise."
Sarah is one of only four singers from New Zealand who will compete in the Sydney competition, which attracts hundreds of singers from around the globe.
She says she is feeling slightly nervous but has some useful feedback from this latest competition which will help her focus through intense training in the weeks ahead.
Dame Malvina says Sarah's win was a great thrill for everyone in the School of Music and she was sure it would only be the beginning of major competition success from students coming through the programme.
"Sarah is one of several students we've got at this University who have great promise. She has a great future and this win is only the beginning, but there is still a lot of work to do between now and when she goes to Sydney."
For further information please contact:
Maria Hand
Communications Officer
University of Canterbury
Tel: +64 3 364 2072
Fax: +64 3 364 2679
Mob: 027 224 5104
maria.hand@canterbury.ac.nz