Vocal ambassador

Christchurch soprano Hayley Westenra, 21, performed with the US National Symphony Orchestra at the 28th annual broadcast of America’s popular 4th of July concert, Capitol Fourth before returning to the UK to continue a hectic 2008 tour. The tour includes the Orwell Park Classical Spectacular and a closing night performance at the Wimbledon Cannizaro Park Festival. Despite her busy schedule, Westenra is also one of the youngest ever ambassadors for UNICEF. She said: “Meeting young people that are the same as me but with such a different world of opportunity has a profound effect on you. I aspire to be a singer, which seems so unessential compared with their simple desire for a regular cup of clean water. You can’t go somewhere like that, meet those people and come back unchanged.”