Dame Kiri Preparing for Australian Performances

New Zealand-born performer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will perform a series of concerts in Australia later this year. Te Kanawa’s performances in Bendigo and Ballarat could be one of the last chances for people to see the opera singer live in concert.

Bendigo’s Ulumbarra Theatre and Ballarat’s Her Majesty’s Theatre will join New York’s Metropolitan, the Vienna State, Sydney Opera House, La Scala, Covent Garden and the Chicago Lyric Opera as the stages lucky enough to host the star soprano.

Capital Venues and Events manager David Lloyd said it was exciting that the only two Australian cities Te Kanawa will perform in this year are regional cities.

“She certainly hasn’t said is her last tour but as you can imagine, a soprano of her vintage is less and less likely to continue to tour,” Lloyd said.

“It is exciting that the only two Australian cities that are hosting her are in regional Victoria.”

Te Kanawa performs at Ulumbarra on 28 October and at Ballarat’s Her Majesty’s Theatre on 30 October.

Original article by Chris Pedler, Bendigo Advertiser, March 15, 2016.