Book Description
Product Description
Hayley's first performance as 'Little Star' in a Christmas play was perfectly pitched, beautifully sung and enthusiastically received. She was six years old.
Now, at the tender age of twenty, she is the fastest-selling debut classical artist ever. Her string of musical accolades is astonishing and her audiences range from royalty to premiers.
This is her story, from her first performance, through later roles in major productions such as Annie, La Bohème and The Sound of Music, her decision at the age of eleven to busk for her lunch money, and the subsequent record deals, money, charity work and classical superstardom.
From the Inside Flap
For as long as anyone can remember, Hayley Westenra could sing. But it was only when the shy six-year old performed 'The Littlest Star' at her school's Christmas concert that her parents realised just how talented she might be.
From that first performance, the real littlest star has become unfazed by audiences worldwide, including everyone from the Queen to George W Bush. Singing alongside classical greats such as Jose Carreras, Bryn Terfel and Andrea Bocelli, she has become a regular performer in venues as far apart as Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and Wembley Stadium.
But life started out very differently for this international singing sensation.
A chance decision to busk for her dinner money set her on the road to stardom. Her enterprising mother, with financial help from a family friend, pressed a CD to capture her daughter's voice for posterity. When top international record company executives heard that recording, Hayley was signed up on the spot. Just over a year later, she had become the fastest-selling debut classical artist in British chart history and New Zealand's biggest selling artist of all time.
Hayley Westenra is every inch a young woman of the 21st century: quietly determined, highly successful, yet a strong advocate of the rights of young girls in Africa and passionate about environmental issues affecting women.
Hayley reveals the highs and lows of her personal journey, and offers advice and encouragement for other youngsters who would like to follow in her footsteps.
From the Back Cover
For the first time, the ordinary girl with the extraordinary voice tells her story.
At the age of twenty, singing sensation Hayley Westenra already has more than three-and-a-half million CD sales to her name, and is the fastest-selling debut classical artist in British chart history - as well as the biggest-selling artist of all time in her native New Zealand.
In her honest and uplifting autobiography, Hayley reveals what it's like to be the honorary mascot for the world-beating All Blacks rugby team, as well as one of the youngest ever ambassadors of UNICEF, and how a teenage busker from Christchurch ended up performing for the Queen, Prince Charles, President George W Bush and Tony Blair - all at the same time.
