Hayley Westenra
Biography
Born in 1987, Hayley Westenra hails from New Zealand. Classically trained as both a singer and as a dancer, she is a former member of the New Zealand Royal Ballet. Westenra's voice is an operatic instrument and she has performed with the New Zealand Opera and Orchestra. She made her recording debut at the age of 14 with a self-titled collection that took her country by storm. Universal International then released Pure, an eclectic and very engaging set of pop, classical, and sacred songs, which exploded all over the globe. Westenra's voice is unusually suited to popular music because, unlike other classical singers, she doesn't resort to using vibrato technique. Instead, her delivery is extremely clean and full, hitting notes effortlessly and letting them draw out naturally.
While critics have unfortunately compared her to Charlotte Church, Westenra's interpretive gifts lie in the same terrain as singers such as Kate Bush on one side (whose "Wuthering Heights" was Pure's first single) and Barbra Streisand on the other. After the runaway success of Pure, Westenra and her family moved to London, and she began nearly nonstop world touring in support of her album.
Selected Discography
Haley is truly talented. I real enjoy listening to her. Her voice is really quite amazing. I love the tone. It is very trained. I really like it. Haley is really is exceptional.
~Madly {in love with music}girl ☺♪♫♥☻ |
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i love her voice it so beautiful v(^^)v.
And if you like her voice and pride and prejudice check out "dark waltz" on youtube. |
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She sounds truly amazing, I can't believe I had never heard of her before.
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Her voice is beautiful, & so is she. :)
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my fav is definetly never saw blue. she's is good.
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so young and beautiful she has an angels voice every song of hers makes it seem like a love song.
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A pure and uniquely unaffected operatic voice. If I close my eyes and listen, she sounds like just who she is and not at all like a big prima donna.
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Beautiful voice doesn't describe her well enough ~ it's far more than that.
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Hayley's voice was first introduced to me through the video game Endless Ocean, for the Wii, which features many of her vocal tracks. The music is beautiful and haunting, and I'm glad to find more of it here on Pandora!
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Among the most pure voices I have ever heard. Hayley is among the very few singers I could listed to for hours at a time. Love to see her in concert some time.
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Slankardscor n e r @ g m a i l . c o m writes like everybody else man she got a voice just heard frommulan II great. good job....
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She's very talented. A lovely voice and a beautiful face. I wish her the best in her bright career.
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She does sound amazing. She is incredible. But I must say that Sarah Brightman's Scarborough Fair is extrememly similar. I do love Hayley's voice One of the most amazing female voices ever
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She's a powerhouse with a heart-stoppi n g voice, yet the musical accompanimen t s with much of her music is mediocre and bland by comparison. Music to match the magic of her vocal chords would elevate the creations all the more. Few voices have such purity and power, however - Hayley is a one in a billion talent.
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her rendition of Amazing Grace sent chills up and down my spine, brought tears to my eyes
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honestly... Hayley's perfect pitch makes Sarah Brightman sound a bit 'stale'.
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Absolutely amazing. I just had to sit back, close my eyes and take it in. So beautiful. I will be buying her CDs for sure.
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She did the Dark Waltz on Dancing With the Stars, my dad picked up the CD, and I was hooked. I love her clear, haunting voice, and how high she can go without straining . . . it's amazing! Now I've bought CDs of my own, and my dad gave me his. :)
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it touched deep in my heart, though i dont understand all of it because i'm deaf...but i know it is about. you have a beautiful voice.
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She is actually not with Celtic Woman anymore. She recorded a PBS special with them 2 years ago and helped on the album "Greatest Journey" but she is no longer with them on their current tour. She is working on another album and doing small touring around on her own as a solo artist.
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