Musical Monday Highlight: Hayley Westenra

One of the many reasons I love Twitter is that I discover some pretty awesome things because they discover me first. Heck, it’s because of Twitter that I discovered WildEarth.tv and was able to share it with you. I always take a look at each new follower when I get a notification because I never know when I’m going to find somebody or something truly remarkable.

One such instance was last week, when I was followed by @HayleyWestenra, whose bio says:

Purpose is to further the distribution of information about singer Hayley Westenra, her upcoming events and albums, and her family.

I have very diverse (if not obscure) musical tastes, and until then, had never heard of her. Intrigued, I followed the link to Hayley Westenra’s official site and was floored by such an amazing voice that loaded on the site’s auto-loading audio player. If you’re a fan of Sarah Brightman, Lorena McKennitt, or other “pretty music” of that vein, you’ll totally dig her.

My first thought was, “HOW is it possible that I haven’t heard of her before?” then upon reading that this 21 year-old soprano New Zealander already has a “Best Of” album, I realized that she’s pretty big all over the world, yet has yet to catch on here in the States.

Here are a few snippets from her official bio:

Hayley Westenra began performing when she was just 6 years old and made her first recording in a professional studio at 12. She was still only 16 when she released her debut international CD, Pure. It rapidly became the fastest-selling debut album from a classical artist, and reached the Top 10 of the pop charts in 11 countries. Her albums have sold more than four million copies worldwide to date. “Pure” was certified by the official UK chart compilers as the best selling classical album of the 21st Century. . .

Hayley has performed for Her Majesty the Queen on a number occasions, President Bush and Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and in July 2007 Hayley was asked to perform for the Dalai Lama. . .

[She] has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Wembley Arena, Royal Albert Hall, The White House and Kensington Palace. Hayley sang at Capitol Hill, Washington as part of 2008 official Fourth of July celebrations.

Hayley has duetted with Andrea Bocelli, José Carreras and Bryn Terfel. She has also appeared as a special guest with the World’s leading orchestra’s including the Moscow Philharmonic, The Boston Pops and the RPO.

Not bad for 21, eh?

I promoted Hayley in my Facebook stream because I knew a few people in my friends would like her, and commented that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of her until now. To my surprise, neither had my “vagabond actress friend” Phyllis, and she’s the person I usually rely on to introduce me to stuff like this. Good to know I wasn’t the only one living under a rock. If you haven’t heard of Hayley Westenra until now, take a listen to the widget I’ve embedded and welcome to your newest musical obsession. If you’re moved enough to purchase a piece of her music, here’s an affiliate link to her “Best Of” album at Amazon.