Contemporary pop singer Yulia Townsend will go back to school for singing lessons early this year.
The Russian born 21-year-old has enrolled with renowned vocal coach Emily Mair from the New Zealand School of Music (NZSM) in Wellington.
Yulia told NZPA she has never had ongoing professional lessons but was excited about strengthening her voice.
"It's like gym training, you need to be confident with your vocal exercises so that you retain the ability to perform for long periods of time."
Yulia's manager and fiance Glyn MacLean said she would be performing in more than 200 shows from September and needed to learn how to better preserve her singing abilities.
"Even Celine Dion has vocal coaches who teach how to protect the voice."
NZSM Vocal coach Emily Mair said she considered Yulia to be among the very best of today's young singers.
Yulia said she would be recording and arranging 50 songs in the next few months and hoped to market them in Europe and United States.
Source: TV3 news
