[ ClassicalX ] Hayley Westenra - a national treasure!

Hayley Westenra has just released her third album “Treasure” and is about to set off to the USA with The Celtic Woman Tour. Despite her not having enough time to pack, Classicalx’s Sarah Fahey still managed to grab 10 minutes with the teenage New Zealand classical singing sensation to ask her whether this latest album will make all our lives a little “richer”.

Your new album came out on Monday, congratulations on a brilliant piece of work. This is your third album and you’ve written a few of the tracks yourself. Where did your inspiration come from?
When I’m making an album I like to include a bit of old with a bit of new in the repertoire. My management were being sent music that was written for me and I just really didn’t connect to any of the lyrics and the melodies weren’t quite…, well I didn’t connect with them either. So that really motivated me to hit the paper and get busy.
As for inspiration, with the first track, “Let Me Lie” I was in London, staying at a friend’s place and it was a beautiful hot sunny day – one of those hot summer days we had last year and I just felt the desire to go outside and lie on the grass. Basically the song is about our connection to the earth.

Has your experience of writing for this album encouraged you to repeat the process for future work?
Definitely! It’s been so exciting! The process of writing a song is like writing in a journal really, it’s a great release. Its also very flattering hearing music you’ve written or composed being played on the radio. It’s a big step forward for me and I think I’d like it to continue.

Which other artists / singers would you like to collaborate with? Were you aware for example that Gary Barlow said at the weekend that he would like to work with you?
(Laughs) Yeah, I was told that by my tour manager. It’s fantastic! I saw him recently over in Dublin; Take That at The Late Late Show. Yes, I would love to write with him and the group. I think it’s really a great way to grow and develop – to collaborate with other artists and work with different styles of music. I perform sometimes with an orchestra, just a violin or a piano and it keeps me on my toes. It makes me feel that I’ve developed and that I’m still growing.

Do you have a favourite track on the new album?
Actually I do! It’s a track called “Le Notte Del Silenzio” which I recorded with Humphrey Berney - it’s my family and friend’s favourite track from the album. I took the album home over Christmas and played it to anyone who walked through the door, it was a firm favourite.
I really enjoyed the writing process. I teamed up with Italian writer, Antonio Galbiati in London. We sat around a piano and kind of worked it out on the spot. It was a really ‘organic’ way of song writing.

One of the tracks on the album is One Fine Day from Madam Butterfly. You’ve said that long before you were old enough to go to the opera, you had heard this song. Can you remember the first opera you went to see and what you enjoyed about it?
I think the first opera I saw was the one I was involved in, La Boheme - I was part of the children’s chorus. When I was younger I also joined a children’s opera group in my area. We were all taught about operas, as well as classical music in general.
It was great to be able to include “One Fine Day” on the album, as I have developed a real taste for opera. Its not something I intend to go in to as I am happy just singing my own music and doing Classical Crossover but I do love operas and I think reading up on the stories behind them helps you get a real appreciation for them.

Do you think that Classical Crossover artists like yourself, are helping to make classical music more accessible to young people?
Yeah I think so. I’ve had a lot of emails from people who are heavy metal fans saying things like “I was watching TV, heard your voice and had to go and check you out” and ”The only music I listened to before was rock and now I’ve been opened up to this whole new world of music”. Whilst what I’m singing is strictly Classical or classically based music, it’s hopefully opening up the classical world and making it more accessible.

It must be quite flattering as well when people say they are big rock or pop fans and yet after hearing you on one performance, it’s changed their concept of music and made them interested in something else?
Yeah, it’s very flattering to know that your music - or you, can have that sort of effect on someone.

Other Classicalx artists are appearing in musicals or opera productions in London (Lesley Garrett in “The Sound of Music”, Alfie Boe in “Kismet” and Nick Garrett in “Into the Woods”). Would you like to do something like this and if so, what role would you choose?
Even when I was growing up I loved musicals and watched them on video. My favourite was “The Sound of Music”; I would love to play Maria. At the moment I’m so busy performing, promoting the album, developing my own talent and enjoying it so much, I really wouldn’t want to take time out to do something else. But further ‘down the track’, definitely! I think it’s important to try your hand at everything and I love having the variety I have in my life.

Now, this is your third album. You’ve sung for world leaders, your music has been used in film and TV, you’ve performed at major sporting events and in some very well known venues. Is there anything left for you to accomplish?
(Laughs) Well, I feel like I’ve got a lot of developing to do vocally, and musically as well. Each show that I put on there’s always something about my performance that I’m not completely happy with and I’ll always think, I could have done that better!

Really?
Oh yeah, totally! Also I’ve never taken my music to countries like South America, or places like Italy and France. There are only so many hours in the day and there’s much more I want to do and places I want to see.

Now with all the people you’ve met, do you ever get star struck yourself?
Oh yes! (laughs). I get really star struck on anyone I’ve ever seen on TV. I can remember meeting the Coronation Street stars; you feel like you know them, go up and say hi but yet you’ve never met them before. Also Andrea Bocelli, who I performed with and I’ve been listening to his music since I was a few years old, so I was completely star struck when I met him.

When you’re not recording, touring, doing work as an Ambassador for UNICEF or with the Women’s Environmental Network, how do you like to spend your free time? Do you even have any?
It sounds crazy but I like to sleep! At the moment whenever I have time off I’m just catching up on emails to my family and friends back home, doing my washing, and the dishes and sleeping!

The less glamorous side of Hayley Westenra then?
Yeah, I sometimes think if my fans could see me now they wouldn’t think it was such a glamorous life. I do like to get out for walks, even just a walk to the grocery shop is quite therapeutic, and I don’t find it a chore at all. But if I’m in a new city, I like to go out and explore and get in a bit of shopping.

Well you have to make time for shopping! You need to make sure they schedule some time for that on your tours
Exactly! That’s one of the good things about going on tour with a group of girls.

Just for Fun

Favourite food?
Dark chocolate, I love dark chocolate!

Favourite drink?
Whenever I’m on planes I always drink tomato juice, but I also like still water – New Zealand still water!

Favourite film?
Notting Hill

Favourite place to shop?
Selfridges in London. Everything’s under one roof and it’s ideal when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands.

Favourite album by another artist?
Romanza by Andrea Bocelli or The Three Tenors live in Concert.

Pop or Classical?
(laughing) I refuse to answer that! I like them both equally.

Morning or evening person?
I’m definitely a night owl

Summer or winter?
I love the summer; I’m a sunshine girl.

Going out or staying in with friends?
Definitely staying in with friends, as I don’t get to do that often.

Details of Hayley’s tour with the Celtic Woman Tour can be found on her official website, myspace and of course, Classicalx. We wish her every success with the tour and of course the new album “Treasure” which is on sale now and available from all good outlets.