Kiri Te Kanawa
Biography
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is a renowned New Zealand opera singer born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron on March 6, 1944. She rose to international recognition in 1971 for her performance as the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House in London. A celebrated lyric soprano with a distinctive voice, Te Kanawa was particularly associated with the works of Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini, and achieved significant commercial success in Australia in the 1980s.