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Kiri Te Kanawa
Born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron
1944–present
About Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is the most globally celebrated musician New Zealand has ever produced. A soprano of Māori and European descent, she became one of the world's leading opera singers, renowned for her radiant tone in Mozart, Puccini, and Strauss. An estimated 600 million people heard her sing at the 1981 wedding of Charles and Diana, and she performed at the greatest houses on earth, from Covent Garden to the Met, carrying her country's name to a vast audience.