Joanne Foote

In 2010 New Zealand soprano Joanna Foote received a Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation grant to attend the prestigious Solti Te Kanawa Accademia di bel canto summer school in Tuscany. She subsequently secured a further grant for coaching lessons and expenses. 

Previous to that Joanna had sung numerous operatic roles including Susanna in Mozart’s ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’, Nanetta in Verdi’s ‘Falstaff’ and Polly in Weill’s ‘Threepenny Opera’. A graduate of UCLA in the USA and the University of Auckland, Joanna was a finalist in the 2009 McDonald’s Aria Competition at the Sydney Opera House and in the same year won The Otago Daily Times Aria Competition in New Zealand. 

Following her attendance at the Accademia Joanne wrote this note “I just arrived in London a week ago after an incredible experience in Tuscany working with a wonderful team of experts in Bel Canto. I could not have dreamed of a more idyllic setting in which to work intensively in this specific area of singing and it was such a huge luxury to have 3 weeks of uninterrupted study. I cannot even hint at the amazing skills, tools and information I have gained, learning from such masters as Maestro Richard Bonynge and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa among others, that I am sure to use for my entire career and life.”