The Foundation

On the international opera stage, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa commands the degree of fame and esteem afforded to such New Zealand icons as the late Sir Edmund Hillary, and the All Blacks. 

A remarkable achievement for a woman of modest beginnings in Gisborne who, through her formidable drive, application and hard work has become one of the greatest opera singers of modern times. Indeed, it is that hard work, and the international success resulting from it, that inspired Dame Kiri to establish this Foundation to bring to reality her vision – to help talented young New Zealand singers and musicians to succeed internationally, just as she has. 

The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation was created by Dame Kiri in 2004 and is committed to assisting outstanding young New Zealand singers who have complete dedication to their art, with judicious mentoring, financial support and career assistance. 

Dame Kiri is well aware of the challenges facing talented young people who aspire to an international career. She had to work hard to pay her way, and to create opportunities for herself. But her early career opportunities were also assisted by the financial support she received from a range of New Zealand philanthropic sources, enabling her to move to London to learn from the best teachers in the world. 

One of Dame Kiri's motivations in establishing the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation was to find imaginative and constructive ways to assist outstanding New Zealand singers with their international career development. It’s relatively easy to give young singers a big cheque and send them on their way hoping for the best, but Dame Kiri thought a more considered and strategic approach might produce better results. For example, it might be more efficient to provide additional support in New Zealand in certain specific areas of training in order to ensure that young singers are better prepared when they leave, and that they don’t have to spend precious, hard-earned, hard-won funds on remedial studies in the UK just to get themselves up to the starting standard of their international competitors. Money is always in short supply, so it is vital that we do everything possible to ensure that the many grants and gifts handed out to our singers every year by a range of generous organisations and individuals are spent carefully and wisely. 

The Foundation provides the unique opportunity to make a difference to the lives and careers of talented young New Zealand singers and to help them achieve their dreams.