Dame Malvina Major
Dame Malvina Major was born in New Zealand. After winning the New Zealand Mobil Song Quest and the Melbourne Sun Aria she studied at the London Opera Centre. Dame Malvina services to opera and the community were acknowledged in 1991 when she was invested Dame of the British Empire.
Career highlights include Covent Garden where she replaced Dame Joan Sutherland in Die Fledermaus, performing for the King and Queen of Belgium, in Jordan for the Queen Noor Festival, in Japan where she met the Empress of Japan, Cairo where she performed under the pyramids, London, Holland, South and Latin America and Australia. She has performed for both the summer and winter Salzburg festivals.
Dame Malvina has recorded Tosca, Il Seraglio, The Barber of Seville, and Micaela in Carmen. She has released a number of CDs.
The Dame Malvina Major foundation was first formed in 1991 to support the training of young New Zealand artists. Private and corporate sponsors fund the work of the Foundation. In conjunction with NBR NZ Opera and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Emerging Artists programme was established in 1999, together with an understudy programme with Canterbury Opera.
