Elizabeth Lillian Marvelly (born 5 July 1989) is a singer, songwriter and social commentator from

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, New Zealand. She first achieved success as a

classical crossover Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, (especially in the United States) when a song appears on two or more of the record charts which track differ ...

vocalist before switching to pop music. She ran the website ''Villainesse'' until 2021, and has written for the ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', discussing feminist issues. In July 2020 she was appointed the director of

Rotorua Museum The Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa is a local museum and art gallery in the Government Gardens near the centre of Rotorua, New Zealand. The museum is housed in the former Bath House building which was opened in 1908 and is noted as t ...

; she stepped down from the role in December 2021.

Background

Marvelly was born in Rotorua and is the only child of Brett Marvelly and Vlasta Marvelly . Her maternal grandfather was from Czechoslovakia, escaping from

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

during World War II. Her maternal grandmother Jean Kerrigan was from

Ohinemutu Ohinemutu or Ōhinemutu is a suburb in Rotorua, New Zealand. It includes a living Māori village and the original settlement of Rotorua. Demographics The statistical area of Kuirau, which corresponds to Ohinemutu, covers and had an estimated p ...

and through her Marvelly affiliates to

Ngāti Whakaue Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa waka. The Ngāti Whakaue village Ōhinemutu is within the township of Rotorua. Ngāti Whakaue tra ...

. She is related to entertainer

Howard Morrison Sir Howard Leslie Morrison (18 August 1935 – 24 September 2009) was a New Zealand entertainer. From 1964 until his death in 2009, he was one of New Zealand's leading television and concert performers. Early life Of Māori (Te Arawa), Irish ...

, who was her maternal grandfather's best friend. Marvelly grew up in the Prince's Gate Hotel, built in 1897, which her parents owned. She attended Rotorua Girls' High School, and then won a senior scholarship at King's College in Auckland for her seventh form year. She graduated from

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology in 2015.

Music career

Classical crossover music

She released her debut album under the name Elizabeth Marvelly on 3 December 2007 in New Zealand, and on 31 March 2008 in Australia. The self-titled pop-classical album was produced by

Carl Doy Carl William Doy (born 1947) is a British-born New Zealand pianist, composer and arranger. One of New Zealand's most successful musicians, Doy is probably best known for his multi-platinum selling ''Piano By Candlelight'' albums. Life and caree ...

. On the album Marvelly sings songs taken from a range of different genres and includes two original pieces. Her song "When You Are Sad" was reportedly written after a recent case of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

in her hometown Rotorua shocked the nation. Marvelly's second classical crossover album, ''Home'', was recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Nick Patrick. The album featured the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...

and a duet with ''Britain's Got Talent'' winner

Paul Potts Paul Potts (born 13 October 1970) is an English tenor. In 2007, he won the first series of ITV's ''Britain's Got Talent'' with his performance of "Nessun dorma", an aria from Puccini's opera ''Turandot''. As a singer of operatic pop music, Po ...

. As it was released on 21 February 2011, one day before the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, Marvelly announced that she would be donating a portion of record sales to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.

Pop music

In 2012, Marvelly sang as part of

Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's comed ...

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

charity single A charity record or charity single is a song released by musicians with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. George Harrison's " Bangla Desh" single in 1971 is commonly acknowledged as the first ever purpose-mad ...

Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That) "Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)" is a 2012 charity single and comedy song by New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. The Conchords are joined by a charity supergroup made up of New Zealand singers. Proceeds of the song benefited the N ...

". The song reached number one in the New Zealand charts. In 2013, Marvelly announced that she would be pursuing a pop career, as she had become dissatisfied with her classical crossover career, and also wanted to sing her own compositions. She said, "I just thought music is my life and if it's going to be my life long-term, then it has to be music that I actually love everything about." In January 2014, Marvelly launched her pop career, using the name Lizzie Marvelly. Her first pop single, "Generation Young", was also released in January, with her EP ''Collisions'' released in July, peaking at number 14 on the charts. In August 2015, Marvelly released her first single with New Zealand hip hop DJ

P-Money Peter Wadams, better known by his stage name P-Money, is a New Zealand hip-hop DJ and producer. One of his best-known works is "Everything", featuring New Zealand R&B singer Vince Harder, which reached number one on the New Zealand Singles C ...

. Entitled 'Made For You', the song featured in New Zealand hip hop film 'Born To Dance'. In October the same year Marvelly released a remix of 'Made For You' featuring New Zealand

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

K.One Kaleb "K.One" Vitale is a New Zealand rapping, rapper, currently signed to Illegal Musik. The most successful song of his career is featuring with J. Williams (singer), J. Williams on "Night of Your Life (J. Williams song), Night of Your Life" whi ...

Live performances

Since 2006, Marvelly has performed in a number of high-profile concerts in New Zealand, supporting artists such as

Sir Howard Morrison Sir Howard Leslie Morrison (18 August 1935 – 24 September 2009) was a New Zealand entertainer. From 1964 until his death in 2009, he was one of New Zealand's leading television and concert performers. Early life Of Māori (Te Arawa), Irish ...

Dame Malvina Major Dame Malvina Lorraine Major (born 28 January 1943) is a New Zealand opera soprano. Early life Major was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, into a large musical family. As a child she performed at various concerts, singing mainly country and wester ...

and

Amici Forever Amici Forever is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music (operatic pop). The band's first album, '' The Opera Band'' ( 2004), reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States ( ...

star Geoff Sewell. She also supported

on his New Zealand and Australian tour in 2008, later joining him on further international dates. Marvelly is also well known in New Zealand for her performances singing the New Zealand national anthem at rugby test matches in New Zealand and abroad. She performed the national anthem at the

2011 Rugby World Cup Final The 2011 Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby union match between France and New Zealand, to determine the winner of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The match took place on 23 October 2011 at Eden Park, in Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand won the match 8 ...

Social commentary

In May 2015, Marvelly launched ''Villainesse'', a feminist website for young women. In September that year she launched the first ''Villainesse'' project, "#MyBodyMyTerms", a global campaign to spark conversation about sexual violence,

victim-blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as t ...

, revenge porn and consent. From January 2016 to April 2020, she wrote a regular column in the ''

'' where she commented on social issues. In a February 2017 column she criticised the conservative Christian lobby group

Family First New Zealand Family First New Zealand is a conservative Christian lobby group in New Zealand. It was founded in March 2006 by former Radio Rhema talkback radio host and South Auckland social-worker Bob McCoskrie who continues to be its National Director. ...

for opposing

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

individuals for using toilets not reflecting the sex of their birth. In 2015, Marvelly was a finalist of the Wintec Press Club's Best Writer in New Zealand Award.

Museum career

In July 2020 she was appointed the director of

. She stepped down from this role in December 2021.

Personal life

In May 2018, Marvelly revealed publicly that she was bisexual. She had earlier come out to friends, then her family, then colleagues. She said that while 'it shouldn't be a big deal' in 2018, it had not been easy. 'I didn't know I was bi until my early 20s. I didn't know if the people I loved would be okay with it. 'I'm a very private person when it comes to my personal life, and I didn't know whether I could deal with the scrutiny of having my sexuality highlighted in the media.' In mid-2021, Marvelly announced with her partner on Instagram that she was pregnant with her first child.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

References

External links

Official website

Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marvelly, Elizabeth 1989 births Living people People educated at King's College, Auckland New Zealand people of Czech descent New Zealand sopranos People from Rotorua New Zealand Māori feminists Te Arawa people New Zealand Māori women singers New Zealand columnists New Zealand LGBT musicians Bisexual women Bisexual musicians New Zealand LGBT singers 21st-century New Zealand women singers New Zealand women columnists New Zealand LGBT songwriters 21st-century New Zealand LGBT people