Tayla Alexander (born 30 December 2000) is a New Zealand singer who has been hailed as an up-and-coming opera star by New Zealand media. Tayla's debut album ''

Songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

'' charted in the top 10 on both the

Independent Music New Zealand Independent Music New Zealand Incorporated (IMNZ) is a trade body which was set up in 2001 to provide a voice for New Zealand independent record labels and distributors. IMNZ mainly exists to promote independent labels and their artists; and to ac ...

Album charts (IMNZ), and the New Zealand Music Charts, making her the youngest artist to appear on the New Zealand music charts. Covering opera, classical and

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

genres, Tayla has performed songs in English, Italian, Chinese and Maori. Tayla has performed for dignitaries around New Zealand, including Dame Malvina Major, Prime Minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to ...

and Sir Peter Leitch.

Early life

Tayla was born in South Africa but moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand at six months old, when her family emigrated. Tayla began singing at the age of four. She has been a regular competitor in Auckland-based singing contests The North Shore Performing Arts Competition and Opera Idol. At just 11 years of age she was signed to an independent music label. Three years later, Tayla won the 2014 Judges Special Award in the North Harbour Club AIMES Awards, which recognise young achievers across a range of field. Previous AIMES award winners include

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...

. In 2017 Tayla became the youngest scholarship student ever to train at the Auckland Opera Studio where former students include

Sole Mio SOL3 MIO (stylised as SOLΞ MIO) is a New Zealand musical trio consisting of Moses Mackay, Pene Pati and Amitai Pati. Of Samoan descent and classically trained, Moses is a baritone, and the Pati brothers are operatic tenors. Albums and tours ...

brothers Pene and Amitai Pat. She is currently tutored by Frances Wilson

ONZM The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

. She attended school at

Long Bay College Long Bay College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Torbay, a suburb of the North Shore in Auckland, New Zealand. The decile 10 school serves Years 9 to 13, and has students as of Christopher (CJ) Healey is the school's cur ...

on Auckland's North Shore, and is studying music, majoring in Classical Voice, at the University of Waikato, after gaining an excellence in NCEA and receiving a $30,000 Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship. The Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship Programme is a scholarship for University of Waikato students showing leadership capabilities, academic excellence and achievements in sport or creative and performing arts, and is designed to foster future leaders, within the values of New Zealand's greatest explorer,

Sir Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...

Career

''Songbird'' was produced by Bruce Lynch, who has worked with

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

and British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. Her debut album, ''Songbird'' was released in the New Zealand market in November 2012. In November 2012, around the time of the album's release, Tayla performed two songs from the album, "

Hine e Hine "" is a lullaby in Māori written by Fanny Howie (also known by her stage name Princess Te Rangi Pai) in around 1907. History An instrumental version of "" was used from 1981 to 1994 as the New Zealand TV Channel 2's "closing-down song", which ...

" and " A Child Is Born", on

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

's ''

Good Morning "Good morning" is a common greeting in the English language. It may also refer to: Television * ''Good Morning!!!'' (Australian show), a children's show * ''Good Morning'' (New Zealand show), a daytime talk show * ''Good Morning'' (Russian ...

'' breakfast program. Tayla was selected to sing at the 19th annual Christmas in the Park at the

Auckland Domain The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the oldest park in the city, and at is one of the largest. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, the park land is the remains o ...

in Auckland, New Zealand in December 2012. She sang "Pie Jesu" to a crowd of more than 200,000. Highlights were broadcast on TV 3. In February 2013, for the second year in a row, Tayla sang at the 2013 New Zealander of the Year Awards. In April 2013, Tayla was given the opportunity to perform in front of Dame Malvina Major at a masterclass workshop in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. As part of a New Zealand Music Month series, TVNZ's current affairs program

Seven Sharp ''Seven Sharp'' is a half-hour-long New Zealand current affairs programme produced by Television New Zealand. The programme was created after the discontinuation of ''Close Up''. It is broadcast live from the TVNZ studio it shares with ''1 News ...

filmed a feature story on Tayla which aired nationally in May 2013. In September 2013, Tayla was approached by

Disney Channel Australia Disney Channel (originally called The Disney Channel from 1996 to 1997) was an Australian pay television channel. It was the flagship television property owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company in Australia. Launched in 1996, the network ...

New Zealand to film a feature for the network's This Is Who I Am segment. Filming took place at Tayla's family home and at

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

's Bruce Mason Centre. To promote the release of her two new singles, TVNZ's ''Good Morning'' invited Tayla to perform Maori love song "Pokerekere Ana" on the show in November 2013. In 2014, Tayla backed a New Zealand-wide anti-bullying initiative, Beef With Bullies, after going public with her experience of being bullied at school and online. She has released a number of music videos, covering songs including A Time for Us and Nella Fantasia – arranged by Carl Doy – Dark Waltz and Fields of Gold, with her music available on Apple Music and Reverbnation, and has been interviewed on United States radio station KITC FM 106.5. Her 2015 collaboration with Swedish soprano Viktoria Tocca on Do You Hear What I Hear was picked up on radio in Europe, the United States, South Africa, Hong Kong and Australia. In 2017 Tayla performed as a featured soloist for the Auckland Youth Orchestra's Baroque concert in 2017. Her performance with the Auckland Youth Orchestra of Handle's Lascia Chi’o pianga was recognized by the For Those Who Love Opera Facebook page, which is followed by more than 280,000 people, with For Those Who Love Opera sharing her work. Later that year she also featured in the Auckland Opera Studio's Winter Series at the Sculptureum in Matakana. The series highlighted rising stars on the opera scene. In 2017 she was again profiled on TVNZ current affairs program Seven Sharp. Her version of

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

's Wuthering Heights was picked up by a German radio station in May 2018, with her YouTube video of the song topping more than one million views in early 2019. In 2019 she further expanded her repertoire, launching a YouTube vlog, detailing her experiences of '

adulting Adulting is a neologism for wikt:growing up, growing up that became popular on English-speaking social media in the second half of the 2010s. American writer Kelly Williams Brown has been credited with coining the term. The term is commonly used t ...

' including moving out of home, going to university and achieving the scholarships. In January 2019, she spoke frankly in an interview on Radio Live about the challenges of NCEA and her winning of the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship.

Reception

Dame Malvina Major has said Tayla is a promising talent who, with her strong determination, could have a strong career in opera.

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 ...

, who collaborated with Tayla on Wuthering Heights has described her as an 'extraordinary talent' while guitarist

Gray Bartlett Graham Neil Bartlett (born 22 July 1942), generally known as Gray Bartlett, is a New Zealand born guitarist, country music performer, producer, talent mentor, tour promoter and entrepreneur. Biography Early life He was born in Auckland and at ...

, who collaborated with Tayla on her 2019 version of Make You Feel My Love, says she is 'on the verge of worldwide recognition'.

Discography

Studio albums

Studio singles

You Raise Me Up, featuring Nick Jones * Released: February 2013 * Label: Independent * Formats: Digital download Hallelujah You Needed Me * Released: November 2013 * Label: Independent * Formats: CD, Digital download Nelly Fantasia Air on the G String *Released September 2015 *Label: Independent * Formats: Digital download Do You Hear What I Hear – collaboration on Viktoria Tocca's Merry Christmas EP *Released November 2015 *Label: Independent * Formats: Digital download Fields of Gold – with Gray Bartlett *Released January 2016 *Label: Independent * Formats: Digital download A Time for Us (Love theme) *Released June 2017 *Label: Independent * Formats: Digital download Rinaldo, HWV 7a: Lascia ch'io pianga (Live and featuring the Auckland Youth Orchestra) *Released May 2018 *Label: Independent * Formats: Digital download Wuthering Heights, featuring Hadley Ronayne *Released May 2018 *Label: Independent * Formats: Digital download Make You Feel My Love, with Gray Bartlett *Released January 2019 *Label: Independent * Formats: Digital download

Television appearances

* Sticky TV (2012) *

(2012) * The Erin Simpson Show (2013) *

(2013) *

(2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Tayla New Zealand sopranos 2000 births Living people Māori-language singers Italian-language singers Musicians from Auckland 21st-century New Zealand women singers