Hedda Maria Oosterhoff is an interior acoustic designer working in theatre, opera, schools and commercial settings; she was born in Holland and lives and works in New Zealand. [1] [2]
Oosterhoff was born in Holland. Her family moved to New Zealand when she was nine years old, settling in Wellington. She started learning the violin at the age of 5, and played in chamber orchestras, bands, orchestras for operas and musicals, and co-founded a string group called Rosa Musica. She studied at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor of Music in Performance Violin and in 2008 with a Bachelor of Architecture (Honours). [1]
While working for T&R Interior Systems, Oosterhoff led a team working on interior surfaces for Tūranga in Christchurch. [3] She has also worked with New Zealand Opera on set design. [1]
Oosterhoff is credited with initiating and leading the development of a new building product, Vertibrace, which separates a partition wall from the main wall of a structure, allowing movement in high winds or earthquakes. [4]
In 2009, she received the Peter Lees-Jeffries Memorial Scholarship from the Dame Malvina Major Foundation. [5] [6] In 2010, she received the Pettman Dare International Performance Scholarship to work at Opera North and receive mentoring in opera design and management at the University of Leeds. [1]
In 2019, she won the Outstanding Achievement in Design Award at the National Association of Women in Construction (New Zealand) Excellence Awards. [4]
Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa, 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". Her extensive discography includes three albums which featured in the top forty in charts in Australia in the mid-1980s.
John Stanley Body was a New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer, teacher, and arts producer. As a composer, his work comprised concert music, music theatre, electronic music, music for film and dance, and audio-visual gallery installations. A deep and long-standing interest in the music of non-Western cultures – particularly South-East Asian – influenced much of his composing work, particularly his technique of transcribing field recordings. As an organiser of musical events and projects, Body had a significant impact on the promotion of Asian music in New Zealand, as well as the promotion of New Zealand music within the country and abroad.
RNZ Concert is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand FM fine music radio network. Radio New Zealand owns the network and operates it from its Wellington headquarters. The network's playlist of classical, jazz, contemporary, and world music includes recordings by local musicians and composers. Around 15 percent of its airtime features live concerts, orchestral performances, operas, interviews, features, and specialty music programs, many of them recorded locally.
Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead is a New Zealand composer. She is of Māori Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Her Māori heritage has been an important influence on her composing.
Dame Malvina Lorraine Major is a New Zealand opera soprano.
Dame Sister Mary Leo Niccol was a New Zealand religious sister who is best known for training some of the world's finest sopranos, including Dames Malvina Major, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Heather Begg.
Rosita Vai is a New Zealand singer who rose to musical fame as the winner of the second season of New Zealand Idol in 2005. Now married, she is also known as Rosita Gibbons. Prior to her win, Rosita managed to stay out of the "bottom three" placings for the entire competition, the only contestant to have done so in the history of NZ Idol. The very first female crowned New Zealand Idol, she also appeared on TV2's Showstoppers and Pop's Ultimate Star, which featured various winners from New Zealand Idol and PopStars; however, she was voted out in the second week of the competition.
Simon John O'Neill is a New Zealand-born operatic tenor. In 1998, his image appeared on the New Zealand one-dollar performing arts postage stamp.
New Zealand Opera is New Zealand's only full-time professional opera company, formed in 2000 from the merger of companies in Auckland and Wellington. New Zealand Opera is headquartered in Parnell, Auckland, stages several productions a year, runs educational programmes, and supports early-career opera singers with the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.
Dame Catherine Winifred Harcourt, known professionally as Kate Harcourt, is a New Zealand actress. Over her long career she has worked in comedy as well as drama in theatre, film, TV and radio.
Diggeress Rangituatahi Te Kanawa was a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Kinohaku descent. At the time of her death she was regarded as New Zealand's most renowned weaver.
Tayla Alexander 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 charted in the top 10 on both the Independent Music New Zealand Album charts (IMNZ), and the New Zealand Music Charts, making her the youngest artist to appear on the New Zealand music charts.
Tecwyn Evans is a New Zealand conductor. He holds a faculty position teaching conducting at the University of Auckland School of Music and in 2018 he was named as Director of Music of Den Jyske Opera.
Isabella Moore is a New Zealand soprano singer.
Salina Fisher is a New Zealand composer and violinist currently based in Wellington.
Phillip Rhodes is a New Zealand-born baritone opera singer.
The Dame Malvina Major Foundation was established in 1991.
Madison Nonoa is a New Zealand-born soprano opera singer of Samoan, Niuean, and Pākehā heritage.
Natasha Te Rupe Wilson is a New Zealand soprano opera singer of Māori and Pākehā heritage.
Jacqueline Coats is a theatre director based in New Zealand who has worked in both opera and children's theatre, she has worked for various organisations including the New Zealand Festival, New Zealand Opera and Victorian Opera (Melbourne).