Singer's
juggling act: career and schooling
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SOUTHLAND
TIMES
By
JULIE ASHER
Saturday, 30 November 2002
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|
YOUNG
SENSATION: Singer Hayley Westenra surveys the
venue for her next gig, Stadium Southland, in
Invercargill.
PETER MEECHAM/The Southland Times
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The
angst of school exams seems to be pretty much the same
for a teenage singing star as for less-recognised students.
Fifteen-year-old
Hayley Westenra is in Invercargill this weekend to perform
at a sell-out concert in Stadium Southland tonight.
She
arrived yesterday having just finished her NCEA exams
at school, in Christchurch.Like most other year 11 students
she is dreading the wait for results of her six exams.
Unlike
most other students, Westenra will be in London adding
finishing touches to her international album when the
letter arrives.
Dad,
Gerald, will be delegated to open and deliver the results
to her and mother, Jill, who is travelling to London
with her.
This
is Westenra's first visit to Invercargill.
She
wanted to come last year when she toured the country
but the tour had to be fitted into two weeks of school
holidays so there was no time, she said.
In
January, Westenra and her mother head back to Britain
to finish recording an album. They had to leave it unfinished
last year so Hayley could go back to school to sit exams.
Parallel
seems the best way to describe the two sides of the
singer's life.
On
one hand she is a regular schoolgirl with good friends
and a younger brother and sister who keep her firmly
grounded.
On
the other she is a singer on the brink of a potentially
huge international career.
Mrs
Westenra travels everywhere with her daughter.
Confident
and articulate, it is hard to remember just how young
Westenra is.
While
she has been able to stay at school up to now, next
year she will probably have a tutor while in Britain
and study towards an English school qualification.
It
was important to complete her education, Westenra said.
"Who knows what might happen, my voice could go,
anything could happen. It's important to have something
to fall back on."
Westenra
will perform tonight with David McMeeking and Brandon
Pou accompanied by the Dunedin-based Southern Symphonia.
Story
courtesy of 'Southland Timesl', November
2002
Info
thanks to Keith S.
