Sunday, November 11, 2007

Hayley Westenra and Soldier Magazine

Soldier Magazine is the official magazine of the British Army, and I recently had the pleasure of working as freelance photographer with journalist Karen Thomas when she interviewed New Zealand singer, Hayley Westenra.

A couple of days ago I was able to read the results of that day back in October ... The interview is well worth reading.

It begins: THE vibrant voice of Hayley Westenra floated across the Tyne Cot cemetery headstones and briefly haunted the soldiers sleeping an eternal slumber in the mass grave of Passchendaele.

As the celebrated soprano sang Abide With Me, sighs from the hundreds of thousands of men swallowed by the bloody campaign waged in a cramped corner of the Western Front were almost audible. Marking the 90th anniversary of the Third battle of Ypres, the New Zealand star sang in tribute to her fellow countrymen who fought valiantly alongside their British comrades.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The lead to that article is perfect. Fabulous writing.

Di Mackey said...

She's magnificent, isn't she.

You can read more of her writing at Soldier Magazine online. I've got the magazine coming :)

Anonymous said...

wow.. and the beautiful voice she has is just fantastic!! I hope I can find one of her albums here.
She is magnificent!! And to find your name on there is sooo great.. I was so excited when I found my last name there so I do not think we were related.

Di Mackey said...

I think you'll find her music fairly easily over there ML :)