In the short time since the release of Hayley Westenra's first international album, the 17-year-oldfrom Christchurch, New Zealand has made history in the music industry. She became the fastest-selling classical artist of all time in the UK when her album PURE smashed into the Top 10 UK pop charts, reaching Gold status in under a week and soon turning double platinum. Across the globe in her home country, New Zealand, Hayley is a household name.

Recently presented with a disc by Prime Minister Helen Clarke for achieving 10x Platinum, Hayley has broken records by becoming the fastest-selling artist of all time with the longest-running album at No.1 in the pop charts. Her album has also gone Platinum in Australia and Gold in Hong Kong and Singapore. And it doesn't end there.

The past year has been a whirlwind for Hayley. Highlights have included performing for Her Majesty the Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush at a private concert at the US Ambassador's residence in London; performing with Bryn Terfel and José Carreras at the Faenol Festival in Wales and again with Carreras at the Royal Albert Hall in London; performing at the Royal Variety Show alongside Pavarotti in Edinburgh and leading the Amnesty International Christmas concert in London's Trafalgar Square; duetting with Aled Jones at last year's prestigious Classical Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall and having a chart-topping Gold status single in Japan with the track Amazing Grace which recently won a Japan Gold Disc Award for "Song of the Year" along with Hayley's award for "Album of the Year".

However the story really started ten years earlier when Hayley danced and sang the lead in her school Christmas play at the age of six. It was at this show that Jill and Gerald Westenra first witnessed their daughter's extraordinary talent. A teacher approached Jill after the performance and told her that Hayley was pitch-perfect and suggested that she take up a musical instrument to encourage her talents, so Hayley began violin lessons. It was the beginning of a relationship with music that's been the driving force in her life ever since.

In 2000 Hayley recorded a demo album, mainly as what she called a "memento". This personal souvenir - just 1000 copies were pressed - unlocked the key to her future. On the day the recording of the CD was completed, Hayley and her younger sister Sophie (both vocalists, violinists and pianists, whilst younger brother Isaac plays the flute) busked in Christchurch. The pair quickly drew an enthusiastic crowd. A woman asked them if they had recorded anything. The young buskers' fan was a journalist with a local television station and Hayley soon appeared on air. The appearance captured the attention of a leading New Zealand concert promoter, Gray Bartlett, and a deal with Universal Music New Zealand soon followed.

Hayley's self-titled debut recording for Universal New Zealand featured an eclectic mix of show music and classical pieces; it went straight in at No.1 in the pop charts (where it remained for four weeks), turned triple platinum and made Hayley the fastest-selling local artist in New Zealand's history. This was followed by the Christmas album "My Gift To You" which turned Platinum.

Hayley soon attracted the attention of the Decca Music Group in London who, in co-operation with Universal New Zealand, signed her to an international record deal. The result is PURE, Hayley's debut international album.

Hayley has broken new artistic ground in her choice of songs for PURE: "Before I was singing show tunes and light classical music. It was all one genre, whereas now I've got a lot more variety. I'm going to more extremes with proper classical pieces and poppier songs. Making this album has broadened the way I sing, I've developed different singing styles."

Hayley sees herself as primarily a classical performer, but she does not wish to put herself into a stylistic corner, and on PURE she explores the worlds of pop, traditional Maori choral singing, and gives a new freshness to well-known classical repertoire. The album's producer Giles Martin enrolled a number of people to help Hayley achieve this, including his father, legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin, all of whom contributed to achieving the album's unique appeal. "It was an absolute honour to work with someone so talented and worldly-wise as Sir George, but also, just like Giles, so down-to-earth and easy-going."

Hayley smiles easily and her eyes twinkle with enthusiasm as she talks of her passion for singing.
"I always dreamed about being a singer but I was quite realistic about what I hoped for. I thought, well, maybe when I'm older I could do part-time professional singing and have a job too. Once I got to the stage of getting a record contract with Universal, that's when things started to get exciting. Now I've got an international contract with the Decca Music Group and I'm doing things like singing in front of the Queen!"

Hayley's extraordinary "pure" voice has attracted the attention of many established artists from the worlds of pop and classical alike. The New Zealand opera diva Dame Malvina Major, who has now become Hayley's tutor and mentor, says, "Her voice is absolutely musically true. A lot of young singers have beautiful voices but they have to be guided into that sort of clarity. She has it naturally". Multi-platinum-selling pop artist Heather Nova says that "Hayley's vocals are naturally beautiful - so pure and clear. Classical or adult pop? It's simply music of rare quality".

Away from the limelight, however, Hayley is just a typical teenager. Music is her top priority but she is also keen on netball, swimming and indoor rock-climbing and has represented her school at cross-country running. "Other than music, I also enjoy ballet-dancing [she has performed with the Royal New Zealand Ballet], reading, watching movies, shopping and hanging out with my friends! I also like listening to music. My favourite artists are Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado and Vanessa Carlton."

Hayley kicked off 2004 with her first ever headlining world tour of New Zealand, Australia (where she received a rare standing ovation at the Sydney Opera House), Japan and the UK. She is currently launching her album in North America where she has recorded the end-title song on Disney's "Mulan 2" and she will also take on her first major acting role with a guest appearance on US TV show "American Dreams" (NBC). Her national PBS TV special will air across the US later this year. Hayley sits her GCSE school exams towards the end of 2004.

With such a busy and contrasting year ahead, what does it all mean to Hayley? "If I could be anyone in the world, I'd actually choose to be me, where I am right now, because I'm so excited about what I'm doing and I'm loving it totally. It's incredible; the opportunities I've been given. I really didn't expect this to happen", she says. "It is amazing how one thing leads to another."

With so much happening so quickly, the one thing that is sure to get Hayley through all that lies before her is her unchanging, easy-going, selfless nature - the overriding impression left on everybody she comes into contact with, and the key to ensuring her musical success story continues on and on…

Hayley's debut international album PURE went straight in at No.8 in the UK pop album charts and No.1 in Classical Charts. Making her the fastest-selling debut classical artist of all time, ahead of Charlotte Church, Pavarotti, Bocelli and Russell Watson. The album turned GOLD in the UK in one week and has hit DOUBLE PLATINUM with sales in excess of 700K.

PURE is the longest running No.1 album in New Zealand pop chart history!! The album has gone 10x PLATINUM and has stayed in the pop charts at No.1 for 18 weeks. Hayley is now the biggest-selling artist ever.

PURE has hit PLATINUM in Australia. It went into the pop charts at No.7 and into the classical charts at No.1.

PURE has gone GOLD in Hong Kong and Singapore. It was No.1 in the HMV Classical Charts and No.6 in the Top 40 pop charts.

PURE has hit the 1 million sales mark in just over 6 months even though the album is yet to be released in over 80% of the world.

Hayley recently performed for Her Majesty the Queen, President Bush and Tony Blair at a private dinner at the US Ambassador's residence in London. She also performed for the Queen at the prestigious Royal Variety Show and the Remembrance Day ceremony in London.

Hayley is the youngest ever Ambassador for UNICEF. She has also been an Ambassador for Save the Children, Hong Kong and recently took part in a breast cancer charity awareness campaign in New Zealand.

Hayley has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Wembley Arena and the Royal Albert Hall. She has performed in front of 200,000 at Auckland Domain (largest live concert - Christmas in the Park) and Melbourne "Carols by Candelight" (largest TV audience - NZ, Australia and Asia).

Hayley has duetted with José Carreras at London's Royal Albert Hall. She has also performed with Aled Jones at the UK's prestigious Classical Brit Awards show, Russell Watson during his UK tour and Bryn Terfel and José Carreras at the Faenol festival.

Credit: hayleywestenra.com