Sophie Westenra Biography

Sophie Westenra (born 29 June 1990) is a Christchurch, New Zealand soprano and actress.

Biography

Sophie Westenra was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, of Dutch and Irish heritage. Her parents, Jill and Gerald Westenra, have two other children, Hayley and Isaac.

She developed an interest in music while, as a child, busking around Christchurch with her elder sister Hayley (now a famous international classical crossover singer) and younger brother Isaac. During her sister Hayley's early international success, Sophie travelled and performed with her in the UK, USA, and Japan.

In 2004, she duetted "Across the Universe of Time" in concert with Hayley at St. James Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand. The concert DVD, Live from New Zealand, was released by Decca Records and broadcast by PBS' program Great Performances.

In 2008, she was featured in the University of Canterbury's School of Music's "The Silver Swan and Other Animals". She also received the "Most Outstanding First Year Student" award at the University of Canterbury for her studies as a soprano; she then, however, decided to pursue a career in acting, and studied under actress and acting teacher Miranda Harcourt. In late 2008, Sophie held a concert with tenor Paul Madsen at the Nelson Suburban Club. On 18 December 2008, Sophie dazzling the crowd at the ILT Christmas Variety Show at Stadium Southland in New Zealand.

In 2009 and 2010, Westenra headlined as solo performer and guest artist at Blenheim, New Zealand's Pollard Park for its annual Christmas carol service.

Charity work

Sophie Westenra has been involved with different charities. She travelled with her mother Jill and elder sister Hayley to Ghana in 2005 as part of Hayley's UNICEF mission to provide bicycles to Ghanaian children. Since the trip, Sophie has done several of her own fundraising and presentation events for UNICEF, including being a "global parent", making monthly donations to her causes.

On 8 February 2009, she held a fundraising concert for The Salvation Army Foodbank with the Christchurch tenor trio of Paul Madsen, Brent Liebezeit and Nick Rentoul at the Ashburtion Domain Oval.