Media Release 27th October 2006

"Show Stopping" Soprano to Perform in Dunedin's Heritage Festival '07

While British music critics are lauding the debut performance of Dunedin soprano Anna Leese at Covent Garden this week, back home there's excitement building for Anna's return to Dunedin next year where she will perform during the inaugural Dunedin Heritage Festival.

Anna Leese, whose performance in Puccini's opera La Boheme was described as 'show stopping', will take part in a concert of two halves that will celebrate some of Dunedin's extraordinary artistic talent. Performing with the Southern Sinfonia and the City of Dunedin Choir, Anna's programme will include a selection of popular arias. The programme has not been finalised yet but expectations are growing… will Dunedin be treated to her vibrant 'show stopping' Musetta?

In a rich tapestry of music and film, the second half of the Heritage Festival's Southern Sinfonia concert will feature a collaborative work by the Sinfonia and nhnz (Natural History NZ). Dunedin Composer Trevor Coleman will take the score he composed for nhnz 's Equator series and for which he received an Emmy nomination, and he will synthesise and condense the episodic music into a work with an inner development of its own. Film from the series will then be overlayed to create a multi artwork in the genre of Southern Journeys, Sinfonia Antartica, and Timeless Lands.

Dunedin Heritage Festival Director, Caroline Cook, says Dunedin's resource of talent rivals that of any other New Zealand city. "If an excuse was ever needed to celebrate the city's cultural achievements then the Heritage Festival is it."

While the theme of the inaugural Heritage Festival is music heritage it will embrace the cultural diversity of the community and events will be staged against the backdrop of Dunedin's heritage buildings in a true celebration of Dunedin's distinctive blend of cultural heritage, architectural character and lifestyle choice. Pre- bookings can be made at events@dunedinheritagefestival.co.nz

Dunedin Heritage Festival 22-26 March 2007

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