Kiri Te Kanawa Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Janette Te Kanawa (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a New Zealand soprano. She has a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te Kanawa has received accolades in many countries, singing a wide array of works in many languages dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries. She is particularly associated with the works of Mozart, Strauss, Verdi, Handel and Puccini, and has found considerable success in portraying princesses, nobility, and other similar characters on stage. Though she rarely sang opera
Claire Gagnier Claire Gagnier Claire Gagnier (born March 28, 1924) is a singer in Quebec, Canada. She was born in Montreal and took voice lessons from . In 1944, she won first prize on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) program "Singing Stars of Tomorrow". Assisted by a grant from the provincial government, she attended the Juilliard School in New York City. In May 1945, she appeared in "The Marriage of Figaro" with members of the Metropolitan Opera. Gagnier appeared in many concerts in Canada and the United States. She performed in CBC radio and television opera broadcasts, including "La bohème", "Così fan