"When many Diva's take themselves so seriously, it is refreshing to find an artist who is so natural, so loveable and considerate. How refreshing it is to work with an artist who constantly remembers that she is on the stage to give pleasure, and this, she certainly does"
Richard Bonynge
Australian Conductor and Pianist
"Major's exquisite vocal control a testimony to her stature"
NZ Herald 24 May 2010
GNZM. DBE. ATCL. LTCL LRSM. Hon D Litt [Massey] Hon D [Waikato]
Dame Malvina Major was born in Hamilton,New Zealand. After winning the New Zealand Mobil Song Quest and the Melbourne Sun Aria, Dame Malvina went to London to study at the London Opera Centre. She won the Kathleen Ferrier competition while studying at the London Opera Centre.
In New Zealand her singing teacher was Dame Sister Mary Leo, and in London she was taught by Ruth Packer from the Royal College of Music.
Dame Malvina’s international opera career has included twenty eight major Operatic roles, extensive Oratorio and Concert repertoire and discography of commercial recordings. Highlights include Mathilde in Elisabetta Regina d’Inghilterra, Rosina in Il Barbiere de Sivilgia, Arminda in La Finta Giardiniera, Donna Elvira and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly, Violetta in la Traviata, Gilda in Rigoletto, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Anna Glawari in The Merry Widow and The Countess in the Marriage of Figaro, Mimi and Muzetta in La Boheme and Constanze in Il Seraglio.Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Pamina in Die Zauberflote.
Oratorio repertoire include, The Verdi Requiem, Mahler’s Symphonies No. 4 and 8, The Creation, Bach’s St Mathew Passion, Beethoven’s 9 th Symphony, The Messiah, The Mozart Requiem, and C Minor Mass, Songs of the Auvergne, Bach’s Christmas oratorio, , The Liverpool Oratorio, Mendelssohn’s 2 nd Symphony, Te Deum, and Elijah.
In Australia she has performed with all major symphony orchestras, opera companies. toured extensively and sung for the Australia Broadcasting Corporation.
Interesting places that she has performed at, include a celebration event in the Wetlands of South Australia, where 550,000 acres had been recovered from invasion by sea water and returned to a natural bird sanctuary, Zion Canyon in Arizona, the Pyramids, the ancient amphitheatre in Jordan and Petra. and the Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato, Mexico.
In New Zealand Dame Malvina has sung with all the major opera companies and orchestras.
Outdoor concerts have become a feature of the summer season in New Zealand, and Dame Malvina has performed with Brian Law conducting.in Concerts in the Auckland Domain , Rotorua Lakeside, Wellington Westpac Stadium, Dunedins Carisbrook Stadium, Christchurch in the Park, Dunedin and Queenstown Rose Gardens, and in the opera Carmen at North Harbour Stadium.
In 2009 Dame Malvina did a "Heartland Tour" called "My Life in Song" to 10 venues in the North Island. This was repeated in 2010 in the South Island.
Dame Malvina has performed in Mexico City, Brasilia, Buenos Aries and Santiago, Salt Lake City, London, Saltzburg and Brussels. Career highlights include performing for the King and Queen of Belgium, in Jordan for the Queen Noor Festival, in Japan where she met the Empress of Japan, and at New Zealand Embassy concerts in Washington, Paris, London, The Hague, and Brussels. She has performed for both the summer and winter Salzburg festivals, the Campden Town festival and at Covent Garden where she replaced Dame Joan Sutherland in Die Fledermaus.
In 2006 Dame Malvina accepted an invitation from the Marinsky Academy in St Petersburg to be one of a panel of judges to the Rimsky-Korsakov International Competition. In June 2007 Dame Malvina was the guest soloist with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and gave concerts to open and close the 2007 Rotary International Conference in Salt Lake City,Utah.
In August 2008, Dame Malvina performed in St James ,Piccadilly with Haley Westenra, Will Martin and the touring Boy's and Mens Choir of Christchurch Cathedral,New Zealand, Music Director, Brian Law.
In November 2008 as part of a USA Government Scholarship Dame Malvina visit some of the leading voice teaching institution in the USA, including the San Francisco, Boston and New York Conservatories, the Julliard and Thornton Schools of Music and UCLA.
Dame Malvina has recorded Tosca, Il Seraglio, The Barber of Seville, and Michaela in Carmen for Television New Zealand. She has released a number of CDs, including Malvina Major, Dame Malvina in Concert, I Remember, Casta Diva, Alleluia, Christmas Time, and an historic CD of Malvina and Gerald Moore."My Life in Song" was released in 2009.
Community Services
Dame Malvina has chosen to live in New Zealand, while maintaining an active international singing career. Her services to opera and the community were acknowledged in 1991 with a DBE, (Dame of the British Empire).
In the same year she was the New Zealander of the Year
In 1992 she was named New Zealand Entertainer of the Year.
.In 1998 she was awarded the Benny, The Variety Club of New Zealand highest lifetimeacheivement award.
In the 2008 New Year Honours with the title, Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.(PCNZM.) the highest rank in the New Zealand Order of Merit. As a result of Legislation, this Honour has be changed to that of Grande Dame of the New Zealand Order of Merit (GNZM)
She has received Honorary Doctorates from both Waikato and Massey Universities.
Dame Malvina currently holds a teaching position as a Senior Fellow in Music at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
For three years, Dame Malvina was Chairperson of the Diana, Princess of Wales Trust, which has now wound up with all funds having been distributed to charities within New Zealand.
This foundation was first formed in 1992 to support the training of young New Zealand artists. The work of the Foundation is funded by private and corporate sponsors. In conjunction with NBR NZ Opera and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Emerging Artists programme was established in 1999, together with an understudy programme with Canterbury Opera. The Dame Malvina Major Foundation has now been established in Holland to help both New Zealand and Dutch artists with their training in Europe, and is also currently being set up in the United States of America. Queen Beatrix of Holland's “Mistress of the Robes” Mrs van Loan, hosted the launch of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation in Amsterdam.