Te Kanawa, Kiri Janette 
1944 - .
New Zealand soprano. 

Te Kanawa's first major role was the Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at Covent Garden, London, 1971. Her voice combines the purity and intensity of the upper range with an extended lower range of great richness and resonance. Apart from classical roles, she has also featured popular music in her repertoire, such as the 1984 recording of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story. DBE 1982.