Kathryn Harries - The Kiri Programme

Leading dramatic soprano Kathryn Harries has recently announced she is stepping down at the end of the year as director of the National Opera Studio in London after nearly a decade in the role. Harries says she was going to be a pharmacist like her dad, but "mercifully, I decided on a career in music and with that single decision I saved countless lives". She fell in love with New Zealand during a visit in 1989, was here as a judge for the Lexus Song Quest in 2014, and has been back again as director of The Kiri Programme, in its first year of nurturing young singers.