Dame Malvina Returning For Fundraiser

In 2013, The Wellington Committee of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation organised a fundraiser at The Cabbage Tree Vineyard. The Foundation, set up in 1991 by Dame Malvina, funds “young performers of talent to reach their potential”. Dame Malvina loved the people, the event and the setting so much that she made a request to come back. This second fundraiser will take place on the last Sunday of November.
It is expensive to enrol in the top music colleges. Fees for outstanding institutions in the UK and the USA can be around $80,000pa which includes modest living expenses only. There are only a limited number of scholarships available. A number of promising young New Zealanders are fortunate to have been recipients of grants from the Foundation.

A recent recipient of the Mina Foley Scholarship set up by Dame Malvina specifically to bring New Zealand opera singers back here to perform with NZ Opera was tenor James Benjamin Rodgers. Now in his early thirties, married to an American who is his accompanist, James is based in New York. He has a busy schedule with opera companies in the States and recording studios having just released his debut album. Directing is another skill James is adding to his portfolio having directed operas by Sondheim, Britten and Mozart. He sang the role of Anthony Hope in the recent NZ Opera production, Sweeney Todd.
Dame Malvina works tirelessly travelling around the country to raise the funding necessary to support grants. Four sopranos and one bass baritone will be singing to assist Dame Malvina with fundraising at this concert. They are Katherine McIndoe, Olivia Sheat, Emily Mwila, our own Georgia Jamieson-Emms and James Henare. An extra bonus is that they will be accompanied by Adam Gordon, Music Master at Rathkeale College. In the words of Vicki Jones, Adam is a “fantastic accompanist”.
Dame Malvina has retired from singing in public. She is looking forward enormously to being here for these singers and mingling with the audience.
Concert: Sunday 27 November 2016; 2-4pm. Seating is limited to 100. Please book early. Tickets: $65. To book your seats contact George Troup at troup2004@yahoo.co.nz For enquiries: Winifred on 06 306 8178.
Winifred Bull
Photo caption: Emily Mwila who will be singing at the Dame Malvina Major Foundation fundraiser.