Bianca Sings at London's Guildhall

My name is Bianca Andrew and I've been given the opportunity to study opera at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. I need to raise a total of $160,000 to cover my tuition and living costs for the duration of my two-year Artist Masters programme. The Guildhall School has awarded me a part-scholarship. In May of this year I had the opportunity to sing for Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and I am incredibly grateful to her Foundation for awarding me a grant to help cover a further portion of my tuition fees. By donating to my Boosted campaign, you will be helping me to raise the remaining $16,000 I need to cover my tuition fees for my first year at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

 About Me

I discovered opera by accident when I was sixteen years old, not in an opera house, but at The Warehouse. In one of the red bargain bins I spied a CD with the title: '100 Best Classical Hits - $5'. I had exactly five dollars pocket money, so I bought the album on a whim and took it home. That afternoon, exquisite voices singing the love duet from Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly sailed out of the little stereo in my bedroom, and struck my sixteen-year old heart right to its core. I was so affected by this music that I decided, from that day forth, opera had to be my life and my world.

I graduated from the New Zealand School of Music in 2011, with a Bachelor and Postgraduate Diploma of Music (Distinction) under the tutelage of soprano Margaret Medlyn, one of our country's great dramatic singers. Following my graduation, I was appointed as a Freemasons Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist with New Zealand Opera, with whom I made my mainstage d�but in the role of Kate Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly - the very opera that got me hooked all those years ago! Now I work as a freelance singer throughout New Zealand, and this July I am a Finalist in the Lexus Song Quest - New Zealand's biggest opera competition.

London calling!

After six years studying and working as a young singer in New Zealand, it's time for me to spread my wings. I've been given the chance of a lifetime - the chance to move to one of the most cultured capitals in the world, to study at one of the most prestigious music schools in the world - The Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London.

The programme I will be studying at the Guildhall is designed to prepare singers for the demands of a professional career, with classes in foreign language studies and diction, opera and theatre coaching, stagecraft, oratorio and wide opportunities for performing in the UK and Europe.

I will be studying with Australian-born Yvonne Kenny, regarded as one of the most distinguished sopranos of her generation. When I spent hours listening to her recordings as a student at university, I never could have imagined that one day she would be my teacher.

Join me! 

Since I discovered opera all those years ago, I have been on many beautiful journeys with music. Now, I'm about to embark on my biggest journey yet.

Thank-you for helping me to make my dream of studying in London come true. It is a privilege to be able to take you with me.

Bianca

www.biancaandrew.com | www.songquest.co.nz