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THERE'S A NEW NAME IN ROCK!
The Rock Tenors have stolen Dunedin’s rock limelight with a recent string of success including two sell out seasons at the Mayfair Theatre, a South Island Tour and their latest sell-out hit, the Best of Pink Floyd at St Pauls Cathedral, but the time has come to shine the light on a new name in rock – producer Doug Kamo says.
The newly formed Rock Divas are poised to present their very own season at the Mayfair Theatre in October in what is being hailed as a blistering full-scale production paying homage to the very best classic rock artists from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and now.
Leveraging off the success of the Rock Tenors brand, the Rock Divas, made up of Dunedin’s top female vocalists Anna Langford, Petra Leonard, Hayley Lyndom, Charlotte Washington and Sophie Whibley – will pay homage to some of the biggest classic rock recording artists including Heart, Pink, Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi, Kiss, Adele, Def Leppard, Joan Jett and many more!
The Divas represent five strong female artists who have had international success across multiple live performance genres.
“Their experience and vocal ability in opera, musical theatre and contemporary rock allows these vocalists to go places vocally that many can’t and to reinvent standard rock vocal arrangements with harmonic complexity and accuracy that creates an incredibly exciting, immersive and original rock experience”, says Kamo.
Langford is a senior teacher at Dunedin’s VoiceLab and is well known to audiences for her portrayal of Elphaba in WICKED and Eponine in Les Misérables.
Leonard recently returned from Australia and is production development manager for Breeze Balm and has been seen on Dunedin stages in Grease, The Arena Spectacular, Miss Saigon, Priscilla- Queen of the Desert, Mary Poppins and Wicked.
Lyndom spent seven years in Melbourne performing in musicals, corporate events and on cruise ships and is also a leading singing teacher and vocal coach within Dunedin.
Washington has had a stellar career performing in some of New Zealand’s leading covers bands and is well known to Dunedin musical theatre audiences.
And the youngest Diva, Sophie Whibley’s credits as a vocalist are nothing short of impressive with Distinction in classical singing, classical piano and music theory through Trinity College London, and was the recipient of the bronze medal for the highest examination grade in Otago for Classical Singing from Grades 3-5.
Concert goers can expect the same high production values they’ve come to expect from a Rock Tenors concert but with a brand new curated setlist and vocal arrangements from musical directors, Michael Grant and Che Long.
“It is immensely exciting to be writing new arrangements for these incredible female vocalists, and even more exciting to see what they do with them”, says Grant. “When you’re working with talent of this calibre, it provides a freedom creatively that you don’t always get and that is fiercely liberating”.
The Divas will be supported by a live five-piece band consisting of Grant (Keys), Long (guitar), Sam Healey (bass), Jack McRae (drums), and Joseph Balfe (guitar).
Tickets on sale now for shows on 17 & 18 October 2024
Tickets available from www.rockdivas.nz
