Hayley teams up with Ennio Morricone for her new album

Hayley Westenra teams up with Ennio Morricone

Celebrating 10 Years In The Music Industry, the World's Biggest Selling Soprano, Hayley Westenra, teams up with Ennio Morricone for new studio album.

"Hayley Westenra  is a rare singer, maybe unique in the international panorama. Her voice and perfect intonation have really struck me. This is already a lot for a composer. Then, working with her, I found out that she is also a great interpreter. I'm sure we'll do a good job together."- Ennio Morricone - May 2010

Over the past 10 years, New Zealand born soprano Hayley Westenra has taken the classical world by storm. Dominating album charts throughout the world, touring internationally, becoming UNICEF's youngest ever Ambassador when she was only 17 years of age, Westenra has become a hugely popular figure around the world with her accessible yet challenging delivery of a huge range of repertoire.

With her debut album, Pure, reaching the Top 10 of the pop charts in 11 countries and selling over 4 million copies to date, Hayley holds the record for the biggest selling classical album of the 21st Century.

With a CV that belies her 23 years, having performed with Jose Carreras through to Andrea Bocelli, and touring North America with Il Divo, Hayley is now realising her dream of working with master Italian composer and conductor, Ennio Morricone, on her forthcoming studio album, released October 2010 on Decca Records, a Universal Music Group label.

Well known for his iconic film scores including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Morricone received in 2007 an honorary Academy Award for his contribution to the art of film music.

The new, as of yet untitled album, will be recorded with Ennio's orchestra in Rome this Summer and will feature new songs written by Morricone for Hayley as well as some of his best known film compositions of the last 50 years.

Says Hayley - "Growing up, I unknowingly listened to a great deal of Ennio Morricone's magnificent music, such as the haunting melodies of 'Cinema Paradiso' and 'The Mission'.  To one day realise that all these pieces were the work of just one man blew my mind.  Ennio Morricone is a musical genius and I still can't quite believe that I'm going to be collaborating with him on a whole album."

Dickon Stainer, Managing Director, Decca Records, on the forthcoming collaboration- "It's a match made in heaven - a true legend of film music collaborating with the purest voice in the world".

Credits: Decca Records 

Update 11 Oct 2010:

The album is now expected to be released in early 2011.