Affairs of the heart have encouraged Ashburton soprano Kathi Craig to host an outdoor concert at Terrace Croft in Tinwald on January 8.
Craig, a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her outstanding career as an operatic diva and singing teacher, wants to fundraise for the Heart Foundation.
She thinks the best way to do that is via an outdoor operatic and musical theatre favourites concert, entitled: With a song in my Heart.
And it will be very much a personal performance after her husband received a double bypass last month, while her son recently recovered in a Perth hospital following a heart attack caused by a blocked artery.
“I can’t travel to see him but I’m dedicating this concert to all those people and their families who’ve come through heart surgery or treatment in recent years,” Craig said.
Craig has called on her family to help present the concert, with son in-law Daniel Rodriguez, who arrived in Ashburton for a holiday on Christmas Eve, one of the headline acts.
Rodriguez, a former New York policeman, served at ground zero – the site of the World Trade Center that was destroyed during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 – and was then chosen to sing to the American nation from Yankees Stadium following 9/11.
His career has seen him perform for every president since 2001 at White House functions, for the opening of the Winter Olympics, at Madison Square Gardens and Carnegie Hall, and for many ceremonial and patriotic occasions. His wife, Marla Kavanaugh, recently featured at the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo where her group, the Highland Divas, sang to 9000 people every night.
Craig, who has starred in many New Zealand operas, has dedicated herself to teaching and speaking engagements since coming to Ashburton but now it’s her chance to move into diva singing mode.
“Mid Canterbury hasn’t heard me sing so the concert is my opportunity to join my family in song,” she said.
“What we can’t express in words we do in song, and it will be a joy for family to come home and take part in this concert.”
The Heart Foundation concert theme is also personal to Craig, who 20 years ago suffered a transient ischemic attack, which is similar to a stroke.
She was rushed to Wakefield Hospital, Wellington, with blocked carotid arteries, which had to be replaced.
“I was unable to sing for a year but have made a full recovery,” she said.
“I know the trauma of heart problems and how frightening it is.
“Singing gives you so many health benefits. It’s an opportunity to exercise mind, body, and spirit.”

• By Daniel Alvey