A remarkable bond LOVE BRINGS DAME KIRI HOME

New Zealand’s beloved opera legend is trilled to be back on Kiwi soil and this time she’s staying put because of one very special little boy – grandson Luther

- Wendyl Nissen 

In this country, we’re always proud of those of us who experience fame overseas. But we never really expect they will come back to New Zealand because their world becomes bigger than home.

So we could all be forgiven for being delightfully surprised to find that living amongst us again, for good, is none other than the world-famous soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

She has returned home permanently, a decision she made quickly and for one reason: Her beautiful grandson, three-and-a-halfyear-old Luther.

“When Covid kicked in, it did a lot of things for a lot of people,” explains Dame Kiri. “It terminated people’s lives and it made people more innovative, but for me, it was all about trying to work out how I was going to visit my grandson. That was my big thing.”

She had seen Luther for two Christmases in East Sussex, where she lived, and was planning to spend six months of the year with him before Covid struck.

“Suddenly I couldn’t see him for a year and a half. That was a huge thing for me. We had such wonderful Christmases and he was lovely and adorable, and then for a whole year and a half I couldn’t see him.”

Like most families with loved ones overseas, she has become very good at Zoom and FaceTime, as has Luther, who has learned to say “Grandma” and do high fives.

“Now I can spend real time with him and watch him. See how he grows, how he learns and how he changes, day to day. I didn’t want to miss that.”

Dame Kiri says she didn’t have a grandmother and so it has become very important for her to be one for Luther.