My Tribute To Dame Vera Lynn

Music Teacher Vicki Lee (65), of Palmerston North, Takes Her Concerts Celebrating the Wartime Singer Around New Zealand

- Ciara Pratt

"It all started for me in 2015, the year of the Gallipoli 100-year commemorations. Dame Malvina Major, who I have worked with in the past, was invited to sing at Anzac Cove. So she wrote to Dame Vera Lynn for permission to sing her amazing songs and was given her blessing.

As Dame Vera has always said, ‘As long as someone is singing the songs, these songs will not be forgotten. Also will not be forgotten – the memory of those people who sacrificed their lives.’

I went up to Hamilton to help Dame Malvina pitch the songs into a key she could sing. But when I came back home, I thought how wonderful it is that she is doing that, but what is happening in Palmerston North? What could we do? So I approached the Globe Theatre and decided to put on a free show.

I have a background in social work, but I’ve been doing music since my twenties and went to university, earning a Bachelor of Music. Now I teach piano three times a week to people young and old.