Sophie Westenra and Ben Morrison

[gareth]

Hi All,

Last week, at the special Hayley Westenra UNICEF concert, I met Belinda and she gave me a tape of another, recent charity concert in Christchurch.

Two of the guests were ... Sophie Westenra and Ben Morrison.

You can now download Sophie's and Ben's performances via these links:

www.hayley-westenra-international.net/hwi/clips/zo05/angel_sophie110905.wmv

and

www.classicalrelatedperformances.com/misc/benmorrison110905.wmv

Sophie's performance of "Angel" is quite intrigueing. I am inclined to compare it with Yulia Townsend's performance. And then, Yulia's performance may be just a bit more polished, but Sophie's performance has its own merits (especially when you listen to it more often).

Ben Morrison's performance is simply stunning. I am familiar with the piece he played, but I can't place it right now. So I am asking for feedback on the title of this piece.

Cheers,

Gerrit

[portia]

Is it just me, or did Ben Morrison feel completely dead in his performance? But I like his tone.

I believe Morrison was playing a hymn. Which one, I don't know, but I've heard it before.

[Oksana]

Beautiful clip! Sophie is certainly a very talented singer, though she's vocally very different from her sister. Actually, I think she surpasses Hayley in her interpretive (sp?) skills. I could really feel what she was singing.

Thanks!

[kcuteus1]

thanks i saw the Sophie clip and it is good but i also feel that it sound like there was some sound promles .

[HWI]

Hi Gerrit,

Thanks for a great job in bringing the clips to us, and thanks to Belinda for supplying the tapes. I just wish I had more time to sit and listen right now, but I must be off out in less than 30 minutes. So, I'll look forward to watching them later.

With your coverage, working with Belinda, we are provided with material which would not otherwise reach the fans, and that is a wonderful service. I wish I could do more to show my appreciation than merely say thank you.

Cheers,
Keith.

[Richard]

Hello Belinda and Gerrit!

Many thanks for bringing those clips to us. I thought Sophie's performance was wonderful, and although her style is very different from Hayley's, I think I can detect an influence there.

Ben Morrison played well, but he looked as though he was in a trance. That was probably because he was concentrating and shutting everything else off from his mind. I didn't recognise the piece he was playing at all.

Thanks again for sharing the clips.

Best Wishes from London,

Richard

[roger]

Yet again it is time to say thank you to Belinda and Gerrit for making these clips available.

Unfortunately I don't know the piece that Ben is playing. I wish I did because it is lovely. It has been said that he appears to be in a trance during his performance. Well, I was in one while listening to it. I think that is his way of really *feeling* the beauty of the music.

As for Sophie, what can I say? Well, she's a Westenra and, straight away, that makes me biased but I truly believe she is a star in the making.

I think she sounded a little nervous in places but who wouldn't be at the age of fifteen with the additional expectaions that are inevitably caused by having a world famous and hightly successful sister?

Well done Sophie, I will be playing that clip again and again until I can hear more of you.

Roger

[Natasha]

Ohhh a new video of Sophie - how exciting!! lol. I will definately download this one - I can't wait to see what she sounds like now!

Natasah

[Joe]

Hi Gerrit,

I plan to download Sophie's clip later in the day.

Thanks,
Joe

[Raymond]

I think Sophie's performance is very good. I am going to watch it again later.

Cheers,
Raymond

[daddytom]

Despite what seemed to be some nerves, Sophie did very well .

I like her soft voice that seems to draw you to her. The song was a little mature for her life experiences and needed a lot of effort on her part to express the emotions involved. Of course, I listen to Yulia sing this song quite often so it puts Sophie in an unfair comparison. I do love that soft voice though and hope she puts together an album soon that illustrates it.

Thanks, Gerrit and Belinda for sharing this with us and, Belinda, don't forget Natasha and Crystal are coming your way soon

[1littlegirl]

Wow, what a great job Sophie did!! I can hear Hayley in her voice a little bit.

Ben Morrison's playing is so beautiful. The song is "Gira Con Me" which is apparently from his debut album, which I wish I had now. That song was made famous by Josh Groban.

[Natasha]

Sophie did a lovely job - she remind of Hayley in the way she expresses herself through her hands!!

Natasha

[Dave]

Wow, thanks to Belinda for literally carrying that tape from NZ to us, well to Gerrit in London I mean! And thanks to Gerrit for taking it back to the Netherlands and making it available on the 'net. What a fabulous Global team effort that was!

As for Sophie, well I thoroughly enjoyed her performance and I can see good signs of some real potential there. I thought she was very nervous at times but she could turn out to be very expressive singer and she has a lovely tone to her voice.

Ben's performance was most enjoyable too, that Josh Groban song was a good choice! I wish both of them the best of luck and hey, I thought it was very thoughtful of the presenter to mention Isaac... and to everyone's surprise, only Isaac. That was a nice touch.

Cheers, Dave

[roger]

classicgrace said:

Sophie did a lovely job - she remind of Hayley in the way she expresses herself through her hands!!

Natasha

I know what you mean Natasha. You could also see similarities in Sophie's facial expression at times and in her mannerisms generally. And certainly there is a hint of Hayley in Sophie's voice here and there. Yet they are sufficiently different for there to be a place for both of them in the world market. So.....

Go Sophie, go! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Roger