ONE of the world's finest opera singers is to receive an honorary award from a North-East university.
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will be awarded an honorary doctorate of music by the University of Sunderland next Thursday for her contribution to the world of arts and entertainment.
University vice-chancellor Professor Peter Fidler said: "We are privileged to honour a towering figure from the world of opera, one of its most famous sopranos, who has been at the very peak of her profession for more than 30 years.
"Dame Kiri's contribution to the arts and entertainment has been truly immense and we are delighted that that we can pay our own tribute to her."
The soprano gained world-wide fame almost overnight after her sensational debut as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1971.
She famously sang solo at the wedding of Charles and Diana at St Paul's Cathedral, in 1981, to one of the largest audiences in history, estimated to have been more than 600 million people.
She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1982, invested with the Order of Australia in 1990 and the Order of New Zealand in 1995.
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