He dreamed a dream- Kauwiti Selwyn

It's very hot in Kawakawa in February as the historic rail station hosts an afternoon of music. The performers tend to be relatively experienced singers accompanied by guitar but late in the programme there's a flurry of activity as an electronic keyboard is set up and the Mayor, John Carter, announces that a Northland College student will entertain us. How right he is.

From the moment Kauwiti Selwyn begins to sing O Sole Mio (in Neopolitan dialect) onlookers are spellbound by the young tenor's confidence and poise and captivated by a presumably professionally trained voice of undeniable maturity and quality. It's staggering to discover he's only just turned 16. If a comparison is made (and quite a few make it) this young man sounds like the nearest thing to Luciano Pavarotti to be found in the Antipodes.

Kauwiti Selwyn comes from a highly musical family. His mother (Maraea) plays trombone, older brother (Francis) plays the relatively rare euphonium - and one never knows where that might lead when you consider Don McGlashan plays this conical-shaped horn too. Kauwiti's second oldest brother (Thomas known as Teejay) plays bass drums, Kauwiti plays tenor horn and trombone, younger brother (Rima) plays drums and little sister (Hinerangi) hangs on to the tenor horn.

Right there is the entire brass band of the local Ratana Church and when they're not blowing or tapping, they're singing in voices honed by gospel. It could be considered a noisy household but it's not haphazard - they practice together with Teejay keeping the beat as the others provide the harmony. As for opera, in a roundabout way Kauwiti blames Hugh Jackman.

"I started off by watching the movie, Les Miserable, last August and was captured by the singing. Then when Ann Hathaway sang I Dreamed A Dream, I loved it and said to myself 'I'm into this'."

He next watched Pavarotti on You Tube singing Nessum Dorma (one of the best-known arias from the final act of Puccini's opera Turandot) and fell in love with classical structure even more.

"As he was singing the words, I looked at the lyrics and started to get the vocabulary of how he was singing, the 'a' and the 'e' and rolling the 'r' and so on, and that's how I started."

He mimicked so well he was asked to sing at the college graduation and at Kaikohe Rotary's awards night.

Cr Sally Macauley was there and within two days she convinced classical singing teacher Carol Maher, formerly of Upstate New York but 20 years in Kerikeri, that she must take this kid on as a student. He auditioned and was accepted immediately.

"He is a future performer with a vocal gift although he has a lot to learn first," says Carol Maher knowingly. "It's not just standing on the stage singing; you have to learn languages and breathing and performance and he is a good student."

She has since banned him from singing Nessum Dorma because the sustained high note towards the end could damage his young voice but there's a surfeit of alternatives. At the Turner Centre's lunch-time concert in early March he sang Ave Maria, Ombra Mai Fu and Maria from Westside Story.

The in-recess Kaikohe Players donated $3,000 towards his tuition fees and he is further supported by ArtsXL charitable trust and Kaikohe Rotary. His Northland College music teacher is Glenis Sutherland and his whanau come with him to Kerikeri every week and stay while he is tutored in piano
and voice. He's working on upping his academic grades because that will strengthen any scholarship he applies for when he finishes college at the end of next year.

It's been a hectic three months but Kauwiti Selwyn says he dreamed a dream and as he lifts his chin skyward to provide a spontaneous musical stanza just for fun, and because he can, there is no doubt he will live it.