Kiwi soprano Tayla Alexander reveals lockdown father-daughter duet helped launch her singing career

Soprano singer Tayla Alexander, 22, is heading to Europe to make music. Photo / Greg Bowker

When Tayla Alexander sat down with her dad Dwayne to record a video of them singing together in April 2020, she never dreamed of what it would lead to.

The pair sang a cover of Love Me Tender in an emotional tribute to the family members they were missing during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Now 22, the Auckland-based classical singer has signed a multi-million dollar deal with German producer Daniel Thomas Loitz to make music in Europe - and it’s all thanks to the viral clip, which she reveals has a bittersweet story behind it.

“One day my dad and I just sat down and did a cover on YouTube, filmed on a phone. We didn’t even practise. And it was for my Oupa and my Grandad, who at the time were really, really unwell,” she tells the Herald.

“My Grandad had cancer, my Oupa was in and out of ICU, and we just wanted a way to do something that felt like it was coming from our heart, and we felt like music was the way to do it.”

The emotional tribute to her grandfathers was seen by Loitz, who then reached out to talk to the young singer about making music together.

Alexander initially thought, “no, this can’t be real”. But a few “long” Zoom calls later, the pair were discussing a new project - and they’ve now signed a deal with a label that will see Alexander travel to Europe to work, live and record.

For Alexander, who finished her Bachelor of Music at the University of Auckland in March this year, the most exciting part of this opportunity was the chance to have the time to sit down and make music in a studio.

“When you’re a young student, you try and save this money on the side as well as all your costs to get in studio, and you can be in there in an hour and then you’ve got to get back out,” she notes.

Tayla Alexander finished her Bachelor of Music with first-class honours at the University of Auckland in March this year. Photo / Greg Bowker

“So to have the chance to actually do that, it’s huge. And I think it speaks volumes to the fact that often you just have to keep going, and it will work out. I felt really just excited and blown away that it had come from a video that we did in our study.”

Alexander and her family immigrated to New Zealand from South Africa when she was 1 year old - she recalls singing the national anthem at her kindy when she was just 4.

“My parents were actually quite surprised because apparently they didn’t know that I was even going to be singing because I was just so relaxed about it,” she laughs.

Since then she’s performed around New Zealand, including as a studio artist with the New Zealand Opera, sung with SOL3MIO at Spark Arena, trained at the Auckland Opera Studio and earned her degree in music - and she hopes her story can “give a little bit of hope to other artists who are trying so hard to break through and to make a way, especially in a post-Covid world”.

But for Alexander, “the adventure is starting now”.

“If I’m being totally honest, the last two years have been the busiest and the craziest of my life ... but it’s also been the most challenging two years, having had two very large losses and two funerals and it’s been really hard to keep going,” she admits.

Tayla Alexander has been singing since she was little, and recalls singing the national anthem at kindy when she was just four years old. Photo / Supplied

“But I sort of used the fact that my Oupa and my Grandad loved music and came to every concert that they could, and brought their hearing aids and their walking sticks and they were always there, to be like, ‘actually, I can keep going and I’m going to do this, but I’m going to do it for them’.”

Her family have always “hoped and dreamed” that she would find a way to turn her love of music into a career - and now they “can’t believe it”, she says.

“It’s such a hard thing to try and get into, especially in the classical world, because it takes so long. But I know they just feel pure joy and excitement ... so I think I just want to take, you know, the opportunity that I’m being given and soak it all up.”

Loitz says of Alexander, “Tayla’s talent gives us the chance to position her broadly in the creative field, and she has a versatility that has not yet been fully explored.

“She is now at a stage in her career where it is important to spread her wings and place herself in different areas of music. We want to create a musical ‘fingerprint’, a sound that is universal and can still be heard in 50 years.”

An important part of that is experiencing cultures “outside the usual tourist destinations”, he adds.

“[It] leaves an impression on the artist that helps develop their universal sound and create beautiful demo recordings.”

Alexander lists the iconic Dame Kiri Te Kanawa among her Kiwi musical inspirations.

“She’s been a great support of mine - I’ve had some training and masterclasses from her and her whole team have taken a real initiative to support me.”

And she can’t help but be “really inspired” by Hayley Westenra, who “took her classical training and made it really something that everyone could understand”.

Just like Westenra, Alexander wants to “create a sound that makes classical music accessible”.

“I want to create music that everyone can love and everyone can understand. Like, you look at Michael Buble, Norah Jones, Eva Cassidy, all these people who make timeless music that everyone can love.”

Bethany Reitsma is an Auckland-based journalist covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2019. She specialises in lifestyle human interest stories, foodie hacks (what can’t you air fry?!) and anything even remotely related to coffee.