A gong a milestone birthday and a family performance at Te Manawa
Kathi Craig (MNZM) performed New Beginnings with daughter Marla Kavanaugh and Marla’s husband Daniel Rodriguez at Te Manawa Art Gallery on Sunday.
The US-based Kavanaugh and Rodriguez arrived in New Zealand in time for Craig’s investiture at Government House, and a milestone birthday last Saturday.
They did, however, quarantine for the mandatory two weeks prior to arriving in Palmerston North.
With many US states in lockdown, Kavanaugh and Rodriguez livestreamed concerts from their home in Sierra Madre, California.
Rodriguez was a serving New York cop based at Ground Zero on 9/11.
He was also the official NYPD soloist and sang at the funerals of over 100 police and fire brigade members who perished in the terrorist attacks.
For his service, he was chosen by President George W Bush to sing to the American nation at the Yankee Stadium following 9/11.
Trained by Placido Domingo, Rodriguez shared the stage with his teacher at the service.
The duo, accompanied by Roger Buchanan, sang the duets Because
We Believe, The Prayer and Time To Say Goodbye and will include operatic soprano, Kathi Craig, in the trio Nella Fantasia from the movie, The Mission.
Craig’s songs included There’s No One Like You, Climb Every Mountain, Let It Be Me, My Heart Will Go On from Titanic, Somewhere from West Side Story with Rodriguez, and the Mozart
duet, Sull’aria, which featured in The Shawshank Redemption.
Kavanaugh’s repertoire feature Rejoice, Think of Me from Phantom, The Lord’s Prayer and Requiem For A Soldier with Vicki Lee. Rodriguez will sing This Is The Moment from Jekyll And Hyde, You Raise Me Up, Danny Boy and My Way, made famous by Frank Sinatra.
The Art Gallery, which seats 100, has been a favourite venue for the family due to its acoustics and provides an intimate concert setting.