I knew her because I listened to opera.

Great voices can come from anywhere. We may try to simplify by categorizing: Tenors come from Italy, Wagnerian sopranos are Scandinavian, Basses are Russian.

But singers travel the world. They appear in cities with opera houses and create sensations.

Hushed reverential whispers about Callas and the Lisbon Traviata.

Jussi Bjoerling whose last performance was in San Francisco.

Caruso who came from Italy and conquered New York.

The ear can be awakened. I remember, at Marshall Fundamental Secondary School where I taught English, a fellow teacher rushed up to me and gushed, “Have you heard about this new tenor, Pavarotti? He sings this song, “Nessun dorma,” and now you hear it everywhere!”

I said, “Yes.”

And Kiri Te Kanawa. New Zealand.

Near by, in Australia, there was Joan Sutherland, La Stupenda, who sang the world.

It takes a world event for a voice to reach the masses. For the Three Tenors, it was the Olympics.

The Wedding of the Century, Prince Charles and Lady Diana, gave us Kiri Te Kanawa.

Millions, who had never heard real singing, said, “Who is this voice?”

The strong, clear, rich, flexible voice that has been described as “mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced.” The great Kiri Te Kanawa sang Handel’s “Let the Bright Seraphim” and millions cried out, “I never heard anything like it! I never knew. I want more!”

She had already made an impact. In the Oscar winning movie, The Year of Living Dangerously, hers was the voice that soared in Strauss’ Four Last Songs, Number 3, “Beim Schlafengehen.”

Even Steven Colbert referred to her as “New Zealand’s Greatest Musician.”