Support Calla to study at Guildhall

Kia ora koutou! 

My name is Calla Knudson-Hollebon and I'm a coloratura soprano and composer from Ōtepoti Dunedin. I am incredibly lucky to have been offered a position in the Masters in Vocal Performance programme at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London starting in September 2025 —only a handful of positions are awarded worldwide each year.

London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama ranks among the world’s elite conservatoires, counted by QS as the UK’s top music institution.

Your contribution will help me to cover the first instalment of tuition fees for study due in September, allowing me to refine my craft under Guildhall’s legendary faculty and bring that excellence home back home to inspire Aotearoa New Zealand. 

About me 
I am a high coloratura soprano with a first-class honours degree in performance voice and music production. 

Since graduating in 2022 I have spent the last two years actively recording and performing across Aotearoa New Zealand.  

I have released two self-produced albums with a third studio album on the way. In 2022, I received the Dame Malvina Major South Island Arts Excellence Award, and in 2023 received funding from the New Zealand Music Commission to undergo a national tour of 13 centres across the country. I was selected as an Emerging Artist for the 2023 Queenstown LUMA Arts Festival and a sound artist for LUMA in 2024, as well as for the 2022 APRA AMCOS Songhubs and for the 2023 APRA Mentorship Programme. I have appeared as a soprano soloist for the Southern Consort of Voices, Invercargill Symphonia & Chorus, Hamilton Cantando Choir, Opera Otago, and City Choir Dunedin. Recent music and arts festivals I have performed at include at Twisted Frequency, Circulation, Burning Horse, Earth Beat, Taniwha’s Den, Music For People, Dunedin Midwinter Carnival, Whare Flat Folk Festival, and Puaka Matariki. This year, I was a professional mermaid (and lead musician) in Auckland Theatre Company & Nightsong’s production of Peter Pan.

An alumnus of the New Zealand Opera School, I was also a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar between 2016-2018 for Voice at Waikato University, studying under legendary Dame Malvina Major where I was a winner of the 2017 Douglas Lilburn Composition Competition. Other notable vocal teachers who have had a huge impact on my vocal development include Anna Leese, Rebecca Ryan, and Isabel Cunningham.
 

How will your support make a difference?

• All funds raised from this campaign will be put towards tuition fees for my Masters degree
• Boosted takes 10% of these funds as commission, and I also will only receive the funds raised if we reach the funding target of $25,000!

If you are not in a position to donate funds, I would also hugely appreciate your support in spreading the word about this campaign! 

My purpose is to sing and to heal others through music and I'm completely devoted to this pathway.

London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama ranks among the world’s elite conservatoires, counted by QS as the UK’s top music institution. The opportunity to be tutored by world-leading coaches would be invaluable for me and the quality of music I would be able to share with others.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a deep dive and explore true mastery of the voice to increase my impact through music.
 

I seamlessly blend classical virtuosity with fearless contemporary artistry. I'm a singer and composer with immense drive and passion, and this once in a lifetime opportunity would make a world of difference for my future career.