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Dunedin singer Claire Barton won the Sealord Aria competition in Nelson on Saturday night.
She won a $3000 prize and the chance to sing alongside opera diva Dame Kiri Te Kanawa at the Sealord Opera in the Park in Nelson in February,
Her "near faultless" performances of Rossini's Cruda Sorte and the Chanson Bohemienne from Bizet's Carmen made her a deserving winner, adjudicator Marie Landis said.
"Her execution was near perfect, as was her musicianship and her diction," Ms Landis said.
"Her Italian in the first aria and her French in the second were both excellent and she gave a complete portrayal of her characters."
Barton is completing her masters degree in music at Otago and plans to go overseas in the middle of next year.
Hadleigh Adams, who is studying for his masters at Victoria University of Wellington, took second place in the competition, winning $500.
- NZPA
