Aged just two Della was on tiptoe by the piano picking out the melody with one tiny finger.
"Of course my piano lessons began not too long after that."
As one of the two international tutors at the New Zealand Opera School Della is thrilled to be in New Zealand for the first time.
Last year she had to pull out of her visit to Whanganui after a bad fall.
"It was so awful - I was so bruised so I couldn't possibly fly. But here I am at last and I was told I would suffer from Jet lag. I certainly have not I'm feeling just fine."
Della lives in Surrey, in the south of England, and teaches at the National Opera School in London as well as coaching private pupils.
Della is a positive force there's no glass half empty or negative thoughts.
"Life is just too short," she smiles.
Remembering her childhood in Wales, Della said she performed her first solo singing recital in church.
"It was the beginning of singing every week in church. There was singing and music all the time in our family. Always singing around around the piano at family gatherings - it was always beautiful."
In the meantime, Della was also studying piano, she passed her Grade 8 exam with distinction at 11 years old.
At 18 she went to the Royal College of Music, where she won the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Vocal Scholarship and later in Geneva, she made her professional debut in 1970, as Feodor in Boris Godunov and Olga in Eugene Onegin.
"Even though I could have left home in Wales at 16 I'm pleased my parents didn't want me to and they were right - I was far too young to be on my own living in London.
"Socially I would have been hopeless as I had been very sheltered."
As well as singing and the piano Della also played the clarinet.
"I so loved it but in the end I had to choose, and I chose singing. Honestly, on the clarinet I'd sometimes sound like Queens Elizabeth 11 docking."
When she joined English National Opera in 1977 she created the role of Dolly in Iain Hamilton's Anna Karenina in 1981, then the Royal Opera House in 1983, and performed the role throughout Europe and the United States.
She's sad she can't stay on after the school closes.
"It's unfortunate but I have students waiting for me to return. So it's back to work for me."
However being here for nearly two weeks delights her, she said.
"Everyone is so nice and this such a pretty place to be."