its European premiere, with Leese as a soloist, at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford in June 2018. In 2019 Leese and the Tākiri Ensemble performed singer-songwriter Bic Runga's first classical composition. The same year she performed as the Governess in Britten's The Turn of the Screw in Auckland. In 2021 Leese and tenor Simon O'Neill performed together with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra. Leese teaches voice at the University of Otago. Awards Leese won the Mobil Song Quest (later the Lexus Song Quest) in 2002 and the MacDonald's Aria Scholarship at the Sydney Opera House in 2003. She received a New Generation Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation in 2010. Personal life Leese married Italian winemaker Stefano Guidi in 2014 and the couple returned to live in New Zealand. In 2016 just before the birth of their first child Guidi was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. In 2020 the couple had their second child, who was born during the Covid-19 lockdown. They live in Dunedin. A variety of rose has been named after Leese. References External links Anna Leese official site Anna Leese at the Linari Classic Festival BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competitor: Anna Leese, 2011 Anna Leese. SOUNZ 1981 births Living people New Zealand operatic sopranos University of Otago alumni 21st-century New Zealand women opera singers People from Woodville, New Zealand