Julia is on song for top competition

Julia Booth has been in good voice this week.

She's had good reason to be the 25-year-old Hamilton soprano has been named as one of the finalists in this year's Lexus Song Quest, the most prestigious singing competition in New Zealand.

The competition was previously known at the Mobil Song Quest and winners have included some of New Zealand's finest opera singers: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Malvina Major, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Jonathan Lemalu.

"It's been quite exciting and very unexpected," Mrs Booth said. "To be among the list of former winners would be the most prestigious thing, an honour and a huge platform to launch myself from."

Along with the prestige, the reward for the winner is huge and each of the top three finalists wins cash and a study scholarship worth $53,000.

"Financially, it would open a lot of doors if I won it," she said.

Mrs Booth, a music teacher at St Peter's School in Cambridge, won the country's biggest competition for emerging classical singers in November last year, the New Zealand Aria Competition.

She and Christchurch's Kristen Darragh are the only New Zealand-based finalists. A strong overseas contingent of Wade Kernot and Andrew Glover (both London-based), and Perth's Aivale Cole round out the finalists.

The final concert will take place at Auckland Town Hall on April 23 where the finalists will perform with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.