Clara van Wel
Solo musician, 14
Blenheim
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Clara is in year 11 (a year ahead of her peer group) at
Marlborough Girls College where she is a stand-out student.
In July of this year she beat 291 other students to win a local
science fair with an innovative hydroponic experiment examining how
much influence light wattage has on lettuce growth. The answer is -
lots!
In addition to excelling academically, the teenager is also
fervent about music. She's been singing since she was a toddler,
playing the acoustic guitar since the age of 10, is a dab hand on
the ukulele, and a prolific songwriter.
Clara, whose nana is an orchestral pianist, already boasts a
catalogue of about 50 original tracks drawing her inspiration from
the many books, both fiction and fantasy, that she loves to devour
in her spare time.
She idolises Bic Runga, Hayley Westenra (the first CD she ever
got) and Gin Wigmore, whom she says she had the huge privilege of
opening for at this year's Classic Hits Winery Tour in
Marlborough.
In June she went on to win the Marlborough Smokefree Rockquest for
the second year running.
Ever sensible, if she wins NZGT she insists shell leave the
jackpot in the bank until she graduates and embarks on her dream of
a full-time career in music.
"I think the music I write is really special and different. It
comes from the heart and I'm totally committed," she says. "I have
my own style and to be able to share that is a beautiful
thing."
