The shy schoolgirl sang Mabel in the Pirates of Penzance, the magic of composers Gilbert and Sullivan and the motivation of her Year 6 music teacher, Edgar Hill, combining to inspire a deep love of singing for the gifted 11-year-old — one that changed her life, forever.

That passion set her up for a lifetime on the world stage, travelling to London to study voice as a young adult and fast fulfilling her dreams of becoming one of the country’s most popular sopranos, and a global singing sensation.

“But it all started here, on this very stage,” Ms Kenny told the North Shore Times. “It was so special to be back in the assembly hall where I stood back in 1962. My teacher Edgar Hill auditioned me to be part of these operettas, and I remember him saying to me ‘you have a very pretty voice’. That started my singing life.”

Growing up on Northbridge’s Sailors Bay Rd, Kenny could always sing difficult music “quite naturally”, but only ever considered her gift a hobby.

She went off to Willoughby Girls High School after finishing at Northbridge in 1962, where she sang in choirs, vocal ensembles and competed in Eisteddfods.

“I remember as a teenager performing in the old Willoughby Town Hall,” she said.

But it wasn’t until she went off to university to study science that she decided to do singing lessons.

Her teacher at the Conservatorium of Music was Myra Lambert, a Chatswood woman who introduced Kenny to opera music for the first time.

“I sang at home but wasn’t really aware of it — school was when it really started for me, and even then I never thought it could be a career.

“I thought I’d love to sing folk songs or musical comedy shows, or be in musicals…but it was through those three years at university, having lessons and doing singing competitions part-time, that I realised I wanted to be a singer.

“Myra has passed on now, but she introduced me to opera.”

Now fully aware of her talent, Ms Kenny left for London to study voice and try her hand at making it as a singer. And she did.

Her professional debut was in a concert performance at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, in the title role of Donizetti’s Rosmonda d’Inghilterra.

By all accounts it was certainly a textbook showbiz “lucky break” — the soprano scheduled to sing had to cancel and Kenny, her understudy, was given four days to learn the part in this little known opera.

This gained her rave reviews and led to her being engaged by Covent Garden.

“It was a big success and someone from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden was in the audience.

“As a result I was invited to audition for ROH and was accepted as a company soprano, where I remained from 1975 to 1996,” she said.

“It was incredibly hard work and demanding, particularly in the beginning – constant travel, studying roles, always in demand - but also very exciting.”

Soon she was singing in major houses around the world, including the likes of La Scala in Milan, Opera de Paris, the English National Opera, as well as Zurich, Berlin and Munich.

She has also appeared regularly on the concert platform including the Edinburgh and Aix-En-Provence festivals, BBC Promenade concerts at New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore, Festival and Royal Albert halls, and famously, singing the Olympic Anthem at the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 for services to music and conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Music by the University of Sydney in 1999.

Locally, she has sung with the Australian Brandenberg Orchestra, completed national tours for Musica Viva and the Australian Chamber Orchestra as well as guest appearances with all the symphony orchestras, with Opera Australia, and Twilight at Taronga concerts. A proud patron of the Chatswood Concourse, she also performed at the gala opening of the arts precinct in 2011. She declared how thrilled she was that the arts and cultural centre continues to be the focus of building a “heart and soul” for the north shore.

“Those early beginnings were the seed of an international career — my love of performing began there.”

She now teaches in London, but spends four months of the year here in Australia, in her lower north shore apartment, enjoying her time with family and friends.

While not having children or a partner of her own, Kenny said she was incredibly close to her older brother Gordon’s children and their offspring, spending a lot of time with the youngsters on every Sydney visit.

Even though London calls for most of the year, Ms Kenny said she feels like the lower north shore will always be home.

“I feel absolutely at home here,” she confided.

“I love the fact that it is very convenient for getting everywhere and I love going shopping in Northbridge.

“I always walk around Anderson Park down to the water and back again — it’s a beautiful place to live and we are so fortunate to live here.

“Northbridge is still basically the same structure — a lot of the houses have changed from bungalows to two storeys, but it’s still very similar to how it was.

“I just love being part of the community here.”

MEETING NEXT GEN OF BUDDING MUSICIANS

Yvonne Kenny likes nothing more than talking about music with young people. Last week, she relished the opportunity to meet the next generation of budding musicians at her old school, Northbridge Public, where the famed soprano’s musical journey began.

She said she hoped pupils saw that music could be a career, not just a hobby, and she felt buoyed by schools such as Northbridge putting so much emphasis on encouraging that.

“It’s wonderful — I asked them who played an instrument and all these hands shot up,” she said.

“I was so impressed by that because there was so much emphasis on music which I was delighted to see. I worry that music drops away if there is not a dedicated music teacher.

“I had the opportunity to tell them that I discovered right here on this stage that I had this very special ability to sing, and everyone was quite surprised by that,” she said. “You just never know where life will take you. I told them that we all love playing sport and being in a team, and music can be the same, working together as one.

“I want them to really love the music, and enjoy performing it. To young people today, I would say follow your instincts about it, and if you have enough talent, things can work out. If you do what’s in your heart, you will be happy.

“In a world where everyone is worried about the economy and money, it’s lovely to have music which is life enhancing and joyful. I have always been prepared to follow my star — and have had a very different life as a result. I am a very fortunate person to have made a career doing what I love the most — music and singing.”

Ms Kenny said she found her visit to Northbridge “incredibly rewarding”.

“The children were full of interesting questions for me, and were perfectly mannered, articulate, full of fun, warmth and curiosity and clearly just loving their music,” she said.

“All my family have been through Northbridge Public School — all my nieces and nephews and their children — generations, the whole family.”