New Zealander Simon O'Neill wins Grammy for Best Choral Performance

New Zealand tenor Simon O'Neill has won a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.

O'Neill was among those nominated for the Los Angeles Philharmonic recording of Mahler's Symphony No 8.

He has tweeted that he is 'over the moon' at the performance's win.

The recording, on which he sang the role of Dr Marianus, was also nominated in the Best Engineered Album, Classical category.

O'Neill was one of eight vocal soloists in the aptly-nicknamed 'Symphony of a Thousand' - the work calls for massed choirs and a large orchestra - with 346 musicians taking part in the recording.

In a statement, the Ashburton-raised opera singer said it was a "tremendous honour" to have been invited to contribute to the recording.

"I feel thrilled for all my colleagues, these awards recognise the amazing skill and artistry of the production team as well as the tremendous assembled cast of artists. The entire experience was a privilege to be part of and will remain a personal career highlight."

Described in the Telegraph as "the best heroic tenor to emerge over the last decade", O'Neill is the most internationally recognised New Zealand opera singer since Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Sir Donald McIntyre.

He told Morning Report last year that he was "really thrilled" to hear the album had been nominated and was extremely proud of the recording, which was recorded at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in 2019.

O'Neill's singing career began as a chorister in the New Zealand Secondary Students' Choir, of which he is now patron, and continued with the award-winning New Zealand Youth Choir, he said at the time.

"So get a choral nomination for the work is a great thrill."

RNZ