Shy singing busker wows crowds Ramonda Taleni uses her voice to overcome shyness, stopping shoppers in Brisbane's Queen street mall, singing opera classics to intrigued on-lookers She regularly fills the Queen Street Mall with arias, but Ramonda Taleni is no publicity-hungry opera diva. Brisbane's shy soprano proved tricky to track down; eventually responding to our questions about how she came to busking via email. Here is Ramonda's story, in her own words. I was born in New Zealand. I first came to Australia when I was two years old and spent about eight months in Darwin. I have a lot of family in Australia, both Kiwis and Australians, and I enjoy the climate. I started piano lessons when I was seven and studied for about 10 years. I was quite shy in high school and always sang in the choir. I had my first vocal lesson in my final year of high school and my teacher encouraged me to sing jazz, which I enjoyed. Up until then, I had loved playing piano music by composers like Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven, and still do. Singing came a lot more naturally to me and I learnt a whole new repertoire in both jazz and later opera. I found my first real opera/vocal coach in Brisbane. I studied privately with Raymond Connell for a year and a half, whilst also singing in my own jazz trio. Raymond went on to be Professor of Music at the Royal Academy of Music in London. With some excellent guidance from him and a few other people, I've learnt a lot about my voice, and to take risks. My biggest influence is life. I took up busking as a challenge when I was in Germany, about seven years ago. It was my second journey to Europe, in six months, when I first visited London to see Raymond. After an invitation to sing in Wales, I went to meet a friend in Germany and one thing led to another, and I found myself in some small idyllic German village, singing to passers-by in Maori and Italian. It was an epiphany. Through voice and the power of music, I found myself singing in many pleasant and historical places. Since my piano days, I always had a desire to see Europe. I never dreamed I'd see it this way, and it showed me how life really is an adventure. I found that by trusting in the unknown and taking risks, I became more aware as a person, and a singer. Through music, and doing what I love, singing has given me a lot of joy and courage to experience life in many incarnations. I started busking in Brisbane about four years ago. The book I hold has lyrics to songs I sing in it. Reactions are as varied as there are people. I can't complain. To put it simply, I sing, whether it's in the Valley or at the Sydney Opera House. I have a love of nature, so singing outdoors feels natural to me, and indoor spaces have their own charm. I also enjoy the freedom of travelling. Busking has been an important part of the journey. It's enabled me to be in places I love and not previously imagined getting to know as well as I have. Florence, Italy, is a place I feel at home. I have stayed there for extended periods of time over the past 7 years. Before that, I knew barely anything about Renaissance art. As well as being a place of enlightenment for the origins of classical music and opera, Florence was also home to great Renaissance artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Puccini was from Tuscany, and I find his melodies a joy to inhabit. The mere fact that opera brought me to Italy is 'reward' in itself. I feel completely at home in a place where I have no actual roots. My voice would generally be called soprano; or lirico spinto in opera terms. To me, it means I sing songs/arias I love. I also sing mezzo soprano arias like from Carmen and jazz standards in the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. There is a composer in New Zealand, Gillian Whitehead, who has written several songs/waiata for my voice. As I see it, the sounds I make, are intimately connected to New Zealand/Aotearoa Nature/Wairua.