She has sung for the likes of US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair and performed in some of the world's finest music halls. She is renown as one of the world's best female vocalists with an album that has sold 2 million copies.
But teen sensation Hayley Westenra almost failed her school's music class.
She received her disappointing grade two years ago, about the same time she released Pure - her international debut album that went straight to No1 on Britain's classical charts and reached No8 on the pop album charts.
'There was an assignment that I had to perform as part of a choir. But I was away for that performance, so it lowered my mark,' said the 18-year-old New Zealander, who recently visited Hong Kong to promote her latest album, Odyssey.
'It is a little bit frustrating to know that if I had a few more spare moments, I would have got better grades. But you have to make sacrifices in life. And this opportunity - to release albums and perform overseas - outweighs [the sacrifices].'
Westenra's busy schedule means that going to university is currently not on the agenda.
