Cecily Shaw - New Zealander Opera Singer and advocate

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An opera singer on the autism spectrum is celebrating neurodiverse artists in a series of Manawatū performances.

Cecily Shaw, 27, is a mezzo-soprano and will sing music by artists who are neurodiverse or suspected to be, like Mozart and the character Clara from the musical Light in the Piazza.

She recently graduated with a Master’s of Music from the University of Waikato where she studied the experiences of neurodiverse musicians.

Shaw interviewed a group of these musicians for her thesis and said it had allowed her to discover things about herself.

She said she also discovered a system which made things hard for neurodiverse people.

Probably the main thing would be that there is this belief that artists are superhuman and can go forever and don’t have feelings.

Her goal is to continue performing before eventually ending up in the United Kingdom to study opera.

haw will perform a range of styles from opera, oratorio and art songs, to comedy and original songs. These will be performed on a ukulele in Palmerston North at 2pm onJanuary 29 at the Evelyn Rawlins Room in Square Edge.

Shaw will also perform in Marton on January 28 at St Stephen’s Church, and at the Jane Winstone Chapel in Whanganui on January 30.

She will be accompanied by pianist Guy Donaldson. Tickets are $25 and can be bought at the door.