13 year old Takapuna Grammar student Janayah Wadsworth is a very worthy recipient of an AIMES Junior Excellence Award. Her passion is singing and she loves to perform.

It was noticed at a very early age that Janayah had a very specific talent that shone through – a passion for singing and the love of performing.
Singing and performing is all she has ever wanted to do and most of her time outside of school hours is spent perfecting her craft. Janayah works extremely hard at honing her skills and has been having vocal lessons with legendary singer and vocal coach Suzanne Lynch since she was nine years old. Suzanne has also been a wonderful mentor, always encouraging her in her dream to have a successful future in the entertainment industry.
Janayah has also had two years of piano tuition, has taught herself to play the guitar and is starting to develop her songwriting skills.
In 2017 and 2018 Janayah has achieved a great deal:- Closing the Global Speakers Summit held in Auckland at Sky City, singing ‘We Are the World’ Acappella; Invited to perform as a guest soloist at the We Are One Concert in April 2018 a concert celebrating diversity and put together by Mike Chun from Play It Strange and also featuring Dave Dobbyn and Suzanne Lynch – singing the anthemic song ‘This is Me’ from the musical film The Greatest Showman with a live band and backing vocalists; Singing live on TV on‘What Now’, singing ‘What About Us’ by PINK; Winning Belmont Intermediate School BIS IDOL 2017 – the only student to win this competition two years in a row; Performed as a soloist at the 2017 APPA Music Festival at the Auckland Town Hall – the third consecutive year she had been asked to perform and this time round she was honoured to sing a duet with Suzanne Lynch – singing River Deep Mountain High with the backing of a 500 strong kids choir and the leadership of conductor Marian Burns; A leading support role in the Belmont Intermediate production of Shrek Junior in September 2017, playing the role of Dragon because of the ‘big’ song that Dragon has to sing because of her strong voice and vocal range; The lead vocalist in her school rock band ‘Neon Flame’ through 2017, performing at North Shore Band Quest in June 2017 and at Devonstock in November 2017. They went into the recording studio in November 2017 to record their original song ‘In the Cold’; Performed a 15 minute set at Devonport Christmas in the Park in December 2017, singing a range of her repertoire including popular Christmas songs; Invited to close the Samoa Tourism Exchange at the Gala Evening in Samoa, singing the theme song from the movie ‘Moana’ to over 200 travel industry people;
Janayah has also enjoyed involvement in a variety of musical theatre:- Being a lead in the musical Aladdin Junior with Belmont Primary at the Rose Centre Theatre in 2014; ‘Celebrating the Musical’ in November 2014 and ‘Move It’ July 2015 with North Shore Musical Theatre; In 2016 she was a member of the child cast of ‘Evita’ at the Bruce Mason Theatre; Performed as a guest solo artist with the Royal New Zealand Navy Band at the Bruce Mason Theatre; Featured in a Sticky TV segment on Channel Four, called ‘Your Thing’ which showcased her singing and was also involved in the recording of a new theme song for TVNZs Kids Zone.
Janayah has also been an active member of her school choir, was leader in the Kapa Haka group and has continued her busking to great result at the Takapuna Markets and Devonport.
She is currently rehearsing with the 2018 Broadway Squad at Takapuna Grammar School. They will be performing ‘Seussical the Musical’ in November and she has secured the role of the Sour Kangaroo;
Janayah details her future aspirations. “My dream is to go to a school specifically for performing arts at 16 years old, but this can be a costly exercise and it may mean I have to move overseas for a few years. I am focussed on being able to make a living out of doing what I love and this is my ultimate goal. Being a vocalist means that I need to promote myself and my music through digital media. I would love to start recording and this can be a costly exercise with booking studio time and production. Any money I receive from the North Harbour Club AIMES Awards would fund my development as an artist such as the purchase of equipment for recording and performing including a top quality microphone, recording system/software, studio time and also help towards my dream of attending a performing arts school."

Janayah Wadsworth receives the Junior Excellence Award from the North Harbour Club – sponsored by Library Lane and NZ Force Construction – including a cash grant of $3,000.