Kaine Hayward is emerging as one of Europe’s most effective and unique vocal instructors. His students have performed worldwide as soloists at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Arena di Verona, Teatro Filarmonico Verona, Teatro Verdi di Padova, Magyar Állami Operaház (Budapest), Theater Kiel, Theater Bremen, Deutsches Nationaltheater (Weimar), Meininger Staatstheater, Theater Altenburg-Gera, Staatstheater Cottbus, Theater Freiberg, Navoi Opera Theater (Tashkent), Volksoperan Stockholm, Grand Theatre Łódź, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Opera Australia (Sydney), Pinchgut Opera (Sydney), English National Opera (London), and Regents Opera (London). Kaine was engaged as a coach and vocal instructor at the Lyric Opera Studio Weimar in 2023 and will co-found a summer academy close to Berlin in summer 2024.
Kaine is an expert at building voices from scratch, reconstructing severely damaged voices, fixing wobbles, guiding Fach changes, making advanced technical refinements and correcting long-standing issues with resonance, registration, range and diction. He especially loves to work with singers experiencing obscure and persistent technical problems which no one else seems to be able to solve. Kaine’s method reconciles traditional Italian technical ideas with a modern understanding of muscular function and acoustics.
Kaine was born in Sydney, Australia. He trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and subsequently studied with Jack LiVigni in New York.
He has sung as a tenor soloist with Opera Australia and many other Australian companies, including numerous international performances throughout Asia. His operatic roles have included Don José (Carmen), Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Rodolfo (La Boheme), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Pang (Turandot) and Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia).
As a pianist, he has worked extensively with singers, as well as for companies including the Australian Ballet, the Sydney Dance Company, the Paris Opera Ballet and Theater Altenburg-Gera.