Bringing joy to Tairawhiti

GISBORNE DEBUT: Vili Moore will perform in Gisborne for the first time this Sunday. Picture supplied

Hawke's Bay-based tenor Vili Moore is looking forward to singing at the Tairawhiti Museum for the first time this Sunday.

Drawing on his Pasifika musical heritage and the nurturing and training he received with the Prima Volta programme in Napier, Moore is now studying with Margaret Medlyn at the New Zealand School of Music.

He will present a programme of favourite songs and operatic selections accompanied by prize-winning pianist Otis Prescott-Mason.

The pair will perform at Tairawhiti Museum at 2pm on Sunday.

“I am not actually familiar with the venue as I haven't been to Gisborne before but I have listened to other people's recordings from the venue and it sounds as if the acoustics or reverb of the building's structure make for an ideal performance space,” Moore told The Herald.

The one-hour performance is based around joy and love.

“My pieces are mostly centred around happy occasions.

There is a broad range of pieces from musical theatre through to English art songs in a range of languages including Italian, German and English.

“One of the most significant and well-known pieces I will perform is Maria from Leonard Bernstein's award-winning theatre show West Side Story.

“It is a world-renowned tune about the beauty of just one name, Maria. The style of the composition is quite literally beautiful chaos, it is the personification of bittersweet.”

Sunday Afternoon Concert. Vili Moore (tenor) with Otis Prescott-Mason (piano) perform at Tairawhiti Museum, Sunday, 2pm. Entry $10 for adults, $5 for Friends of the Museum, and free for students (with ID) and children.