The year is already looking busy for the Te Wharekura ō Ngāti Rongomai student.
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He tamāhine Māori whakahīhī a Matahiapo- Waimarie Mawell. Me he korokoro tūī ! Me te tini hoki o āna mahi kai te aroaro o te tauhou nei. Ko tana tūnga whakangāhau tuatahi mō te tau kai te pā taunaha o Rātana āte Hānuere te rua tekau mā rima o tēnei marama tonu. He kaupapa whakamaumahara i a Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana te Poutokomanawa o te hāhi. Kotahi tekau mā whā noa te pakeke o tēnei tamāhine. Kai te whrarekura ō Ngāti Rongomai hoki a Matahiapo e ako tonu ana. Ko tana tū i Rātana hai amo i a Tyree Wall, tētehi manu tīoriori nō Taupō. Kia ahatia. Ko te whakanui i te timatatanga o te hāhi Rātana nō te tau kotahi mano e iwa e rua tekau te tau te kaupapa whakakotahi i ngā tini kanohi o te whenua.
Ā te tuaono o Pepuere ka tū anō tēnei manu korohī ki te pā taunaha o Ōhinemutu. Ko Whakanuia te kaupapa o tēnei rangi. Ki a ia tēnei rā whakaharahara nā tana wikitoriatanga i te kaupapa Blues & BBQ huinga ā rangatahi i tū i te marama o Noema kua pahemo. Nō Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngati Tai a Matahiapo.
Tērā tētehi taha ōna nō Hawai’i. Ā, kua roa a Matahiapo e waiata ana, nōna e iwa noa te pakeke. E ai ki tōna kuia ki a Taongahuia Maxwell, he tokowhitu ngā pou waiata e tū nei hai whetū pīata mōna.
Ko te ao waiata apakura, tangi mōteatea tōna ao mariu, ko ōna manu whakahirahira ko Etta James, ko Sam Cook tae noa ki a Tom Jones me Billie Eillish.
“Nō tōna wairua pono e hīnawanawa katoa ai te tapeha tangata nō rātau e whakarongohia nā ki tāna kawe i te waiata a Billie Eillish, No time to die – warea kau ngā wairua o te hunga whakarongo ki a ia haurangi ana ngā pihapiha!”
He tokomaha noa atu ngā kokonga o te ao ka kitea a Matahiapo e korikori ana , e tukituki ana, ko te nuinga o ngā kaupapa he waiata rōreka, he kani hipihope.
Matahiapo-Waimarie Maxwell favours music by soul and blues musicians. Photo / Supplied
I whai tūnga a Matahiapo ki te whakakitenga ātamira kātahi nei ka oti, ā, ko The Colour Purple taua whakakitenga nā. Ka rua, ko ia te rangatahi o ngā mema katoa i tū ki te whakangāhau atu ki te hunga mātakitaki.
Engari mō te wā iti nei, e pai ki a ia kia whakairia tēnei kakahu ki te pātū, e mea nei ia, kāore ia e tino rata ana ki te tono tūnga ātamira mahi anō.
I whānau a Matahiapo i Rotorua, engari he kaha hoki nō te whānau ki te hoki hoki ki Te Nehenehenui ki reira whakanā ai otīā ki te whakakaha anō hoki ngā herenga whakapapa ki ngā tini whānaunga o te takiwā nā. Nō te kawenga o te huringa tau o te pā o Te Kūiti ki te kotahi mano e rima tekau o ngā tau, koia tēnei te wā whakamutunga i noho ai te whānau ki tō rātou whenua kura. Ka waiatangia ōna kaumātua i tētehi hākari whakaharahara. Nā te huhua o āna kaupapa waiata mō te tau nei me tini ngerongero āna kame e eke ai ia ki tana pae tiketike, nō reira te kaupapa mātua mō te tau hou, he penapena pūtea ki a ea ai ēnei pōraruraru itiiti nei.
— Raimona Inia
Matahiapo-Waimarie Maxwell is young, proud, and Māori. Wow, can she sing. The year is already looking busy for the Te Wharekura ō Ngāti Rongomai student.
It opens with her on a national stage at Rātana Pā. The celebrations of the founding of the movement by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana are held annually on January 25.
Matahiapo, 14, will be a support act for Taupo musician Tyree Wall on the Rātana Pā Morehu Stage for the event. The celebrations mark the founding of the Ratana religious movement in the early 20th century. The movement became political in the 1920s.
Then, on February 6, Matahiapo will feature at the Waitangi Day Whakanuia at Ohinemutu. She won that gig by winning the best vocalist section of the Blues & BBQ festival Youth competition in November.
Matahiapo, who is of Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tai and Hawaiian descent, has been singing in public since she was nine years old.
Her kuia, Taongahuia Maxwell, says Matahiapo has several major musical influences. She favours blues and soul, with a wide range of artists from Etta James and Sam Cook to Tom Jones and Billie Eillish.
“Her haunting rendition of Eillish’s No Time to Die leaves listeners mesmerised.”
Matahiapo is actively involved in various local events including vocal and hiphop dance compeitions.
She was also the youngest cast member of the recent popular “The Colour Purple” Musical and gained a number of fans from that performance. Matahiapo is now looking forward to auditioning for more theatre roles so that she may add to her performance skills.
Born and raised in Rotorua, Matahiapo and her whānau regularly trek back to Te Nehenehenui during the holidays to live at their pa in order to maintain connections with their whānau, whenua and marae.
Their last visit was to tautoko the 150-year celebration of the establishment of Te Kuiti Pā where Matahiapo sang for her Kuia and kaumatua during a special dinner.
Having so many gigs mean Matahiapo needs quite a bit of gear so a priority on her to-do list for this year is building a putea to help her on her way.
