JOSH Rogers is set for the gig of a lifetime.
The Rotorua-based musician has been invited to open tonight's entertainment for the newly crowned Maori king, Tuheitia, at Turangawaewae Marae in Huntly.
"It was the greatest surprise I've ever had and a huge honour for me.
"In a way
I feel like I'm representing our Tainui connection and I'm playing as part of the Torere people.
"We are a part of Tainui and were dropped off from the Tainui canoe as they made their way to the Waikato. It's very special."
Mr Rogers will play a half-hour selection of South American music and interpretations of familiar Maori songs such as Hine e hine and The Bridge at the coronation.
He will perform alongside singer and clarinet player Tama Waipara from Opotiki and singer Anahera Higgins.
Te Arikinui Tuheitia Paki will replace his mother Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu as the seventh leader of the Kingitanga movement after her death last year.
Mr Rogers, 33, from Torere, between Opotiki and Te Kaha in the Eastern Bay of Plenty has a thirst for knowledge that is hard to quench.
He likes to keep his mind active and is modest about his many achievements.
He received an honours degree from Trinity College in London and now teaches classical guitar at Rotorua Lakes High School and Kawerau College.
Between teaching duties he studies business management at Waiariki Institute of Technology and is learning Chinese by correspondence through Massey University. He plans to move to China when he has finished his business degree to pursue a career in marketing.
His love of music has seen him live out a childhood dream. "I'd always loved music but I'd never played any instrument. I got hold of a guitar and practised my heart out. I said then I wanted to go all over the world playing guitar, my parents wanted me to get a real profession, like a lawyer or accountant, something to fall back on if the guitar didn't work out."
His guitar has taken him all over the world.
"I have given recitals all through the Middle East, Jakarta, Dubai, Bahrain ... "
