Wellington-based marimba player Mone Isoda will perform at Ngā Tai Huri Huri.
The Sarjeant Gallery will present a music and art experience called Ngā Tai Huri Huri to ring in the festive season.
The event on December 3 at the Royal Whanganui Opera House will weave operatic aria with karanga, big energy percussion, classical piano, taonga puoro and visual art. The one-time-only event will feature a selection of musical pieces culminating with Gareth Farr’s original composition, the dramatic and theatrical Ngā Tai Huri Huri.
“We are just so excited that the New Zealand-raised, now Spain-based countertenor Stephen Diaz is able to join us for this event,” said Jaki Arthur, relationships officer at the gallery, who is producing the event.
“Stephen is internationally recognised and such an exciting performer. This will be his only Whanganui appearance at this time.”
The performance will also feature Wellington-based marimba player Mone Isoda and classical pianist Bruce Greenfield from Kāpiti.
“Thanks to Murray and Denise [Lazelle] we have managed to keep the price of the event to $30 which is a great price for an event of this scale,” Arthur said.
Local favourite and celebrated New Zealand soprano Deborah Wai Kapohe will lead Ngā Tai Huri Huri, which will also feature Jasmin Ratana as kaikaranga and at least five percussionists from Whanganui Brass.
“Ngā Tai Huri Huri has a theme of changing tides and seasons and reflects where the Sarjeant Gallery is at the moment. It feels particularly relevant,” Arthur said.
“Deborah came to us with this idea some time ago and it felt right to stage it on the eve of such a positive new beginning for the gallery. We are particularly pleased that, with the exception of Mone Isoda who hasn’t visited Whanganui before, all of the artists have a deep personal connection to Whanganui.”
Wai Kapohe recently starred as Euridyce for NZ Opera’s (M)orpheus, a uniquely Aotearoa rendition of the original Italian Orfeo, which she and Diaz will perform a chunk of at the Whanganui event. It is filled with themes of love, grief and triumph and is instantly recognisable as one of the most adored and famous arias of all time.
Of Ngā Tai Hurihuri, Wai Kapohe says, “It’s a festive piece, highly percussive and any age will enjoy it.”
As the finale of the show, the audience will be enthralled, especially with the way taonga puoro and karanga blend with the percussion and soprano vocal line, lifting the audience to that feeling of going beyond.
Diaz echoes that sentiment, looking ahead to the performance at the Opera House.
“I’m truly excited to sing in Whanganui again. The Sarjeant Gallery, New Zealand Opera School and Whanganui Opera Week have been a prominent feature of my singing journey for over a decade now. Stepping into the Opera House will take me back to all those wonderful final concerts the students of the NZOS get to be a part of, the memories are flooding my mind, putting a huge smile on my face; and what an absolute joy to share the stage with Deborah again.”
The Whanganui Brass percussionists will bring palpable energy and Bruce Jellyman of Whanganui Brass is pleased to be reconnecting with Wai Kapohe on stage again as well as cementing the connection with the gallery - their Pukenamu neighbour.
“This is a piece we’ve done before with Deborah, about 10 years ago,” Jellyman said.
“It requires four or five percussionists, across tom-tom and bass drums, tam-tams and marimba. It has a vocal line for soprano and karanga across as they interplay throughout the piece and so it’s quite something. It’s very exciting to perform and really exciting to hear at the same time. It’s very bright, super atmospheric - chills down the spine stuff.”
The performance will also feature Tieke Tarapuruhi, a moving image collaboration between Whanganui artist Cecelia Kumeroa and environmental scientist Dr Vincent van Uitregt, where native birdsong recorded at Bushy Park is combined with subtle dancing natural world imagery.
With Sarjeant on the Quay now closed, the gallery team is preparing to reopen at Pukenamu in 2024 and director Andrew Clifford is taking the opportunity to push the gallery into new spaces and do different things. The ongoing monthly artist talks at The Backhouse have been a hit - as was the recent Friday Night Soiree at the Hotshop event which packed out New Zealand Glassworks.
“Something that’s really special about Whanganui is its cultural and artistic diversity,” Clifford said.
“It is very important, especially when the Sarjeant reopens next year, that collectively we really deliver on the vision of Whanganui as an artistic hub. We want to showcase not only the reopened gallery but also the wider artistic offer here; the NZ Opera School, New Zealand Glassworks, Quartz Museum and the other independent galleries and studios, even Paige’s Book Gallery, the museum, our libraries, the Royal Whanganui Opera House and the pottery scene.
“We will get a lot of attention next year but it’s not just about the Sarjeant, it’s about our vibrant creative city as a whole.
“This concert nicely demonstrates the amazing range of things happening in Whanganui. There’s such a range here and there’s so much going on. Personally, since moving here [early this year], I thought I might have a quieter life and not be as busy as I was in Auckland but that hasn’t happened yet.”
What: Ngā Tai Huri Huri - a Musicians for the Sarjeant event, proudly supported by Murray and Denise Lazelle.
Where: Royal Whanganui Opera House, St Hill St.
When: Sunday, December 3, doors open 4pm for 4.30pm start.
Tickets: $30 plus booking fee from i-Site or online at iTicket.co.nz.