New Zealand: A land of many sounds
Like food, dance and fashion New Zealand music is a unique and vibrant expression of the culture of the land. New Zealand's musical influence has come from a variety of cultures. The sounds of the indigenous Maori can be heard in many of the country's music genres - while New Zealand's British colonial history, with contributions from Europe and America, can also be widely heard. As the nation has grown, local artists have mixed these styles with local influences to create music that is uniquely New Zealand.
Contemporary Music
Artists like Neil Finn and his band Crowded House have achieved worldwide recognition performing on the international circuit, while musicians such as The Datsuns, Brooke Fraser, and Holly Smith have all signed with major record labels and are now attracting global attention.
20 year old Hayley Westenra is another Kiwi singer carving out an international career. She has had a meteoric rise to fame; first discovered by a talent scout while busking in Christchurch. Her CV now includes performances for, among others, the President of the United States and The Queen. Her first album Pure sold more than two million copies worldwide, and reached number one on the UK charts. In New Zealand Pure went 10 times platinum, making Westenra the best selling local artist ever for any genre.
Maori Music
Maori have developed a popular music scene and have a strong following within New Zealand and more recently overseas. Moana Maniapoto and her group The Tribe are becoming widely known for their acoustic Maori music, while bands like Herbs, Katchafire and Fat Freddy's Drop incorporate reggae, rock and roll and other influences into their sounds. Traditional Maori musical instruments or Taonga Puoro have recently experienced a renaissance which can largely be attributed to Richard Nunns, who has been described as the world's leading exponent of Taonga Puoro. The enchanting and haunting sounds of many of the instruments can be heard in a variety of forms including movie soundtracks.
Classical Music
New Zealand opera singers, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Dame Malvina Major would be two of New Zealand biggest stars and among the world's best sopranos. Their international careers have spanned decades and continents.
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, ONZ, AC, DBE, was born in 1944 in Gisborne. She is of both Maori and European ancestry but was adopted at birth. She was brought up as the adopted child of an Irish mother and Maori father. She became internationally famous when she was seen and heard around the world by an estimated 600 million people when she sang Handel's "Let the Bright Seraphim" at the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.
Dame Malvina Major DBE was born to a large musical family in 1943 in Hamilton. As a child she performed at various concerts, singing mainly country and western pop and music from the shows. She received her first classical training in 1955, and went from strength to strength under the guidance of a number of nuns including Dame Sister Mary Leo at St Mary's College Music School who later taught Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Her successes include winning the New Zealand Mobil Song Quest in 1963 (later won by Dame Kiri), the Australian Melbourne Sun-Aria in 1965, and the Kathleen Ferrier Award in London. She has also performed at events including an outdoor concert at the pyramids in Egypt, and 30 opera roles in their original languages.
New Zealand continues to produce world class opera singers, with bass baritone Jonathon Lemalu and tenor Simon O'Neill, names to watch in the future.
Regional Sounds
New Zealand music can also be recognised by its region. Wellington has always been known for its 'jazzy scene' while Auckland incorporates more international styles heavily influenced by the Polynesian and Maori beat. The southern city of Dunedin is known for its garage music. Dating back to 1978, the "Dunedin Sound", includes bands such as The Enemy and The Clean, The Chills, Verlaines and Sneaky Feelings. While some may categorise the music as grunge, the "garage" sound applies not just to the guitar sound and it’s 'jangle' and 'drone' but also the way in which the music was recorded. With limited money available to musicians to spend on lavish sixteen or twenty-four track recording facilities the Dunedin bands embraced the "lo-fi" sound that was born out of four and eight track recordings.
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