North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Milford singing duo huge in China
In New Zealand, Celine and Samantha Toner are just your average mother-daughter duo, but in China their singing performances rack up views in the hundreds of millions.
Hailing from Milford, the pair had been performing together as Mo Ghra since 2011.
The duo specialised in singing Celtic classics, from Celine’s Scottish heritage, to packed-out theatres, such as the Sydney Opera House and the Chinese National Theatre.
When on tour, they got sore cheek muscles from smiling so much posing for photos with fans, but at home in New Zealand they had yet to be noticed in public.
Their international success sunk in after one of their recent performances in China, when they sang at the opening of a fivestar ski resort.
‘‘It was televised over 15 television channels and online via social media streams. It was viewed by 500 million people; half a billion,’’ said Celine, Samantha’s mother.
Samantha said they were overwhelmed when they found out how many people viewed it.
‘‘We didn’t realise that was going to be the size of the audience. It was after the fact that we found out that was how many people were tuned into it. It was crazy,’’ Samantha said.
‘‘It’s hard to get your head around,’’ Celine added.
Mo Ghra toured China twice a year since 2011 with manager, dad and husband Barry Green.
‘‘The audiences in China are so warm and receptive and friendly and they all want to come up and talk to you and get a photo.
‘‘Sometimes we get really sore cheek muscles from smiling so much, for photo, after photo‘‘ Samantha said.
They were bigger on the international scene than locally.
‘‘We definitely have not been noticed in New Zealand yet.’’
Prior to 2011, Celine would get bookings herself and Samantha would sing back-up vocals.
That all changed when Celine was invited to perform at the International Nanchang Tattoo in China with the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band.
‘‘The producer said we reminded him of the Judds, an American country-singing mother-daughter duo from the 1980s,’’ Celine said. ‘‘He said ‘you guys should sing together’. That’s when we decided we would from then on be a singing duo and we called ourselves Mo Ghra, which means ‘my love’.’’