State of the Arts
New comedy boss
The New Zealand Comedy Trust has appointed Geoff Turkington to the position of general manager. He arrives from a four-year stretch managing premium live performance venues in Newcastle, Australia. Turkington was instrumental in making the Civic Theatre in Newcastle one of Australia’s most successful live performance venues. ‘‘It is an honour to be offered the opportunity to return home and be part of the fantastic team whose sole purpose is to deliver laughter to the people of New Zealand,’’ Turkington says. ‘‘I am very much looking forward to working with the Trust to build on the incredible work done to date by Kylie and the team, to ensure New Zealand’s unique comedy industry continues to be supported and showcased to as many people as possible.’’
Itty beats all
Itty Bitty Beats won both the APRA Best Children’s Music Song and Recorded Music Best Children’s Album, taking home the awards for their bilingual lullaby Po Marie (written by Lucy Hiku and Jenny Payne), and album Lay Your Head Down. Both busy parents as well as writers and performers, the Christchurch duo are committed to making music that is fun and practical, written with both children and parents’ wellbeing in mind. ’’Congratulations to all of the finalists and especially to Itty Bitty Beats for winning the 2016 Best Children’s Album,’’ says Damian Vaughan from Recorded Music New Zealand. ‘‘Lucy and Jenny have created a beautiful collection of songs and produced such a wonderful album full of soothing lullabies for our littlest music lovers,’’ he says.
Power of poetry
National Poetry Day is celebrated on Friday, August 26 and continues its legacy of taking poetry to the people all over New Zealand. This year’s programme – tagged Unleash the Power of Poetry – features 100 events around the country engaging thousands of Kiwis of all ages. From small towns to big cities, primary school classrooms to rest-homes, pubs to cyberspace this year’s events are some of the most creative and accessible yet. Established in 1997, National Poetry Day is about discovery, diversity, community and pushing boundaries. It is a one-day national poetry-event extravaganza held on the last Friday of August each year.
Go north
The first instalment of international and local artists, including Pitch Black, pictured left, Hudson Mohawke, DubFX and Third3ye, who will be heading to Mangawhai for the three-day Northern Bass music festival in December has been announced. ‘‘We can’t wait to share the next phase of Northern Bass’ evolution with our audience,’’ says festival promoter Gareth Popham. ‘‘Our goal, as always, is to deliver the best event possible and this year will be no exception. 2016-17 will also see us continue towards our target of true sustainability and will feature the return of the Northern Bass Green team and the hugely successful Globelet reusable cup programme,’’ Popham says.