Concert webisodes to celebrate Matariki
Myth, music, song and storytelling will be brought together for an upcoming series of interactive webisodes to celebrate Matariki.
The online event Nga¯ Waiata O te po¯ , which is set to run over four weeks from July 12 to celebrate Matariki, will host four 10-minute concert episodes by Chamber Music New Zealand.
The webisodes promise a meeting place between Western classical music and te ao Ma¯ ori, as ‘‘a space to reflect on who we are and where we stand as New Zealanders in Aotearoa in 2020’’. The collaboration is the first in a series of stories taking place over the next nine years.
Each year’s event is to draw inspiration from one of the stars in the cluster – Matariki and her children – to tell a new story.
This year’s webisode innovation was born after what was supposed to be a national tour from Chamber Music NZ was forced to move online as a result of the pandemic.
The group was working to create a free, wha¯ nau-friendly stage show that could tour Matariki festivals, but they shifted gears to create online musical episodes designed to help rangatahi and tamariki get into music. Shifting online also meant organisers were able to get exciting talent for the webisodes, with performances expected from soprano Te Ohorere Williams, cellist Olivia Wilding, performers Justin Rogers and Jon Hunter, and composer Troy Kingi. Mystery celebrity guests are also promised.
The webisodes will follow a group of campers on a wilderness adventure to discover the Matariki constellation in the night sky. Each of the four episodes is built around a different theme, and has musical performance at its core.
Co-creator Hunter said the webisodes were far more inventive than the team had originally imagined. ‘‘Constraint breeds innovation . . . And moving online breaks down another barrier to classical music for children . . . Here’s a group of Ma¯ ori artists celebrating Matariki and bringing one of our stories right into your living room,’’ he said.
‘‘My real hope for the piece is that, by us doing our thing, we model something that encourages all children to discover, dream and sing their own stories and histories.’’
Nga¯ Waiata o te Po¯ is free to watch on Chamber Music NZ’s YouTube channel. The full live theatrical event will tour later in 2020.
The episodes will air at 10am on consecutive Sundays: July 12, 19 and 26, and August 2.