History, poetry, music and drama feature in awards
Projects ranging from a collaboration between classical pianist Michael Houston and the Rodger Fox Big Band to a 75th history of the Bulls Fire Brigade have been given a cash boost.
The Manawatu¯ and Rangitı¯kei history, literature and music projects were presented with $71,000 worth of grants from the Earle Creativity and Development Trust at an awards ceremony yesterday.
Trustee Richard Garland said he was blown away by the diversity of the creative endeavours.
The trust has been running for six years, set up by philanthropists Dick and Mary Earle, to nurture innovative and creative ideas, and providing some of the money to help turn those ideas into projects. On alternate years, the focus is on visual arts, science and technology.
This year the theme was music, history and literature, with each winner presenting a progress check on work so far.
Zak Rodgers received just over $4000 for Kick out to the beat, a sort of ‘‘punk rock’’ poetry using rap rhythms and turned into a series of short films, which he hoped would appeal particularly to young people who thought they did not like poetry.
Another poet, Paula Harris, was awarded $5000 for her vision to take her poems and work with film-makers to turn the scripts into something visual.
Janet Mace received $6500 to publish her children’s book, Lucy the girl who listens, a self-illustrated story using the richness of Te Reo to bring added depth to a story about a river and the challenges of restoring freshwater quality.
New playwright Eljon Fitzgerald hopes to have his work on stage by the middle of 2020. Called Four friends and a funeral, the play starts with a tragedy, then brings old friends back together for fun, unravelling secrets, and demonstrating the importance of social connections. He received $5000.
Manawatu¯ Cricket Association president Murray Brown is tackling the task of writing up 125 years of cricket in the region, from the early days when every community had a club, through the development of Ongley and Fitzherbert Parks, the introduction of twilight cricket, and growth in professionalism
The club was granted $10,000.
Also with $10,000, the Taihape Community Trust is planning to involve young people interviewing the town’s older residents to capture the history of the town’s buildings, events and people.
The Bulls Fire Brigade was awarded $6000 for a 75th jubilee book digging even deeper back into the town’s history than the brigade’s formation in 1945.
The Rodger Fox/michael Houston collaboration, with a grant of $18,000, would show young people how the genres of classical piano, jazz and pop music from the 1970s and 80s could ‘‘cross over’’. The arrangements for the works would be shared as a demonstration of how the styles could blend.
The Manawatunes Barbershop Chorus is working on a succession plan for young singers, with a $6500 grant that will help them bring award-winning Wellington quartet The B-flads to Palmerston North to help create a path for singers from school to young adult performance.