String concert to be held at marae
It’s played host to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Ma¯ ori King Tu¯ heitia and now Fairfield College’s wharenui will be the venue for a concert by the New Zealand String Quartet.
The June 20 concert was organised by Hamilton arts advocate Russell Armitage who said he saw the interior of the wharenui at the school’s Aratiatia Marae for the first time in December.
‘‘I was so wowed by it that I felt it just called out to have music in it. I mentioned this to the school principal and then the marae committee. They were excited by the idea as there had never been a concert inside the wharenui before.
‘‘So having opened my mouth, I have ended up organising it.’’
Armitage asked the NZ String Quartet if they would be interested and, when they saw the photos of the venue, took the opportunity.
Tucked away in a corner of the Fairfield College campus, the ornately decorated wharenui, known as Te Ihorangi, features stained glass windows, layered two-dimensional relief patterns on the ceiling, and a motorised rotating pou in the centre of the whare.
Tainui master carver Kereti Rautangata built the whare on land gifted to the school by Nga¯ ati Wairere. It was opened in 1995 and, at that time, was blessed by the late Maori Queen Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu.
The concert is in part a fundraiser for all-weather canopies, which will be built on either side of the marae a¯ tea (forecourt) in front of the wharenui to provide shelter from sun and rain.
It will feature pieces by Mozart and Mendelssohn. It will get under way with a performance by Hamilton baritone Aidan Philips singing the Fairfield College waiata with the quartet to honour the venue.
Following the music, Rautangata will give a talk about his work on the wharenui.
Tickets for the concert cost $85 per person and are available through iticket. There is provision on the online payment form to make a donation to the canopies project in addition to the ticket purchase.
The quartet will also perform on June 19 at the Cathedral Church of St Peter.
Armitage has a long history of producing significant shows and concerts in Hamilton. These include the staging of One Hill of a Fight, a play about a political battle that erupted over the development of central Hamilton in the 1930s, and Karel Capek’s 1921 play RUR – Rossum’s Universal Robots –a work that introduced the world to the concept of robots.