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Ko te tātai whetū
In June this year, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (CSO), conducted by Benjamin Northey, premiered Ko te tātai whetū (Concerto for Taonga Pūoro).

This first ever concerto for solo taonga pūoro (traditional Māori instruments) and orchestra was composed by Philip Brownlee in collaboration with Ariana Tikao, who plays pahū pounamu, kōauau, pūtātara, small and large pūtōrino and sings waiata.

A film of the concert is now available for viewing on SOUNZ online.

 
 
Ariana Tikao and Philip Brownlee
 
 

Welcome Diana Marsh, the new Executive Director of SOUNZ, who started in the role in July. We will publish a Q&A with Diana in the next SOUNZ news so you can find our what she's been up to in her first few weeks...

 
 

SMCO-SOUNZ Composer Workshop
At the beginning of this month, SOUNZ filmed a composer workshop with the St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra in Auckland. The workshop was attended by previously selected five composers Callum Blackmore, David Hamilton, Andrew McMillian, Denzel Panama and Alex Taylor, and it was led by conductor Michael Joel.

The project is a new collaboration between the Orchestra and SOUNZ. The five works were selected by a panel consisting of representatives of the SMCO and the Composers Association of New Zealand (CANZ).

 
 
SMCO-SOUNZ Composer Workshop

SOUNZ had a great time interviewing the composers, members of the orchestra, and composer and orchestra member Louise Webster, who will be creating a collection of high quality resources for composers, non-professional orchestras and orchestra directors with assistance from SOUNZ.

 
 

Congratulations to the winners of 2015 New Zealand Children’s Music Awards
fleaBITE received two of the awards: the Recorded Music Best Childrens’ Music Album (Tui Award) for The Jungle is Jumping, and the What Now Best Children’s Music Video Award for Don’t Sit Under the Poo Tree.

Levity Beet and Daniel Stryczek won the APRA Best Children’s Music Song with There’s One in the Bush, a song about the tuatara.

 
 

MusicBox 2015, a promotional album featuring the top songs from this year’s Awards, is available as a free download from the APRA AMCOS website during August.
Get yours here...

MusicBox 2015
 
 

Also good news for John Rae and The Troubles, who received funding through Creative New Zealand’s International Presentation Fund and returned to Edinburgh this year. They performed both at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and the Festival Fringe in July and August.

 
 

New Resources at SOUNZ
We recently interviewed Samuel Holloway, Auckland-based composer and artistic director of chamber music ensemble 175 East, about his latest projects. Read the full interview here.

 
 

Another recent addition to our resources is Stroma's concert The Mirror of Time 3, bridging three millennia of music. The concert recordings featuring works by NZ composers can be viewed at SOUNZ online here.

 
 

The Education Resources for teachers have been updated, take a look at the repertoire lists here. And don't forget Featured items for new CDs, scores, books and media on demand added to the SOUNZ collection.