Arts & Music - New Zealand's South Island - page 671

Music
NZ music began with the waiata (singing) developed by Maori following their arrival in
the country. The main musical instruments were wind instruments made of bone or wood,
the most well known of which is the nguru (also known as the 'nose flute'), while percus-
sion was provided by chest- and thigh-slapping.
These days, the liveliest place to see Maori music being performed is at kapa haka com-
petitions in which groups compete with their own routines of traditional song and dance:
track down the Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival ( www.tematatini.co.nz ) which happens in
March in odd-numbered years at different venues (Christchurch in 2015).
In a similar vein, Auckland's Pasifika Festival ( www.aucklandnz.com/pasifika ) represents each of
the Pacific Islands. It's a great place to see both traditional and modern forms of Polynesian
music: modern hip-hop, throbbing Cook Island drums, or island-style guitar, ukulele and
slide guitar.
The only Kiwi actors to have won an Oscar are Anna Paquin (for The Piano ) and Russell Crowe (for Gladiat-
or ). Paquin was born in Canada but moved to NZ when she was four, while Crowe moved from NZ to Aus-
tralia at the same age.
Classical & Opera
Early European immigrants brought their own styles of music and gave birth to local vari-
ants during the early 1900s. In the 1950s Douglas Lilburn became one of the first interna-
tionally recognised NZ classical composers. More recently the country has produced a
number of world-renowned musicians in this field, including opera singer Dame Kiri Te
Kanawa, million-selling pop diva Hayley Westenra, composer John Psathas (who created
music for the 2004 Olympic Games) and composer/ percussionist Gareth Farr (who also
performs in drag under the name Lilith).