Māori musicians, songwriters and performers

INTRODUCTION

Māori have always contributed to pop music, but from the 1960s there was little that celebrated Māori culture. With the Māori cultural renaissance of the 1980s, Māori musicians used music (sometimes reggae) to assert Māori identity. In 1984 ‘Poi e’ was a hit for the Pātea Māori Club. Māori songs serve purposes beyond entertainment. Karakia are used for social or religious occasions; traditional waiata describe past events or lament lost loved ones. In haka, warriors challenge rivals, using aggressive movements. Pātere are rhythmic recitations in which the performers might defend a reputation.  

Source: Popular music, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

All Black George Nēpia's talents extended beyond the rugby field - he was also a musician and singer. His rendition of his cousin Walter Smith's song 'Beneath the Māori moon', recorded by British label Decca in 1936, was one of his major hits.  

Source: Popular music - Recorded music, radio and dance music, 1900s to 1930s, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Ruru Karaitiana's 'Blue smoke' was the first record released by TANZA, and the first song written by a New Zealander to be recorded and processed locally and released on a local label. Karaitiana wrote the song in 1940 on the way to the battlefields of the Second World War and it became a favourite tune of the 28th (Māori) Battalion. The sheet music was published in 1947; the recording, by Pixie Williams, was released in 1949 and became a New Zealand classic.  

Source: Popular music - Wartime music and early recording, 1930s and 1940s, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand 

TE RANGI PAI/FANNY ROSE PORTER (NGĀTI POROU, TE WHĀNAU-Ā-APANUI) 

Fanny Rose Porter (Poata), who was best known by her stage name, Te Rangi Pai, was born at Tokomaru Bay, according to family sources on 11 January 1868. She was the eldest of nine children of Herewaka Porourangi Pōtae (also known as Te Rangi-i-pāea) and her husband, Thomas William Porter. Possessed of a fine natural contralto voice, Fanny Porter began to perform in public and impressed visiting entertainers with her talent. She lacked formal training, though, and after hearing her sing in Gisborne in mid 1891, the touring Australian contralto Madame Patey urged her to study overseas. After marrying civil servant John Howie in Christchurch on 15 October 1891 she studied singing in Australia and is said to have toured there in 1898 before returning to New Zealand. By 1900 she was using as a stage name a shortened version of her mother's name, Te Rangi Pai, which means 'the beautiful sky'. In December that year Fanny departed for England to study with the baritone Charles Santley. 

Source: Howie, Fanny Rose, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand    

ANA HATO (NGĀTI WHAKAUE, TŪHOURANGI) 

By singing Māori songs in front of tribal audiences and tourists she developed sophistication and confidence as a soprano. Although unable to read music, she was noted for her accurate pitch. When Ana was 16 she was invited to join the concert party of Guide Rangi (Rangitiaria Dennan). Her reputation grew and she became much sought after as a soloist. The visit of the duke and duchess of York to Rotorua in 1927 provided an opportunity for tribes throughout the country to perform. Ana Hato featured at a concert in the old Tūnohopū meeting house, Ōhinemutu, and sang duets with her cousin, the tenor Deane Waretini. The event was recorded by the Parlophone Company from Australia, and this led to further recording engagements in Australia in 1929. Fourteen records were made in Australia and thousands were sold. Titles included ‘Pōkarekare’, ‘E pari rā’, ‘Hine e hine’ and ‘Waiata poi’. Duets in the 1930s produced New Zealand hit songs like ‘Honey’ and ‘Home little Māori home’. 

Source: Hato, Ana Matawhāura, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand  

ĪNIA TE WIATA (NGĀTI MAHUTA) 

Īnia Te Wīata’s rise from employment at the Horotiu freezing works near Ngāruawāhia to international fame is a remarkable story. Te Wīata (1915–71) made his debut at Covent Garden in 1951, singing alongside Bryan Drake in The pilgrim’s progress. Twenty years later he was to have sung the title role in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov on that same stage with a young Kiri Te Kanawa. On the first day of rehearsals, however, he became seriously ill and died a fortnight later. In the intervening years he had enjoyed a career of the utmost distinction. His various trips back to New Zealand included starring in the New Zealand Opera Company’s 1965 production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, with an all-Māori cast. 

Source: Classical musicians - Leading baritones and basses, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand   

PIXIE WILLIAMS (NGĀTI KAHUNGUNU)

Ruru Karaitiana's 'Blue smoke' was the first record released by Tanza, and the first song written by a New Zealander to be recorded and processed locally and released on a local label. Karaitiana wrote the song in 1940 on the way to the battlefields of the Second World War and it became a favourite tune of the 28th (Māori) Battalion. The sheet music was published in 1947; the recording, by Pixie Williams, was released in 1949 and became a New Zealand classic. 

Source: Karaitiana, Rangi Ruru Wānanga, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand 

KIRI TE KANAWA (NGĀTI MANIAPOTO)

Widely regarded as one of the greatest living New Zealanders, Kiri Te Kanawa, born in Gisborne in 1944, has lived most of her life in England with periodic visits to New Zealand. After winning all the major Australasian vocal prizes, Te Kanawa moved to England in 1965 to study at the London Opera Centre and, later, with former Vienna Opera star Vera Rozsa. Her breakthrough role was Countess Almaviva in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro at the Royal Opera House in 1971, and she became an overnight sensation. As well as taking leading roles in operas by Mozart, Verdi, Richard and Johann Strauss, Puccini, Bizet and Tchaikovsky, she made concert appearances with the world's greatest orchestras and recorded extensively. In 2004 she launched the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation to provide financial assistance to young New Zealand musicians. Made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1982, she joined the prestigious Order of New Zealand in 1995.

Source: Creative and intellectual expatriates - Attitudes to expatriation, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand 

HIRINI MELBOURNE (NGĀI TŪHOE, NGĀTI KAHUNGUNU)

Hirini Melbourne of Ngāi Tūhoe was an influential composer whose works and creativity flourished from 1980 till his death in 2003. Melbourne first came to be known through the many songs he composed for schools, which are still sung in the 2000s. ‘Pūrea nei’ (Cleansing), ‘Whiti te marama’ (The moon shines), ‘Tihore mai’ (The sky is clear) and many more are popular favourites and sung throughout New Zealand.Melbourne is also lauded for his leadership – with Richard Nunns – in the revival of traditional Māori musical instruments known as taonga puoro (sound treasures). Their 1994 CD Te ku te whe was a landmark recording, restoring the sounds of these instruments and introducing a new voice in New Zealand music composition. In the 2010s taonga puoro can be heard in film and television, at sports games, on marae and elsewhere.

Source: Māori composers – ngā kaitito waiata - Later composers, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand  

PRINCE TUI TEKA (NGĀI TŪHOE)

In the early 1950s Prince Tui Teka joined the circus, which took him to Australia. He started out cleaning up after the animals but soon moved on to performing. Teka left the circus to join a Māori showband which toured throughout Australia. In 1966 he joined the Māori Volcanics and travelled around the world with the group. After the Māori Volcanics broke up, Teka worked in the club scene of Australia and south-east Asia, before returning to New Zealand for good in 1981. His song 'E ipo' (1982) was the first Māori-language song to reach number one in the New Zealand music charts, where it spent two weeks in 1982. Here, Teka is shown performing with the Māori Volcanics in Sydney in the 1970s. 

Source: Popular music - Māori and Pacific music, 1980s and 1990s, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand  

HOWARD MORRISON (TE ARAWA)

Another entertainment phenomenon that began in 1958 reached a much wider cross-section of New Zealanders. The Howard Morrison Quartet was a music and comedy act from Rotorua, capable of polished vocal versions of pop standards and originals, song parodies and humorous patter.Morrison, the leader, had grown up listening to sweet vocal harmony groups such as the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots. His love of Neapolitan music was nurtured by veterans of the Māori Battalion’s campaign in Italy – he described himself as ‘Mario Māori Lanza’.

Source: Popular music - Rock ’n’ roll and the Howard Morrison Quartet, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand  

DALVANIUS PRIME (TAINUI, NGĀ PUHI, NGĀTI RUANUI, TŪWHARETOA, NGĀ RAURU, PAKAKOHI, KAI TAHU)

Dalvanius Prime worked the Australian club circuit in the 1970s as Dalvanius and the Fascinations, and formed a production company called Maui Records in New Zealand in 1983. From then he concentrated on Māori music. His best-known song, 'Poi e', was the result of a collaboration with East Cape writer Ngoi Pēwhairangi and was intended to make Māori children feel proud of their ethnicity. It was sung by the Pātea Maori Club to an infectious break-dance rhythm, successfully fusing traditional Māori culture with up-to-the-minute urban sounds. The song was in the New Zealand music charts for 22 weeks in 1984, including four weeks at number one. It re-entered the charts in 2010, popularised by the movie Boy. 

Source: Popular music - Māori and Pacific music, 1980s and 1990s, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand  

JOHN ROWLES

RICKY MAY

BUNNY WALTERS 

WHIRIMAKO BLACK (NGĀTI TUHOE, NGĀTI TUWHARETOA, NGĀTI RANGINUI, TE WHAKATOHEA, TE WHANAU-A-APANUI)

NGATAPA BLACK (NGĀI TŪHOE, TUWHARETOA, TE WHĀNAU-Ā-APANUI)   

 TINA CROSS (TE AUPOURI, NGĀTI POROU)   

MOANA MANIAPOTO (NGĀTI TUWHARETOA, TUHOURANGI, NGĀTI PIKIAO)     

TAMA WAIPARA (RUAPANI, RONGOWHAKAATA, NGĀTI POROU)  

BIC RUNGA (NGĀTI KAHUNGUNU)  

TIKI TAANE (NGĀTI MANIAPOTO)

MAISEY RIKA (NGATI AWA, TE ARAWA, TŪHOE, TE WHĀNAU-Ā-ĀPANUI)

CHE FU

EMMA PAKI

ANIKA MOA

HINEWEHI MOHI (NGĀTI KAHUNGUNU, NGĀI TŪHOE)  

ROB RUHA (NGĀTI POROU, TE WHĀNAU-Ā-APANUI)

RIA HALL (NGĀI TE RANGI, NGĀTI RANGINUI)  

ARIANA TIKAO (KAI TAHU)

SETH HAAPU (NGĀTI POROU)

STAN WALKER (TŪHOE, NGĀTI TŪWHARETOA)   

TEEKS/TE KAREHANA GARDINER-TOI (NGĀ PUHI, NGĀI TE RANGI, NGĀTI RANGINUI)  

PERE WIHONGI (TE RARAWA, NGĀ PUHI, NGĀTI KURI, NGĀTI WAI) & MAIMOA 

MOHI ALLEN (NGĀPUHI, TE RARAWA, NGĀI TE RANGI, NGĀTI KI TE WAIROA)

MĀORI SHOW BANDS

This story was curated and compiled by Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa | National Library of New Zealand, Services to Schools staff, November 2020 and updated in December 2021.