Māori Music and Performance

Explore the Māori culture, history and uses of taonga puoro along with waiata, famous singers (traditional and contemporary), music awards, styles and contribution of Māori to theatre, film, dance and the unique performances that are waiata ā ringa and kapa haka. SCIS no: 1921970

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Images
Maisey Rika
Maisey Rika
Maisey Rika is a contemporary Māori composer and singer. This is the cover of her self-titled album. At the 2010 waiata Māori awards Rika won four awards, including best Māori female solo artist.
Articles
Ngā pūoro Māori (Māori music)
Ngā pūoro Māori (Māori music)
Māori music has many important composers, some of whom use traditional mōteatea (chanted song-poetry), and others whose music includes introduced musical styles and influences. Later composers have...
Articles
Kapa haka
Kapa haka
Kapa haka is a traditional Māori performing art involving songs (waiata), dance and chanting. Kapa haka is performed by groups on a marae and in a variety of places and on different occasions. Ther...
Images
Polynesian Festival Publicity Caption: First National Polynesian Festival Competitions Rotorua 1972. Waihirere team from Gisborne
Polynesian Festival Publicity Caption: First National Polynesian Festival Competitions Rotorua 1972. Waihirere team from Gisborne
Title: Maoris - Songs and Dances - Polynesian Festival Publicity Caption: First National Polynesian Festival Competitions Rotorua 1972. Waihirere team from Gisborne. Photographer: R. Anderson...
Images
Columbia Records :Maori music. Columbia new process records; electric recording without scratch. [1920-30s].
Māori music record
A suggestion to record the Rotorua Māori Choir was made to Columbia Gramophone Company in 1929. This led to a contract being signed by three choir members – Geoffrey Rogers, Tame Petane, and Rotohi...
Images
Glendale School kapa haka group
Glendale School kapa haka group
Glendale School’s kapa haka group perform a haka in 1995 in Wellington. In 2002 Glendale and Pencarrow School merged to form Pukeatua School.
Audio
Maori music awards celebrate Maori music, artists
Maori music awards celebrate Maori music, artists
The Waiata Maori Music awards - which honour the creators and performers of te reo Maori music - are being held this evening in Hastings. Te Manu Korihi editor Shannon Haunui-Thompson has more.
Articles
Waiata hōu – contemporary Māori songs: Origins of contemporary waiata
In the 19th century traditional Māori waiata continued to be composed with some changes in content. Adaptations of European styles of music using te reo Māori (the Māori language) also began. Māori...
Websites
WWW
Te Matatini Festival
Te Matatini is a significant cultural festival and the pinnacle event for Māori performing arts.
Articles
60,000 attend Te Matatini 2019
Te Matatini ki te Ao 2019 proved itself as one of the most significant cultural events in Aotearoa.
Videos
ASB Polyfest 2017 - Ngā Puna o Waiōrea (Series Two, Episode Seven)
ASB Polyfest 2017 - Ngā Puna o Waiōrea (Series Two, Episode Seven)
Polyfest, the annual secondary schools' Māori and Pacific Island cultural festival, attracts around 90,000 people and 9000 performers from 64 schools to Manukau Sports Bowl. The 2017 Māori Televisi...
Articles
Māori musical instruments – taonga puoro: Māori musical concepts
Governing principles The principles governing taonga puoro (traditional Māori musical instruments) are basic to Māori thought. Life is seen as a balance of spiritual and physical life forces. A kōa...
Articles
Māori composers – ngā kaitito waiata
Māori composers – ngā kaitito waiata
From early creators of traditional mōteatea (chanted song-poetry) to contemporary composers who draw on introduced musical styles and influences, the Māori world has been home to many important com...
Videos
Making Music - Mika
Making Music - Mika
Dancer and performer Mika (Neil Gudsell) introduces his urban Māori, Pacific dance troupe Torotoro in this episode from a series made for secondary school music students. He formed the group after ...
Videos
The Stage - Haka Fusion - First Episode
The Stage - Haka Fusion - First Episode
Television talent show franchises like Got Talent and X Factor won huge global popularity in the first two decades of the 21st Century. In 2016 the format got an Aotearoa twist with this Māori Tele...
Audio
Powhiri 101
Powhiri 101
Ed Sheeran's getting one Obama got one - can anyone get a powhiri?
Videos
Accessible Marae - Karanga
Accessible Marae - Karanga
Short promotional film promoting an accessible marae featuring the Karanga. Follow Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/attitudetv Follow Us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/attitude_tv See more...
Videos
WAIRUA AUAHA
WAIRUA AUAHA
TE WAIRUA AUAHA was made in partial fulfilment of a PhD in Maori Development, AUT, 2012 and explores Māori entrepreneurship in screen production. The documentary is based on interviews with ten M...
Videos
Whale Rider
Whale Rider
Whale Rider follows a young Māori girl, Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes), who challenges tradition and embraces the past in order to find the strength to lead her people forward. Written and directed by ...
Videos
Koha - Nga Pikitia Māori
Koha - Nga Pikitia Māori
This episode of Koha is an examination of the Māori feature film industry, from the pioneers of the silent era up to Merata Mita's 1988 movie Mauri. Reflections on global screenings of groundbreaki...
Articles
Māori radio – reo irirangi: First decades of Māori radio
Early Māori-language broadcasts Although radio broadcasting in Aotearoa New Zealand began in 1921, the Māori language was not heard on air with any regularity until 1927. In that year Airini Grenel...
Audio
Have we been singing 'Tutira Mai Nga Iwi' wrong?
Have we been singing 'Tutira Mai Nga Iwi' wrong?
We've been singing 'Tutira Mai Nga Iwi' for nearly 60 years, but the composer's daughter says we've got the words wrong.
Articles
Māori theatre – te whare tapere hōu
Māori theatre – te whare tapere hōu
Māori theatre flowered in the later 20th century, driven by the Māori cultural renaissance, and the whare tapere – a traditional site for entertainment and performance – was revived.
Videos
Treaty
Treaty
More than 20 years on, 'Treaty' remains as infectious as it does relevant, mixing haka, hip hop and funk to present a message on Māori sovereignty. Channelling the colours of the Tino Rangatiratang...
Videos
New Zealand Mirror No. 14
New Zealand Mirror No. 14
This magazine newsreel mixes buried treasure with a classic Brian Brake-shot performance piece. Opener 'The Long Poi' captures a poi dance. In 'The Buried Village' tourists examine fireballs and Mā...
Videos
'Poi e'
'Poi e'
'Poi e' was significant as a Māori-language song that reached number one on the New Zealand music charts in 1984. Dalvanius Prime wrote the tune and Ngoi Pēwhairangi the lyrics. Record companies we...
Videos
Ahi Ataahua
Ahi Ataahua
This performance-based film could potentially be filed under 'Pasifika tribal fusion'. Cinematographer Waka Attewell (Starlight Hotel, Poi-E) captures the talents of percussion group Strike (includ...
Videos
When the Haka Became Boogie - The Showbands (Episode Two)
When the Haka Became Boogie - The Showbands (Episode Two)
Directed by Tainui Stephens, this 1990 TVNZ series surveyed Māori contemporary music. This second episode looks at the showband era (1950s - 70s), when musicians mixed genres (electric guitar, rock...
Audio
Alien Weaponry rediscover te reo
Alien Weaponry rediscover te reo
Teenage metallers Alien Weaponry pop into Music 101 to discuss their brand of te reo metal.
Videos
Upper Hutt Posse: 'E tu'
Upper Hutt Posse: 'E tu'
New Zealand’s first hip hop record, 'E tu', was released by Upper Hutt Posse in 1988. The group provoked controversy, delivering a political message without compromise. The band’s 1990 visit to the...
Images
Upper Hutt Posse - Photograph taken by John Nicholson
Upper Hutt Posse - Photograph taken by John Nicholson
Members of the reggae/hip-hop/rap group Upper Hutt Posse, and their manager George Hubbard. Seated at top: Darryl Thomson, Dean Hapeta. Bottom row, from left: Aaron Thompson, Teremoana Rapley, Hubb...
Audio
Common Unity: Marley’s Aotearoa legacy 40 years on
February 6th is significant to many Kiwis for another reason - the birthday of the undisputed superstar of reggae Bob Marley. His one and only visit 40 years ago had a lasting impact on New Zealand...
Articles
Moana Maniapoto: Making Māori visible through our songs | E-Tangata
Moana Maniapoto: Making Māori visible through our songs | E-Tangata
Articles
The music of Māori chant
Aesthetic value, song types, performance and style of Māori chant.
Articles
Richard Nunns
Achievements of Richard Nunns – musician, researcher and laureate award winner (2009).
Articles
Types of haka
Interesting facts and types of Māori haka.
Other
Hei Waiata, Hei Whakakoakoa
Songbook with lyrics, song sheets, curriculum achievement objectives, and suggestions for activities in the class.
Videos
Māori Language Week performance
Western Springs College performance at Spark for Māori Language Week 2018.
Articles
Pōwhiri process
The process involved in a powhiri (host people welcoming visitors).
Articles
A wedding with a Māori twist
Traditional Māori Pōwhiri starts off wedding ceremony.
Articles
Māori and Pacifica bands and musicians
Currently popular and most viewed Māori and Pacific singers and bands.
Articles
Māori artists
Photos, albums, tracks, biography of various Māori artists.
Articles
Te Wiki o te reo Māori
Articles with videos of favourite waiata in te reo.
Articles
Waiata
Waiata and brief biographies of song-writers and singers.
Articles
Māori musical instruments
Images and information on uses of taonga puoro (Māori musical instruments).
Articles
‘Now is the hour,’ NZ's first million-selling song?
The origins of ‘Now is the hour’ can be traced back to the ‘Swiss cradle song’ by Clement Scott.
Articles
Rotorua Club
How the Rotorua Club made the first recordings of Māori music.
Videos
Thriller Haka to Poi E From Taika Waititi's "Boy"
Thriller Haka from the closing credits of Taika Waiti's 2010 film Boy.
Articles
Inia Te Wiata
Biography of Te Wīata, Īnia Mōrehu Tauhia Wātene Iarahi Waihuihia.
Newspapers
A Māori concert at Bulls
A patriotic Māori concert held at Bulls in 1916.
Articles
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is a critically acclaimed lyric soprano.
Videos
AEIOU
Songs by Moana and the Moahunters.
Videos
Theme from Once were Warriors
Tama Renata’s memorable theme for Once Were Warriors embedded itself in the New Zealand psyche.
Videos
The Power of Music (Te Kaha o Te Waiata)
Auckland band Herbs travel to Ruatoria to release their new album.
Videos
Toe Paw by Whats Timata?
A lyrical lesson on the proper pronunciation of commonly mispronounced Māori words.
Articles
New Zealand's 10 best rappers
New Zealand rap has come a long way since it was first adopted from the U.S. in the 1980s.
Articles
Māori dance
Lesson plan on Māori dance, styles and props.
Videos
How to make a play piupiu
A short and easy way to make a piupiu.
Videos
Kete Aronui
Follows the careers of iconic contemporary dancers Taane Mete and Taiaroa Royal.
Videos
Playing the rōria
Rangi Skipper plays the rōria, a simple instrument that uses the resonance of the mouth.
Images
Cpl Anaia Amohau conducts the Maori choir singing 'Maori Battalion', Helwan
Corporal Anaia Amohau
This is Corporal Anaia Amohau conducting the Māori choir singing ‘Māori Battalion’ at Helwan camp in Egypt during World War Two. Amohau started writing the words while he was in Rotorua in 1939. T...
Newspapers
A Maori Opera. (Taranaki Daily News 12-7-1904)
Māori opera ‘Tapu’
The opera Tapu (meaning sacred in Māori) was composed by Alfred Hill in 1902 and performed by the Pollard Opera Company first in Wellington then Sydney in 1904. The theme was based on the power of...
Images
Tom Tuhiwai at the powhiri for Vietnam veterans, Taranaki Street Wharf, Wellington, part of Parade '98 - Photograph taken by John Nicholson
Powhiri for Vietnam veterans
This photo was taken at the powhiri for Vietnam war veterans on Wellington’s Taranaki Street Wharf in 1998. Powhiri is a process where Tangata Whenua (hosts) welcome manuhiri (visitors) onto a mar...
Images
Rena Owen and Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell during rehearsal of Grace's tangi scene during shooting of Once were warriors, Auckland
Scene from Once were warriors.
Alan Duff, the well-known New Zealand novelist published his book ‘Once Were Warriors’ in 1990. Auckland film company Communicado Features Limited bought the rights to the book and turned it into a...
Images
Maori woman performing an action song
Māori woman performing an action song
The facial expression (called pukana) of this Māori woman performing a waiata-ā-ringa – Māori action song is as important as the movement of her hand and body. A Māori action song is more than just...
Newspapers
MAORI PERFORMERS IN A FIX (Otago Daily Times 14-10-1919)
Māori performers in a fix
Māori entertainment groups were popular in New Zealand and overseas tours also found appreciative audiences from the early 19th century. This article from 1919 is about a Māori troupe visiting Amer...
Images
Artist unknown :The poi. A pastime of the Maori maidens. [ca 1885]
Māori women singing and using poi
Three Māori women pose singing for an unknown artist. Each has a poi which she flings over her left shoulder. Traditionally poi were soft balls made from raupo attached to a flax string. Dancers us...
Audio
He Ara Pūoro
This site, which is hosted by Radio New Zealand, introduces the sound and history of traditional Māori instruments.
Stories
No hea te Kitā Māori? Where did the ‘Māori Guitar’ come from?
No hea te Kitā Māori? Where did the ‘Māori Guitar’ come from?
How did we get to the point where the guitar plays a central role in modern Maori performance? What other instruments were used as part of performances?
Stories
Waiata Māori: Early recordings
Waiata Māori: Early recordings
A selection of early 78rpm disc recordings and related material
Articles
E Kō, E Kō - Morning Chorus
Māori song encouraging children to make connections with bird songs of New Zealand birds.
Other
Voices of Tāwhirimatea
This unit focuses on traditional Māori musical instruments that carry sounds (pūoro) connected to the natural world e.g. earth, sky, wind, rain, rain, plants and animals.
Articles
Hinewehi Mohi
Biography of composer and singer HInewehi Mohi.
Websites
WWW
Taki Rua
Aotearoa New Zealand's Māori theatre company that produces theatre with a distinctive Māori voice.
Images
Maisey Rika
Maisey Rika
Maisey Rika is a contemporary Māori composer and singer. This is the cover of her self-titled album. At the 2010 waiata Māori awards Rika won four awards, including best Māori female solo artist.
Articles
Ngā pūoro Māori (Māori music)
Ngā pūoro Māori (Māori music)
Māori music has many important composers, some of whom use traditional mōteatea (chanted song-poetry), and others whose music includes introduced musical styles and influences. Later composers have...
Articles
Kapa haka
Kapa haka
Kapa haka is a traditional Māori performing art involving songs (waiata), dance and chanting. Kapa haka is performed by groups on a marae and in a variety of places and on different occasions. Ther...
Images
Polynesian Festival Publicity Caption: First National Polynesian Festival Competitions Rotorua 1972. Waihirere team from Gisborne
Polynesian Festival Publicity Caption: First National Polynesian Festival Competitions Rotorua 1972. Waihirere team from Gisborne
Title: Maoris - Songs and Dances - Polynesian Festival Publicity Caption: First National Polynesian Festival Competitions Rotorua 1972. Waihirere team from Gisborne. Photographer: R. Anderson...
Images
Columbia Records :Maori music. Columbia new process records; electric recording without scratch. [1920-30s].
Māori music record
A suggestion to record the Rotorua Māori Choir was made to Columbia Gramophone Company in 1929. This led to a contract being signed by three choir members – Geoffrey Rogers, Tame Petane, and Rotohi...
Images
Glendale School kapa haka group
Glendale School kapa haka group
Glendale School’s kapa haka group perform a haka in 1995 in Wellington. In 2002 Glendale and Pencarrow School merged to form Pukeatua School.
Audio
Maori music awards celebrate Maori music, artists
Maori music awards celebrate Maori music, artists
The Waiata Maori Music awards - which honour the creators and performers of te reo Maori music - are being held this evening in Hastings. Te Manu Korihi editor Shannon Haunui-Thompson has more.
Articles
Waiata hōu – contemporary Māori songs: Origins of contemporary waiata
In the 19th century traditional Māori waiata continued to be composed with some changes in content. Adaptations of European styles of music using te reo Māori (the Māori language) also began. Māori...
Websites
WWW
Te Matatini Festival
Te Matatini is a significant cultural festival and the pinnacle event for Māori performing arts.
Articles
60,000 attend Te Matatini 2019
Te Matatini ki te Ao 2019 proved itself as one of the most significant cultural events in Aotearoa.
Videos
ASB Polyfest 2017 - Ngā Puna o Waiōrea (Series Two, Episode Seven)
ASB Polyfest 2017 - Ngā Puna o Waiōrea (Series Two, Episode Seven)
Polyfest, the annual secondary schools' Māori and Pacific Island cultural festival, attracts around 90,000 people and 9000 performers from 64 schools to Manukau Sports Bowl. The 2017 Māori Televisi...
Articles
Māori musical instruments – taonga puoro: Māori musical concepts
Governing principles The principles governing taonga puoro (traditional Māori musical instruments) are basic to Māori thought. Life is seen as a balance of spiritual and physical life forces. A kōa...
Articles
Māori composers – ngā kaitito waiata
Māori composers – ngā kaitito waiata
From early creators of traditional mōteatea (chanted song-poetry) to contemporary composers who draw on introduced musical styles and influences, the Māori world has been home to many important com...
Videos
Making Music - Mika
Making Music - Mika
Dancer and performer Mika (Neil Gudsell) introduces his urban Māori, Pacific dance troupe Torotoro in this episode from a series made for secondary school music students. He formed the group after ...
Videos
The Stage - Haka Fusion - First Episode
The Stage - Haka Fusion - First Episode
Television talent show franchises like Got Talent and X Factor won huge global popularity in the first two decades of the 21st Century. In 2016 the format got an Aotearoa twist with this Māori Tele...
Audio
Powhiri 101
Powhiri 101
Ed Sheeran's getting one Obama got one - can anyone get a powhiri?
Videos
Accessible Marae - Karanga
Accessible Marae - Karanga
Short promotional film promoting an accessible marae featuring the Karanga. Follow Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/attitudetv Follow Us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/attitude_tv See more...
Videos
WAIRUA AUAHA
WAIRUA AUAHA
TE WAIRUA AUAHA was made in partial fulfilment of a PhD in Maori Development, AUT, 2012 and explores Māori entrepreneurship in screen production. The documentary is based on interviews with ten M...
Videos
Whale Rider
Whale Rider
Whale Rider follows a young Māori girl, Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes), who challenges tradition and embraces the past in order to find the strength to lead her people forward. Written and directed by ...
Videos
Koha - Nga Pikitia Māori
Koha - Nga Pikitia Māori
This episode of Koha is an examination of the Māori feature film industry, from the pioneers of the silent era up to Merata Mita's 1988 movie Mauri. Reflections on global screenings of groundbreaki...
Articles
Māori radio – reo irirangi: First decades of Māori radio
Early Māori-language broadcasts Although radio broadcasting in Aotearoa New Zealand began in 1921, the Māori language was not heard on air with any regularity until 1927. In that year Airini Grenel...
Audio
Have we been singing 'Tutira Mai Nga Iwi' wrong?
Have we been singing 'Tutira Mai Nga Iwi' wrong?
We've been singing 'Tutira Mai Nga Iwi' for nearly 60 years, but the composer's daughter says we've got the words wrong.
Articles
Māori theatre – te whare tapere hōu
Māori theatre – te whare tapere hōu
Māori theatre flowered in the later 20th century, driven by the Māori cultural renaissance, and the whare tapere – a traditional site for entertainment and performance – was revived.
Videos
Treaty
Treaty
More than 20 years on, 'Treaty' remains as infectious as it does relevant, mixing haka, hip hop and funk to present a message on Māori sovereignty. Channelling the colours of the Tino Rangatiratang...
Videos
New Zealand Mirror No. 14
New Zealand Mirror No. 14
This magazine newsreel mixes buried treasure with a classic Brian Brake-shot performance piece. Opener 'The Long Poi' captures a poi dance. In 'The Buried Village' tourists examine fireballs and Mā...
Videos
'Poi e'
'Poi e'
'Poi e' was significant as a Māori-language song that reached number one on the New Zealand music charts in 1984. Dalvanius Prime wrote the tune and Ngoi Pēwhairangi the lyrics. Record companies we...
Videos
Ahi Ataahua
Ahi Ataahua
This performance-based film could potentially be filed under 'Pasifika tribal fusion'. Cinematographer Waka Attewell (Starlight Hotel, Poi-E) captures the talents of percussion group Strike (includ...
Videos
When the Haka Became Boogie - The Showbands (Episode Two)
When the Haka Became Boogie - The Showbands (Episode Two)
Directed by Tainui Stephens, this 1990 TVNZ series surveyed Māori contemporary music. This second episode looks at the showband era (1950s - 70s), when musicians mixed genres (electric guitar, rock...
Audio
Alien Weaponry rediscover te reo
Alien Weaponry rediscover te reo
Teenage metallers Alien Weaponry pop into Music 101 to discuss their brand of te reo metal.
Videos
Upper Hutt Posse: 'E tu'
Upper Hutt Posse: 'E tu'
New Zealand’s first hip hop record, 'E tu', was released by Upper Hutt Posse in 1988. The group provoked controversy, delivering a political message without compromise. The band’s 1990 visit to the...
Images
Upper Hutt Posse - Photograph taken by John Nicholson
Upper Hutt Posse - Photograph taken by John Nicholson
Members of the reggae/hip-hop/rap group Upper Hutt Posse, and their manager George Hubbard. Seated at top: Darryl Thomson, Dean Hapeta. Bottom row, from left: Aaron Thompson, Teremoana Rapley, Hubb...
Audio
Common Unity: Marley’s Aotearoa legacy 40 years on
February 6th is significant to many Kiwis for another reason - the birthday of the undisputed superstar of reggae Bob Marley. His one and only visit 40 years ago had a lasting impact on New Zealand...
Articles
Moana Maniapoto: Making Māori visible through our songs | E-Tangata
Moana Maniapoto: Making Māori visible through our songs | E-Tangata
Articles
The music of Māori chant
Aesthetic value, song types, performance and style of Māori chant.
Articles
Richard Nunns
Achievements of Richard Nunns – musician, researcher and laureate award winner (2009).
Articles
Types of haka
Interesting facts and types of Māori haka.
Other
Hei Waiata, Hei Whakakoakoa
Songbook with lyrics, song sheets, curriculum achievement objectives, and suggestions for activities in the class.
Videos
Māori Language Week performance
Western Springs College performance at Spark for Māori Language Week 2018.
Articles
Pōwhiri process
The process involved in a powhiri (host people welcoming visitors).
Articles
A wedding with a Māori twist
Traditional Māori Pōwhiri starts off wedding ceremony.
Articles
Māori and Pacifica bands and musicians
Currently popular and most viewed Māori and Pacific singers and bands.
Articles
Māori artists
Photos, albums, tracks, biography of various Māori artists.
Articles
Te Wiki o te reo Māori
Articles with videos of favourite waiata in te reo.
Articles
Waiata
Waiata and brief biographies of song-writers and singers.
Articles
Māori musical instruments
Images and information on uses of taonga puoro (Māori musical instruments).
Articles
‘Now is the hour,’ NZ's first million-selling song?
The origins of ‘Now is the hour’ can be traced back to the ‘Swiss cradle song’ by Clement Scott.
Articles
Rotorua Club
How the Rotorua Club made the first recordings of Māori music.
Videos
Thriller Haka to Poi E From Taika Waititi's "Boy"
Thriller Haka from the closing credits of Taika Waiti's 2010 film Boy.
Articles
Inia Te Wiata
Biography of Te Wīata, Īnia Mōrehu Tauhia Wātene Iarahi Waihuihia.
Newspapers
A Māori concert at Bulls
A patriotic Māori concert held at Bulls in 1916.
Articles
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is a critically acclaimed lyric soprano.
Videos
AEIOU
Songs by Moana and the Moahunters.
Videos
Theme from Once were Warriors
Tama Renata’s memorable theme for Once Were Warriors embedded itself in the New Zealand psyche.
Videos
The Power of Music (Te Kaha o Te Waiata)
Auckland band Herbs travel to Ruatoria to release their new album.
Videos
Toe Paw by Whats Timata?
A lyrical lesson on the proper pronunciation of commonly mispronounced Māori words.
Articles
New Zealand's 10 best rappers
New Zealand rap has come a long way since it was first adopted from the U.S. in the 1980s.
Articles
Māori dance
Lesson plan on Māori dance, styles and props.
Videos
How to make a play piupiu
A short and easy way to make a piupiu.
Videos
Kete Aronui
Follows the careers of iconic contemporary dancers Taane Mete and Taiaroa Royal.
Videos
Playing the rōria
Rangi Skipper plays the rōria, a simple instrument that uses the resonance of the mouth.
Images
Cpl Anaia Amohau conducts the Maori choir singing 'Maori Battalion', Helwan
Corporal Anaia Amohau
This is Corporal Anaia Amohau conducting the Māori choir singing ‘Māori Battalion’ at Helwan camp in Egypt during World War Two. Amohau started writing the words while he was in Rotorua in 1939. T...
Newspapers
A Maori Opera. (Taranaki Daily News 12-7-1904)
Māori opera ‘Tapu’
The opera Tapu (meaning sacred in Māori) was composed by Alfred Hill in 1902 and performed by the Pollard Opera Company first in Wellington then Sydney in 1904. The theme was based on the power of...
Images
Tom Tuhiwai at the powhiri for Vietnam veterans, Taranaki Street Wharf, Wellington, part of Parade '98 - Photograph taken by John Nicholson
Powhiri for Vietnam veterans
This photo was taken at the powhiri for Vietnam war veterans on Wellington’s Taranaki Street Wharf in 1998. Powhiri is a process where Tangata Whenua (hosts) welcome manuhiri (visitors) onto a mar...
Images
Rena Owen and Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell during rehearsal of Grace's tangi scene during shooting of Once were warriors, Auckland
Scene from Once were warriors.
Alan Duff, the well-known New Zealand novelist published his book ‘Once Were Warriors’ in 1990. Auckland film company Communicado Features Limited bought the rights to the book and turned it into a...
Images
Maori woman performing an action song
Māori woman performing an action song
The facial expression (called pukana) of this Māori woman performing a waiata-ā-ringa – Māori action song is as important as the movement of her hand and body. A Māori action song is more than just...
Newspapers
MAORI PERFORMERS IN A FIX (Otago Daily Times 14-10-1919)
Māori performers in a fix
Māori entertainment groups were popular in New Zealand and overseas tours also found appreciative audiences from the early 19th century. This article from 1919 is about a Māori troupe visiting Amer...
Images
Artist unknown :The poi. A pastime of the Maori maidens. [ca 1885]
Māori women singing and using poi
Three Māori women pose singing for an unknown artist. Each has a poi which she flings over her left shoulder. Traditionally poi were soft balls made from raupo attached to a flax string. Dancers us...
Audio
He Ara Pūoro
This site, which is hosted by Radio New Zealand, introduces the sound and history of traditional Māori instruments.
Stories
No hea te Kitā Māori? Where did the ‘Māori Guitar’ come from?
No hea te Kitā Māori? Where did the ‘Māori Guitar’ come from?
How did we get to the point where the guitar plays a central role in modern Maori performance? What other instruments were used as part of performances?
Stories
Waiata Māori: Early recordings
Waiata Māori: Early recordings
A selection of early 78rpm disc recordings and related material
Articles
E Kō, E Kō - Morning Chorus
Māori song encouraging children to make connections with bird songs of New Zealand birds.
Other
Voices of Tāwhirimatea
This unit focuses on traditional Māori musical instruments that carry sounds (pūoro) connected to the natural world e.g. earth, sky, wind, rain, rain, plants and animals.
Articles
Hinewehi Mohi
Biography of composer and singer HInewehi Mohi.
Websites
WWW
Taki Rua
Aotearoa New Zealand's Māori theatre company that produces theatre with a distinctive Māori voice.

Other resources

Top results for Māori Music and Performance from AnyQuestions

Ngā pūoro Māori (Māori music)
Ngā pūoro Māori (Māori music)

Māori music has many important composers, some of whom use traditional mōteatea (chanted song-poetry), and others...

Junior Secondary

Music
Music

Music is the pattern of sounds produced by people singing or playing instruments. It is also the art of creating or...

Senior Primary

Māori leaders and heroes
Māori leaders and heroes

There are many past and present Māori leaders and Māori heroes whose achievements and special qualities make them...

Junior Secondary

Māori culture and customs
Māori culture and customs

Many Answers has information about traditional Māori culture and customs.

WW100

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Top results for Māori Music and Performance from DigitalNZ

stories
Māori Music and Performance
Māori Music and Performance

Explore the Māori culture, history and uses of taonga puoro along with waiata, famous singers (traditional and...

articles
The music of Māori chant

Aesthetic value, song types, performance and style of Māori chant.

audio
Music of the Māori - Live Performances

Single tracks of several Māori groups at different N.Z. Polynesian Festival venues. Wiremu Kerekere introduces each...

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Posters - Music
Posters - Music

'Manaakitanga'. Premiere performance by Te Reo Ngawari Maori Choir. Performed at St Matthews-in-th-city, Auckland....

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