DIARY NOTE AND
MEDIA RELEASE
20 June 2005

Moana & the Tribe Live and Proud (One Auckland Concert only)
At Holy Trinity Cathedral – 6 August 2005

The “Diva of Maori music”, a master carver’s celebrated works – and an evening of sublime cultural fusion served in a sacred setting.

On August 6th 2005 (7.30pm) Moana and the Tribe will perform once only in Auckland this year at the Holy Trinity Cathedral (Parnell) before taking their unique brand of music back to Europe for the 4th year in a row. The group will sing and dance surrounded by the works of some of New Zealand’s top artists. Accompanied by gigantic video projections featuring the works of Shane Cotton, Darcy Nicolas and John Walsh, Moana & the Tribe will also perform among 17 former St Stephen’s College carvings, by master carver Pakaariki Harrison (Ngati Porou).

Moana and the Tribe (www.moananz.com) are honoured and acclaimed throughout the world, but particularly in Europe where they’ve performed in castles, festivals and theatres to thousands of people. With four CDs and a multi-lingual DVD to their credit, the band is praised and followed for its unique blend of Maori traditional music and contemporary Western grooves. Last year, Moana became the first non-American to win a major US based song contest with her song Moko beating over 11,000 composers.

“I wanted to bring our strongly Maori music and kaupapa to the people of Auckland again, after our full to the rafters concert at Te Papa,” says Moana, commenting on the concert. “My mission is to take positive, uplifting messages that unify and bring people together. With the impending election, where Maori can be used for point scoring, my personal commitment is to encourage dialogue. It is my experience that ordinary New Zealanders, Maori and non Maori, share common goals and visions. New Zealanders have a keen sense of justice; and what is positioned as a race debate is in fact a debate about injustice. Our music is a bridge – engagement with the issues in an open, entertaining and enjoyable way.

“But mainly, we put on an excellent concert!”

Moana and her partner Toby Mills produced an award-winning documentary (He Tohunga Whakairo) about Paki Harrison.

The carvings (poupou) which The Tribe will perform amongst, some nearly two metres high, are of Maori and church figures of significance to St Stephens and to the Anglican Church. They are also outstanding artworks in their own right, from a tohunga whakairo (master carver). Paki Harrison has depicted Bishop Selwyn, Rota Waitoa (the first Maori to be ordained in the Anglican church 1853), Bishop Fred Bennett (an old boy) and Bishop Wiremu Panapa (also an old boy of the school) – to name a few.

The carvings and tukutuku panelling stood in wharenui (meeting house) of St Stephen’s school and became infamous when they were stolen in January 2004. They were returnedo the school Trust Board in December 2004.

The concert will coincide with a soon to be announced lecture and discussion series hosted in the Cathedral, debating the shape of New Zealand as New Zealanders want it, twenty years from now.

Holy Trinity Cathedral’s setting will lend dramatic and appropriate atmosphere to the concert. The main Cathedral stained glass windows by Nigel Brown tell the story of Christ, New Zealand pakeha and Maori living together, a great migration across the Pacific, and the pakeha settlement of Auckland. The side windows by Shane Cotton and Bob Ellis explore Maori and Christianity themes.

Event: Moana & The Tribe, one and only spectacular event
Date: Saturday, 6th August
Time: 7.30pm for 90 minutes
Place: Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell, Auckland HYPERLINK "http://www.holy-trinity.org.nz" www.holy-trinity.org.nz
Tickets: Available from Redtickets at your local postshop 0800-000-575
HYPERLINK "http://www.redtickets.co.nz" www.redtickets.co.nz
Price: Adults $20, Seniors and children under 15 years $15

Final word from Moana Maniapoto:
“We meld our music with dance, haka, traditional instruments, moving image, and harmonies. Our lyrics reflect our cultural, social, spiritual and political reality. We are a fusion. We represent the Maori reality today – informed, educated, articulate, confident and highly talented. That’s what people need to see. Wipe away the stereotypes!”

ENDS