Unitec to host rare workshop by Dr Richard Nunns

Unitec to host rare workshop by Dr Richard Nunns - traditional Maori music expert

Auckland audiences will have a rare opportunity to join master musicians Dr Richard Nunns and James Webster for a two-day workshop exploring taonga puoro - traditional Maori instruments - on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th November at Unitec's Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae.

This will be the first public workshop of its kind that Dr Nunns has held in Auckland where he will be joined by fellow musical collaborator James Webster, who has an extensive knowledge of taonga puoro and the tradition Maori arts, including whakairo rakau (carving) and ta moko (tattooing).

Dr Nunns is regarded as the world's foremost authority on taonga puoro. He recently performed at Ted X Auckland and has received numerous awards including an honorary doctorate of music from Victoria University in 2008, the QSM for services to Taonga Puoro in 2009, and an Arts Laureate in the same year.

He and fellow musician the late Hirini Melbourne were inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2009 and awarded joint recipients of the Lifetime Contribution to Maori Music Award in 2012.

Athina Tsoulis, Deputy Executive Dean for the Faculty of Creative Industries and Business at Unitec says they are delighted to be hosting this rare workshop.

"Richard Nunns has contributed so much knowledge and inspired so many in the art of Maori tradition instruments and music," says Tsoulis.

"Unbelievably Dr Nunns has never held an interactive workshop of this type before in Auckland," she says, "so it's absolutely a unique opportunity for the local community and Maori music enthusiasts to come along and be enriched by the wisdom, expertise and hands-on guidance shared by these two remarkable masters of taonga puoro."

Workshop participants will make and play a range of Maori instruments used to mimic bird-cry and the sounds of the natural environment. Bookings are essential as only 30 places are available. For further details, visit www.unitec.ac.nz/richardnunns

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