UCOL Musicians Give ‘Em a Taste of Kiwi

UCOL Musicians Give ‘Em a Taste of Kiwi

Kiwi music will get right royal treatment from UCOL’s Certificate in Contemporary Music on Thursday night.

The 40 aspiring musicians will perform home grown hits at the Royal Tavern as part of their programme assessment.

Lead by local musicians and UCOL tutors Kane Parsons and Graham Johnston, the Certificate programme has a strong emphasis on live performance.

There are regular band rehearsals, 13 hours per week of classroom tuition and practical tuition and practical tutorials covering music theory, composition, and in arranging music. Students form bands and are trained to perform in eight different musical genres during the year including Blues, Rock, Homegrown, Reggae, Country, 80’s Pop, Urban and Rock n Roll.

The regular Royal gigs give them the chance to perform each genre in front of a live audience. “The students have attracted quite a loyal following,” says Graham. “There’s usually an impressive turn out and that creates a great buzz.”

“We have timed the performance of the Kiwi music genre to coincide with New Zealand Music month.”

Each of the eight bands are required to perform two ‘covers’ of their own choosing and arrangement, a song they have composed themselves and a ‘control’ song. The control song for Thursday’s session was written by Mitchell Tareha, a graduate from last year’s Contemporary Music programme.

“We decided to use Mitchell’s song to create a flow on from last year’s class,” says Graham. “It’s a great song in its own right and Mitchell also receives APRA fees every time it is performed.”

In its second year, the UCOL programme boasts a full class capacity and the students have become regular performers at UCOL events across all three campuses.

The Contemporary Music students will also put on a concert at the Globe Theatre on 6 July and present an end of year Showcase in November.

Where and when: The Royal Tavern, Thursday 26 May. 6.00pm – 9.00pm. Free entry.

ENDS