An image promoting A Waka Odyssey that features music composed for the theatrical performance Kupe by School of Music and Creative Media Production senior lecturer Warren Maxwell.
School of Music and Creative Media Production senior lecturer and award-winning musician Warren Maxwell and lecturer and engineer Bridget Johnson are part of the 2018 New Zealand Festival.
Maxwell, of Little Bushman and Trinity Roots and formerly with Fat Freddy’s Drop, has composed a piece of music for Kupe, part of a spectacular theatrical performance A Waka Odyssey, which includes a 250-strong choir. It will welcome a fleet of waka into Wellington Harbour to herald the start of the biennial New Zealand Festival on Friday.
The performance will be accompanied by a new haka devised by Kura Moeahu for the event, which will be staged by 1000 people on the Wellington waterfront.
“Collaborating and weaving this event together with local Iwi, waka voyagers, choir directors, producers, choreographers and Anna Marbrook (the artistic director) has been something that has awakened a response of deeper relevance for me,” Maxwell says.
Water is a theme that constantly laps alongside Maxwell’s work for the festival as he references water quality issues ranging from the appearance of plastic gyres in our oceans to mounting concerns over unswimmable rivers.
“To have been asked to compose the music for this opening event has been an absolute privilege and I hope to see optimistic ripples coursing through clean waterways for generations to come because of it.”
Warren Maxwell.
In addition, senior lecturer Dr Bridget Johnson is contributing her skills to a piece by Wellington-based musicians and engineers called Mechanical Ballet, which brings to life mechatronic loudspeakers and percussion instruments. The performance keeps pace with percussionists from leading Kiwi ensemble Stroma and top New Zealand pianists Sarah Watkins and Stephen De Pledge. The presentation also includes the premiere of Dr Johnson’s own composition “Pas de Quatre”. The work features loudspeaker that tilt, bow, spin, and dance. Drawing inspiration from the mechanical ballet the loudspeakers have been developed to allow the unique collision of the mechanical and organic worlds, she says.
“It’s really exciting to see the NZ festival embracing such experimental and innovative art forms in this year’s event. It is a huge honour to be working on this show and have my new work featured alongside such highly esteemed artists.”
Kupe, featuring music by Warren Maxwell 7pm, Friday February 23, Wellington waterfront
Mechanical Ballet, created by musicians and engineers including the premier of “Pas De Quatre” by Bridget Johnson, 7pm, Saturday March 17, Hannah Playhouse, Wellington