Tēnā koe na Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori

This week (20-27 Hongongoi (July), 2008) is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week. Every year since 1975 New Zealand has used this as a time for all New Zealanders to celebrate te reo Māori (the Māori language) and to use more Māori phrases in everyday life. For example, this link will take you to a list of 100 Maori words that NZ History online thinks all New Zealanders should know. The theme this year is 'te reo i te kainga – Māori language in the home'.

SOUNZ fully supports this initiative which shares so many common ideals and aims with our own mission: celebrating the sounds of New Zealand and New Zealanders, their uniqueness and  creativity.

SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music is also known as Toi te Arapūoru, 'the pathway to the musical arts' and our vision is expressed as: tipua i Aotearoa, rangona e te ao! (created in New Zealand, heard around the world!)

To celebrate Māori Language Week, we'd like to draw your attention to the many resources: scores, recordings and publications available through SOUNZ that feature and celebrate te reo and taonga puoro: 

• more than 100 recordings featuring te reo Māori: including the soundtracks to Lands of our Fathers and The Māori Merchant of Venice, Kura Huna, Forest and Ocean and Soul Sessions
  
• 25 recordings featuring taonga puoro: including Te hekenga-a-rangi, Ipu, Puhake ki te rangi, Tuhonohono and Two Tides.
  
• 68 choral or vocal scores in te reo Māori: including Hine e Hine (one of eight versions!), E rewa mai,  The Ever-circling Light, and Taiohi taiao.
• many publications and resources: including the four-part Nga Moteatea series, Waiata Mai and other songbooks, Taonga Puoro
•  and much much more....
  

You can use the 'Other Pathways' of the Categories on the left hand side of the Music pages to find many other works which celebrate Māori culture, language, themes and concepts.

Follow this link for example, to see more than 260 works that celebrate tikanga Māori (culture), and this one for 165 works featuring te reo Māori in particular.

Me whāwhā, me whakarongo ki ngā whakairo pūorutanga a Te Arapūoru i runga i te harikoa!
(Enjoy exploring and discovering the msuic of New Zealand's composers!)