Released: 21 Jan 2013
Filed under: Ethnomusicology | Events | Jazz | Staff | Student

Students from NZSM's new Pasifika Music courses, led by lecturer Opeloge Ah Sam, added to the Anniversary Weekend festivities in Wellington. 

The Wellington Positively Pasifika Festival 2013 was a fantastic experience for some of our Pasifika students from NZSM who performed as a jazz group," Opeloge told us. "We had Ka'isa Beech on bass guitar, Johnson Taeao on Keyboard, Solomon Esera with vocals and Damien Rex-Horoi on guitar [pictured above] along with alumnus Andre Paris on sax and myself on drums.

"The young musicians enjoyed the fantastic opportunity to perform in front of a big crowd at Waitangi Park who responded well to their performance. They have really gained in confidence and experience through the courses last year. They performed a Samoan song in a jazz-bossa nova feel called Tele i'a o le sami ('There's plenty of fish in the sea'), Cantaloupe Island and Summertime.

"As a result of the publicity created by their participation, many of the audience approached our students after to ask about Te Koki NZ School of Music."

The Positively Pasifika festival was held in Waitangi Park with a wide range of  food, traditional performances and ‘have-a-go’ activities celebrating diverse Pacific cultures. The theme of this year’s Pasifika festival was ‘We Are The Ocean’, which acknowledged Pacific Islanders’ voyaging cultures and connections. 

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