Dave Dobbyn to pay tribute to Pike 29

Dave Dobbyn to pay tribute to Pike 29

A concert in Wellington in May this year entitled ‘Dreams Lie Deeper’ will be a tribute to mining communities worldwide and a commemoration of events that have irrevocably changed the course of their lives, with focus on the Pike River Mine disaster that threw a whole community into turmoil and brought their plight into every New Zealand household overnight.

The concert will showcase a new work by legendary New Zealand singer-songwriter Dave Dobbyn, who has been commissioned to write both the lyrics and music for a tribute to the miners who lost their lives in the tragedy of 2010.

“I am deeply honoured to be asked by the Orpheus Choir to write a piece for the Pike River 29 and their families and community. Having met some of the miners' bereaved families and their advocates, I'm very close to the task now.. Their grief is overwhelmingly compounded by the ongoing travesty of Pike River. It's an injustice that is heart-wrenching and a story that must be etched into the heart and mind of every New Zealander,” says Dave Dobbyn.

Dave Dobbyn will be joined by the 160-strong Orpheus Choir, the award-winning Wellington Brass Band and Wellington Young Voices, a recently-established children’s choir, in a very special performance.

The Pike River community has confirmed its unreserved support for the concert with Colin Smith, Chairman of the Pike River Families Group Committee saying, “The Pike River families are humbled that The Orpheus Choir of Wellington have commissioned Dave Dobbyn to write a song in honour of their men, who were tragically killed in the Pike River Mine disaster. The families whole heartedly support the Choir’s Dreams Lie Deeper concert and have no doubt it will be a very moving event. Those family members who are able to attend are very much looking forward to being a part of the forthcoming concert.”

Complementing the commissioned work will be an internationally acclaimed contemporary choral work, ‘17 Days’, by British composer James McCarthy, inspired by the dramatic rescue of 33 Chilean miners in 2010 and premiered in London in 2012; and
‘If Blood be the Price’ (composed by New Zealander Ross Harris, set to a poem by NZ Poet Laureate Vincent O’Sullivan), inspired by the Waihi miners’ strike in 1912.

Performance: Saturday 10 May 2014 at 7:30pm, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington
Booking: Ticketek – www.ticketek.co.nz (tickets available from Friday 31st Jan)

ENDS

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