The Pacific Music Awards Trust are proud to announce the Manukau Institute of Technology Lifetime Achievement Award will
be posthumously presented to Her Majesty Queen Sālote Tupou lll.
Her Royal Highness Princess ‘Ofeina ‘e he Langi Fakafānua, grandchild of the late Queen Sālote, will be accepting the
award at the 15th Pacific Music Awards on Thursday 23 May 2019.
Her Majesty Queen Sālote Tupou III ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Tonga in 1918 when she was just eighteen years
old and reigned for almost forty-eight years until her death in 1965.
A gifted composer of Tongan music she expressed love, loss and culture in her work. Her Majesty Queen Sālote composed
over one hundred songs, lullabies, laments and dances.
The Pacific Music Awards acknowledges Her Majesty Queen Sālote's huge contribution to the preservation and creative use
of the Tongan language and recognises her as a celebrated writer of poetry and song.
Her Majesty Queen Sālote possessed unrivalled knowledge of genealogies, traditions of Tongan customs and a strong sense
of duty and love for her people of Tonga, which also meant strong connections and responsibilities to the South Pacific
region.
Through her relationship with Aotearoa's Princess Te Puea and Kingitanga to Samoa's Lau High Chiefs, she identified
Tonga's progress and development was interlinked with Te Moana nui a kiwa - our South Pacific unity, identity and
sovereignty.
Her legacy as a Royal Mother of Tonga and a beloved, esteemed Queen of the South Pacific inspires us through her deep
faith, service to her nation and to the South Pacific as a whole.
Her compositions of Tongan music continue to inspire a new generation, now aware of our rich past and to our shared
futures.
Her Majesty Queen Sālote’s music is played all over the world by string bands and well-known artists; her legacy lives
on through her music and poetry.
There will be a special tribute performance to the late Queen Sālote on the night, which is a collaboration by Rewaken,
John Pulu, Tongan Creatives and Lomipeau Aotearoa, alongside live music from Adeaze, Poetik Melodownz, Razé, Tree,
Punialava’a, Jaro Local and Tomorrow People.
Tickets to the Pacific Music Awards can be purchased through eventfinda.co.nz.