Tourism NZ Releases Bespoke Matariki Composition With Grammy Award-winning Indigenous Instrumentalist - Jerome Kavanagh

This Friday, Aotearoa New Zealand will recognise Matariki as an official public holiday, the first to recognise Te Ao Māori (the Māori world view) and one of the first re-introduced Indigenous celebrations in the world.

To celebrate the inaugural holiday, Tourism New Zealand has partnered with Grammy award-winning Māori instrumentalist Jerome Kavanagh to create a bespoke composition – Nga Taritari o Matariki (the Winds of Matariki) – that calls on New Zealanders to gather, reconnect and reflect with whānau and loved ones.

To create this special piece of music, Jerome collaborated with Tāwhirimātea, the god of wind, by returning to his whenua, Pukeokahu. He walked up his maunga to a ridge that was once an observatory/viewing platform for his ancestors to see Matariki and the night sky. It was there he waited for Tāwhirimātea to make his presence felt through his taonga puoro (instruments).

The result is a stunning composition that welcomes the winds of Matariki, and encourages New Zealanders to reflect and reconnect with whānau and loved ones, and to enjoy the celebration of Matariki together.

“When creating the song, I really wanted to honour the sounds of the wind and the idea of travelling back home to where you’re from,” says Jerome.

“The whole theme is around returning home to your whānau (family) and friends when you feel the change in seasonal winds. I wanted to create a piece of music that used only Taonga Puoro to help people rest, revive and create something that people all over the world could use.”

“And for those that can’t get home this Matariki, I would love them to use this piece of music as an outlet to reflect, think of family, be transported home and look up to the stars feeling connected, as our ancestors once did.”

Audio, Imagery, and Video:

Nga Taritari o Matariki (the Winds of Matariki) audio here; and video here

A selection of still and moving visuals available here

These can be shared from Thursday 23 June, 5am

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