Tuilagi Dr Igelese Ete Photo: Supplied
Sing Aotearoa is back! After a seven-year break, the NZ Choral Federation's triennial festival for those who love choral singing will be taking place in Tāmaki Makaurau at the end of September.
It's a weekend of singing, practical workshops and performances, directed by some of Aotearoa's leading choral practitioners. The theme of this year’s festival is We Are One Voice.
Tuilagi Dr Igelese Ete is Co-Artistic Director for Sing Aotearoa. He spoke with RNZ Concert's David Morriss about the three-day event, his own choral background, and how choral music can inspire and empower.
Igelese has been directing choirs since the age of 14. "That's what happens when you're the pastor's son in a Samoan church," he laughs. "There's no choice!"
Choral directing has taught some valuable skills, he says. "When you're trying to conduct chiefs, you've obviously got to be very tactful – there's no way you can tell them [things] in an abrasive way. So I've sort of learnt diplomacy through my choir direction in the church."
Igelese says choral singing can be a powerful tool which can inspire and empower, something he loves about it.
"That's what I've taken on board for our Pacific young people. I use music for them to sing texts that relate to them, whether it be Pacific or whether it be Western: it's music that inspires and empowers them."
"And I've had a case where I had somebody who wanted to commit suicide come to a rehearsal I was taking of one of my productions, Malaga – the Journey, and wrote me an email 10 years later saying, 'Sir, I was going to commit suicide but I sang all these amazing songs. I was so lifted up – it's worth living'".
"And that, to me, is the power of music."
Sing Aotearoa 2023
29 September - 1 October
Dew Drop Events Centre, Manukau
