Horomona Horo demonstrates the Purerehua
- country:New Zealand
- style(s):Maori
- label:not signed
- type:Small Ensemble
- gender:male
- instrumentation:instrumental, vocal, unplugged
- artist posted by:Music Live, WAIORA
Line up
- additional percussion (not included in showcase)
- Horomona Horo (taonga puoro, traditional Maori instruments, vocal)
- Joshua Rogers (guitar, vocals)
WOMEX 13 Official Showcase Selection
Composer, practitioner and cross genre collaborator, Horomona Horo fuses the traditional instruments of the Maori, taonga puoro (singing treasures), within a diverse range of cultural and musical forms. WAIORA is his primary expression of this, where the taonga puoro are at the forefront of the music accompanied and intertwined with guitar, percussion and vocals. The group has toured in New Zealand, Europe and will perform at the Singapore Grand Prix and WOMEX in Sept/Oct 2013.
Mentored by tohunga (experts) of taonga puoro, the late Dr Hirini Melbourne and Richard Nunns, in 2001, Horo won the inaugural Dynasty Heritage Concerto Competition and in the intervening years has become the international Maori face of Taonga Puoro. Performances including orchestral work with the Weimarer Staatskapelle Orchestra, hip-hop with Pao Pao Pao, Opera in the Park with Kiri Te Kanawa, guest artist at the 90th Commemorations of the Battle of Passchendaele, and international tours with Moana and the Tribe, Canti Maori, Irish collaboration - Green Fire Islands and the Voices NZ Choir have enabled Horomona to extend his knowledge and skills across diverse genres whilst remaining a cultural and musical educator in his own right.
Horo continues to emerse himself in the unique sounds, techniques and intrinsic significance and practises of taonga puoro. Not only of musical significance, the instruments are part of the holistic culture of all life, birth, death and nature, to which he was born. Each instrument has a specific use within rights of passage, storytelling and daily life of the Maori peoples. This daily life-breathing of the instruments is the distinguishing mark of his work and recent compositions and collaborations with Nga Tae, the NZTrio, UK Composer Paul Lewis (Legends of Rotorua) and Italian Flautist, Luca Manghi, bear witness to this fact in a strong, audible manner, combined with a sound knowledge of contemporary musical techniques.
Horo welcomes new compositional and performing collaborations as well as opportunities to give masterclasses and educate in traditional Maori music, dance and culture.