Pacific Mix
Eleven-piece New Zealand band Te Vaka travelled to Macau where they enchanted the audience with the sound of the South Pacific, just as they have done at venues throughout the world…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Wilson pitches the unpitchable
Christchurch comedian Cal Wilson is part of this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, performing on March 29 in Axed! The show is billed as “stories of the unpitchable, unprintable and unwatchable” and the…
Kezia comes alive
Katherine Mansfield’s Prelude and Carnation are amongst four of the writer’s short stories adapted for theatre and performed by Toronto’s Theatre Smith-Gilmour, celebrated for their stage adaptations of Chekhov. The Mansfield…
Tour of Auckland
The Flight of the Conchord’s manager Murray Hewitt, Aucklander Rhys Darby, introduces the Guardian‘s Sarah Bourn to New Zealand’s largest city and his favourite place, One Tree Hill. “I used to go there a…
Contemporary Navigation
Dancer and choreographer Jeremy Nelson’s latest performance Sail, is inspired by his childhood in New Zealand; inspired by the sea, the Maori haka and rugby. Nelson performed Sail at New York’s Danspace Project,…
Maconie Explains Stockhausen on War
Composer and musicologist New Zealand-born Robin Maconie writes about celebrated German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s controversial statement after September 9/11, in which he called the terrorist attacks “the greatest work of art” ever. Maconie writes:…
Off-Stage Antics
Wellington-born musician and “New York Rock God” Dean Wareham formed the band Luna in 1992 and later, together with his second wife Britta Phillips, Dean & Britta. Black Postcards is Wareham’s…
Portable stories
Wellington production company Gibson Group’s made-for-mobile drama series My Story has been purchased by French conglomerate Lagardère Group from ohm:tv, a Cologne-based developer and distributer of TV formats, programmes and mobile phone content. Produced…
Dale’s no loony
New Zealand actor and Ugly Betty star Alan Dale treads the West End boards in his debut appearance as King Arthur in the comedy Spamalot at London’s Palace Theatre. Dale was born in Dunedin…
Donaldson’s heist
Director Roger Donaldson’s The Bank Job is the latest flick from the film-maker who began his career in New Zealand with Sleeping Dogs in 1977. Bank Job is “solid entertainment”, according to Los Angeles…
Promises Reviewed
Dunedin indie band Die! Die! Die! is currently touring Los Angeles and Austin, Texas to promote their latest album Promises, Promises released in the US in February. Die! Die! Die! may sound less like…
Debut at the Met
New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes made news again this week with a number of glowing reviews for his first role at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes. The New York…
NZ Whaler Doco
The BBC is making a documentary about ex-Royal New Zealand Montague Whaler, the Essex which sunk in the South Pacific in 1819 whilst chasing an aggressive sperm whale. The Essex was twice rammed, the…
Finn unpacked
Auckland artist Martin Ball’s portrait of singer Neil Finn is up for Australia’s most prestigous art award, the Archibald Prize. Ball won the Archibald Packing Room prize, selected annually by backroom staff at the…
Laureate discovers
Wellington poet Bill Manhire is profiled in The Age as a man who quite accidentally fell upon letters, who secretly wrote at school until he read Walt Whitman in his final year at school….
Marsh Remembered
Christchurch-born writer Dame Ngaio Marsh has been named one of the Daily Telegraph’s 50 favourite crime writers, with Vintage Murder (1937) recommended. Marsh is described as “a New Zealander who created a quintessentially English…
Full dance card
New Zealand singer/songwriter Liam Finn is in Brooklyn, New York playing at the Music Hall of Williamsburg before an interview on Letterman and a tour as support act for Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder….
Vintner Role for Paikea
New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, has begun filming The Vintner’s Luck, based on Elizabeth Knox’s novel of the same name and directed by Niki Caro. Castle-Hughes told the New Zealand Herald she…
Bursting Into Canzone
New Zealand bass-baritone Paul Whelan stepped out of the audience and onto the stage to sing the part of Raimundo at a London Coliseum performance of Lucia di Lammermoor. Whelan, who is due to…
Pseudonym on show
Auckland artist et al.’s installation altruistic studies features at the world renowned Swiss exhibition Art Basel 39 in June. Et al. won New Zealand’s prestigious Walters Prize in 2003 for restricted…
Rhodes vies for Bianca
New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes performs in Rossini’s Bianca e Fallierio at Washington D.C’s Lisner Auditorium in April. Rhodes stars as Capellio, Fallierio’s rival for the affections of Bianca. Rhodes won New Zealand’s…
Drawn on difference
Preeminent documentary photographer Mark Adams is making his North American debut with the exhibition Tatau: Samoan Tattooing and Global Culture at Canada’s Ontario College of Art & Design. The exhibition explores the Samoan…
The most popular
Wellington comedy pair The Flight of the Conchords won best comedy album Grammy for their debut EP The Distant Future at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The EP…
Pianist in Demand
Award-winning New Zealand pianist and current associate professor of piano at Florida State University Read Gainsford has performed throughout the world as solo recitalist, concert soloist and chamber musician. Gainsford performs at Middle…
Sculptured theme park
Since 1992, New Zealand art collector Alan Gibbs has commissioned both national and international artists to contribute to a sculpture park on his farm in Kaukapakapa, Auckland. New York artist Tony Oursler’s video projections…
Dazzling Debut
Liam Finn’s solo debut, I’ll Be Lightning, has received widespread praise in the US, where it was released this week. Paste magazine calls it “a dazzling solo debut” while The Wall Street Journal praises…
Campion on Frame
Jane Campion writes about her encounters with creative compatriot Janet Frame in The Guardian this month. The NZ-born filmmaker brought Frame’s life story to an international audience with her acclaimed film An Angel at…
Room in Europe
Anne Noble, one of New Zealand’s most respected photographers, began the European tour of her provocative exhibition Ruby’s Room in Paris at the Musée du quai Branly in January. Part of the museum’s…
Portrait of a Lady
New Zealander Daisy Wilkie has been immortalised in oil for Australia’s leading portrait prize. Australian artist Malcolm Smith chose Wilkie as his Archibald Prize subject after meeting her at one of the art classes…
Arrondissement-on-the-Edge
NZ-born architect Brendan MacFarlane is playing a major role in the redevelopment of Paris’s 13th arrondissement. The planning project for the French capital’s “nouveau quartier” is known as Paris Rive Gauche, and has…
Christchurch soprano tops UK sales
Hayley Westenra‘s breakthrough album has been named the UK’s biggest-selling classical record of the 21st-century to date. Pure (2003), the Christchurch singer’s international debut, went gold in its first week of release in…
Hobbit back in Jackson’s court
Peter Jackson has settled his long-running legal dispute with New Line and will make The Hobbit for the studio as originally planned. Jackson and his creative partner Fran Walsh have announced that they will…
It’s All About Murray
NZ comedian Rhys Darby earned a special mention in The Guardian‘s entertainment guide awards for 2007. Darby was named Best Supporting Character for his role as beleaguered band manager Murray Hewitt in Flight of…
NZ ceremony honoured in UK
The dedication ceremony for the New Zealand Memorial at London’s Hyde Park has won a major British award. The event won the International Visual Communication Association (IVCA) award for projects that inform and…
Familiar sights in Utah
25,000 International Rotary members were treated to a Polynesian luau at a Utah convention centre this month. The performance, which involved story, song and dance, was put on by Kaeo-born Dave Atkinson, chairman of…
Making a Splash with Splatter
A current trend for home-grown horror in NZ film is noted by Variety magazine. The article points to recent features Black Sheep, The Tattooist and The Ferryman as examples of the genre by first-time…
Good morning Beijing
NZ journalist Edwin Maher, the first Western news anchor on Chinese state television, has received China’s highest honour for foreigners. Maher was awarded the Chinese government’s “Friendship Award” in a ceremony at the Great…
Bright lights beckon for Wellington student
Wellington student Landen Hale-Brown has a lead role in the Australian production of Billy Elliot the Musical. Hale-Brown, 12, won the role of Billy’s best friend Michael over 3000 other hopefuls. He made…
First NZ doco selected for Sundance
A NZ documentary has won a place at the Sundance Film Festival for the first time. The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins by Auckland filmmaker Pietra Brettkelly will compete in the World…
An appreciative audience
The Telegraph describes Crowded House’s performance as “just like old times” and Neil Finn’s voice as “Lennonnish” in a review of their show at Manchester’s MEN Arena. “There’s a long tradition of audience participation…
Magic realist
Aotearoa North Carolina (US) artist Robert Johnson has just returned from a three month stint in NZ. The magic realist painter bought an old van in Auckland and toured the country from north to…
Rotorua Takes Root in Nanjing
Rotorua Town is the latest in a series of namesake housing compounds to be built for China’s booming upper class. Located in Nanjing, two hours from Shanghai, Rotorua Town is an upmarket gated…
Grand statements
Auckland artist Dane Mitchell, 31, has been selected to exhibit at Miami’s prestigious Art Basel fair in June 2008. Mitchell’s work will feature in the Art Statements section for emerging artists, and will be…
Hot shot
NZ photographer Stefanie Young is part of a group show called Tripping the Light Fantastic, which has just opened at the Agora Gallery in Chelsea, New York. Young, who currently lectures at the Waikato…
Edge Treatment for Classic Americana
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the new film by director Andrew Dominik, earned four stars out of five in The Guardian. “This is a real success for New Zealand-born,…
From death row to Don Giovanni
Star NZ baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes has shown his versatility in an impressive series of Australian opera roles this year. In August, Tahu Rhodes played construction worker Stanley Kowalski in the Australian premiere of…
Nearing perfection
The Guardian‘s guide to the world’s greatest music acts beginning with C features Flying Nun luminaries The Chills. The band’s 1994 best-of, Heavenly Pop Hits, is recommended to first-time listeners. The Guardian: “Set…
Guitar-based Digi-bongo Acapella-rap-funk-comedy Folk gets Sexy
Wellingtonians of the Year Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement (AKA Flight of the Conchords) have made Salon‘s ‘Sexiest Man Living’ list for 2007. Salon promotes its list as an alternative to People‘s better…
Writing for Change
Icon Books (UK) has just released its third edition of 50 Facts That Should Change the World, the best-selling book by NZ journalist Jessica Williams. 50 Facts aims to shock readers into social…
A painter’s painter
NZ-born artist Peter Boggs has just wrapped up a critically acclaimed exhibition at Canberra’s Beaver Galleries. Canberra Times critic Sasha Grishin compares Boggs to Giorgio Morandi and Edward Hopper, and describes his latest…
Home tour for Split Enz
Iconic NZ group Split Enz will tour their home country next year in support of their new live DVD/CD, One Out Of The Bag. Split Enz recorded One Out Of The Bag in 2006…
Music that moves you
The acclaimed NZ String Quartet is currently touring the United States’ East Coast. Formed 20 years ago, the Wellington-based group consists of cellist Rolf Gjelsten, first violinist Helene Pohl, violinist Douglas Beilman and violist…
Geddes gets personal
Anne Geddes, the world’s most famous baby photographer, has published an autobiography documenting her 25-year career. Labor of Love is a personal departure for Geddes, whose previous best-selling books have been pictorial collections. “The…
On the up
Auckland juggler Mike Twist is building a name for himself internationally with his uniquely entertaining act. Twist began his career in at the Rainbow’s End theme park in Auckland, and has gone on to…
Bags of talent
NZ filmmaker Haydn Butler is the only non-US finalist in an online advertising competition sponsored by Al Gore’s Current TV. Butler’s clip The Bags was selected from more than 300 entries to make the…
Cosmic pop
One-woman Christchurch act Bachelorette is winning over Australian audiences with her “beautifully odd, inter-planetary pop”. Annabel Alpers is currently touring Australia with her new album, Isolation Loops, which she recorded in a remote wooden…
