Star rising in London
New Zealander Madeleine Pierard, 29, won the 25 Lexus Song Quest and as a result spent four years at London’s Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio, taking up a two-year contract…
Tag Archives: London
U2 pay tribute
The 29 men who perished in the Pike River coal mine tragedy were honoured during the song One Tree Hill at the November 27 U2 concert, with their names listed on a massive stage…
Drawn to the horizon
It is the lot of New Zealanders to be peripatetic, says author Lloyd Jones, 55, in an interview with the Independent on Sunday’s James Kidd in Streatham, south London. But at least they have…
Kopapa in the West End
New Zealand-born chef-proprietor of London’s Providores and Tapa Room Peter Gordon is set to open a new restaurant, called Kopapa in Convent Garden in December. Dishes will include Turkish poached eggs with whipped yogurt…
Classic Q for Finn
Neil Finn, 52, earned a Classic Songwriter Award at the Q Awards 21 held in London at Grosvenor House on October 25. He was presented with the award by Scottish singer KT Tunstall, who…
Roundhouse drama
Wellington seven-piece dub/reggae group Fat Freddy’s Drop played a sold-out gig at the Bristol Academy and at Brighton’s Concorde2 in September on their European tour. Their live experience is now available in their latest…
Apprentice Acumen
Paloma Vivanco-Coutts, 29, is the first New Zealander to appear on reality television show The Apprentice UK. Peruvian-born Vivanco-Coutts has been living in London since 2006. She recently married a New Zealander and is…
Patent Challenge
New Zealand patent lawyer Professor Yvonne Cripps, who is now based in London, was recently a guest on the BBC World’s radio programme The Forum discussing the patenting of genes and whether “we really…
London to Gaza
Six New Zealanders, calling themselves the “Kia Ora Gaza” team, will make up part of an aid convoy taking humanitarian assistance to Gaza departing from London on September 18. Queen’s Service Medal recipient, Aucklander…
Zest for News
BBC current affairs TV producer and executive New Zealand-born Janine Thomason has died aged 63. She was born to Lesley and Jack, her father being director of marketing and technical support at the New…
Sweetheart sings
Christchurch-born singer Hayley Westenra, 23, is performing with the College Band of the RAF at Blackburn’s King George’s Hall for the Battle of Britain 7th Anniversary Tour on July 12, “furthering her status as…
Police Found Culpable
The death of New Zealand anti-fascist protestor, Blair Peach, in a London demonstration against the National Front in April 1979, “marked one of the most controversial events in modern policing history”, writes the Guardian’s…
Lounging on Air
Air New Zealand is to introduce 22 “Skycouches” — formed out of three economy seats abreast that fold out to create a lie-flat space — in the first 11 rows in the economy cabin…
Further Accolades for Brown
Ladyhawke is up for another music gong this month having been nominated for a BRIT best International Female Solo Artist award. Masterton-born Pip Brown, 30, will compete with big name stars Lady Gaga, Rihanna,…
Bevan Honoured in NY
Queenstown-born, London-based Academy Award-nominated film producer Tim Bevan will be presented with a career tribute at the 19th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York on November 30. Bevan has worked as producer…
Bones for the Queen
Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones has been selected to screen at November’s Royal Film Performance in London’s Leicester Square. Jackson said he is “honoured” it has been selected, adding its making has been “an…
Fox treads the boards
Wellington actress Kerry Fox stars in the Andrew Bovell play Speaking in Tongues on at Duke of York’s Theatre in London. Fox plays Jane, who witnesses a possible crime and struggles with her decision…
Designing winner’s wares
London-based New Zealand jewellery designer Jessica McCormack, was recently invited to design the 2009 winner’s trophy for Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden. The trophy (pictured above) featured an architectural rose as a symbol…
Squat sophisticates
Aucklander Dan Simon, 31, and his art collective ‘The Oubliette’ have been squatting in two 15 million pound mansions in the exclusive suburb of Mayfair, London, transforming the six-story buildings into a cultural centre…
World Odyssey continues
South Seas Film School graduates New Zealanders Julian Hanton and Camilla Andersen joined forces to film Travel Channel-commissioned television series Julian and Camilla’s World Odyssey; the show’s first season was one of the…
Tui time at the Vector
Auckland band Midnight Youth and London-based Ladyhawke — aka Pip Brown — have both been nominated for a number of awards to be presented at this year’s New Zealand Music Awards held at the…
All in this Together
The Age of Stupid producer Auckland-born Lizzie Gillett, 31, spent five years working on the climate change drama-documentary with McLibel director Briton Franny Armstrong “working through obstacles as they come up: from difficult…
Thinking woman’s crumpet
Taranaki-born editor of women’s erotic magazine Filament Suraya Singh, 30, has succeeded in publishing an image of a sexually aroused man in the publication’s second issue and now claims to be “the…
Singing his praises
Ashburton-born opera singer Simon O’Neill, 37, has been named in a list of the world’s top 10 tenors by an influential London radio station. Rankings in the July issue of Classic FM magazine position…
Roots of laughter
New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby, 35, is returning to the UK and standup comedy performing a number of London gigs at the Bloomsbury Theatre and a stint at the upcoming Edinburgh Festival August 6…
Accolades for Catton
Wellington author of The Rehearsal (Victoria University Press, NZ and Granta, UK) Eleanor Catton, 23, has won the UK’s Betty Trask Award worth £8,000. Sebastian Faulks presented £60,500 in prize money to twenty-one writers…
Hot in the Isles
Ladyhawke played to a packed audience, including The O.C. A-lister Mischa Barton, in the John Peel Tent at this year’s Glastonbury Festival on June 28. “Pip Brown and her band played a charged set…
Eruption Earns Bafta
Visual effects producer Marie Jones, formerly of Invercargill, has won a Bafta for her special effects work on BBC1’s sci-fi drama Doctor Who in an episode called Fires of Pompeii, as part of London…
Dunedin’s Sound
“There’s something about the antipodes that irritates Britain,” reckons Chills’ frontman Martin Phillipps, on the phone from Dunedin to the Guardian’s Martin Aston. Phillipps tries to explain why New Zealand’s 1980s music scene, one…
Couplets at the Globe
Hokianga-born actor Rawiri Paratene, well-known for his role as Koro Apirana in Niki Caro’s Whale Rider, is Friar Lawrence in a London Shakespeare’s Globe presentation of Romeo and Juliet, the first New Zealander…
Ballroom blitz
Professional ballroom dancers Aucklander Erin Boag, 33, and her partner Briton Anton Du Beke who both starred in the successful UK television talent show Strictly Come Dancing, have just completed a documentary for Sky…
Dark Past Revisited
New Zealand-born Zak Feaunati, a former Samoan international rugby player, has been selected to play All Black legend Jonah Lomu in the upcoming film The Human Factor. The film includes the Springboks’ victory over…
Commonwealth win
Auckland author Mo Zhi Hong has won Best First Book Prize for South East Asia and the South Pacific at the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2009 in London for his debut novel The Year of…
New Zealander in Ink
Auckland tattooist Nikole Lowe, 36, is one of four London-based artists featured on the Discovery Channel’s six-part reality show London Ink, a series which delves into the world of tattooing. Lowe is interviewed in…
Celebrating the Centurions
Dunedin-born Glenn Turner, one of ten living batsmen to have achieved 100 first-class centuries, was honoured at London’s Hilton Hotel, where Turner’s bat, amongst other memorabilia, was auctioned for charity with a bid of NZ$13,937. The…
A thirty year legacy
New Zealand drama teacher Ken Rea – who trained at Auckland’s Gil Cornwall academy and worked at Downstage and the Mercury Theatre – was honoured at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama for…
Pirate Captain
Thames-born actor Bruce Purchase, a founding member of Sir Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre, has died in Putney, aged 69. Purchase decided to become an actor at the age of five and upon…
New leathers for Lawless
Lucy Lawless, has been both trawling the back streets of West Hollywood for replacement leather chaps and performing at the Carling Academy in Islington, London. The lesbian icon, just turned 40, talks to Time…
In London cinemas
Duncan Sarkies’ 2006 movie Out of the Blue – a dramatic reconstruction of the 1990 Aramoana massacre – is showing in London this week and continues to receive favourable reviews. The Guardian…
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…
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…
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…
Dave Versus Goliath
The opening of a new hotel in Christchurch coincided with the launch of a film detailing the unusual story behind its development. Hotel SO is the result of property developer Dave Henderson’s 13-year clash with the…
Speight’s sails into London
The first Speight’s Ale House outside of NZ has opened in London, after an epic 75-day boat journey. The pub set sail from Dunedin and passed through Samoa, Panama, the Bahamas and New York…
A decade in design
NZ architect Chris Moller is holding his first major solo exhibition in London, showcasing ten years of innovative practice by his company S333 Architecture + Urbanism. Titled On the Urban Designing of Architecture,…
The Players’ Player
Former NZ Maori representative Glen Jackson has won Britain’s Professional Rugby Players’ Association (PRA) player of the year award, calling it “the greatest achievement of my rugby career”. The 31-year-old Saracens fly-half, who previously played for Waikato…
Matterhorn Among World’s Best
Wellington institution the Matterhorn has been named one of the world’s top five bars by respected US trade magazine, Bartender. The Cuba St local was ranked fifth behind Milk & Honey (London), Salvatore…
New Zealander of the Year
Wellington architect Jonathan Rennie was named New Zealander of the Year at the annual NZ Society Waitangi Day dinner in London. The award recognises an outstanding contribution by a NZ or British national…
Silver Lining for OpenCloud
Wellington telecommunications support firm OpenCloud has raised US$10.25 million in funding from Advent Venture Partners (London), No 8 Ventures (NZ) and Motorola Ventures (US). The funding will be used to expand the company’s international interests, which include…
Pre-historic Chic
Shoppers at London’s Selfridges can now purchase the ultimate ecological antique: a piece of furniture carved from 30,000 year-old NZ kauri wood. The NZ government has allowed a limited quantity of the timber to be harvested…
Images from the Outskirts of War
James Boswell: Unofficial War Artist: Drawings of Army Life in Iraq and UK 1939-1943 by William Feaver offers a fascinating insight into the “unpretentious, unheroic, unsmarmy” work of the NZ-born artist and political activist….
Remembrance Made Permanent
The long-awaited NZ war memorial in London’s Hyde Park was officially opened on Remembrance Day, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Tony Blair and Helen Clark. Described as “striking” by…
NZ research centre opens in London
NZ film No.2 received a gala screening at last year’s London Film Festival, which ran from 18 October to 2 November. Festival sponsor Air New Zealand hosted the event, which included a panel discussion…
Medal Worthy Drops
NZ producers picked up a swathe of trophies at the 2006 Decanter World Wine Awards this month. The medal haul included 86 bronze, 36 silver and one gold medal, for the 2005 Sacred Hill Sauvignon Blanc….
Badge of Gold for Nancy Wake
Wellington-born Nancy Wake, 94, now living in a London rest home, has been awarded the NZ Returned Services Association’s highest honour, the RSA Badge in Gold, as well as life membership for her work…
Learning Made Easy for All
According to the Guardian, a NZ designed alternative to the computer mouse was one of the highlights of Bett 2006, the annual ICT in education show held in London. “Lomak (light-operated mouse and keyboard) from NZ…
