Beyond the waves
He’s signed to pop star Benee’s record label and counts Elton John as a fan. Now Raglan musician Muroki has released his third EP, the emotion-filled Timezones, and made a major move.
He’s signed to pop star Benee’s record label and counts Elton John as a fan. Now Raglan musician Muroki has released his third EP, the emotion-filled Timezones, and made a major move.
words Karl Puschmann
UNO’s first question to Muroki leaves him stumped. He scratches his dreadlocked hair, which is pulled back behind his studio-grade headphones, and says, “Um…”.
Thinking for a moment, the singer-songwriter sensation from Raglan eventually says, “Good question,” then looks around his room and wonders aloud, “What am I doing here?”
He’s stayed up late for our interview – it’s approaching midnight when he Zooms in. Just nine days ago, he flew out of Auckland, where he’d been living, to set up shop in Berlin.
“I didn’t really have a huge plan. I just kind of came over here,” he says in answer to the question of what he’s doing in Germany. “I wanted to switch it up, in life and with music, and expand my horizons. I was getting over what I was doing in Auckland. I enjoyed my time there but felt I needed to move on and do something else for a bit.” Then he grins and says, “I’ve never lived in another country before, so I’m just giving it a go.”
He’s certainly jumped right into the deep end. He has few contacts in the city and doesn’t speak the langauge. Aside from his German partner, the person he’s spoken to the most so far is an old Turkish fellow who lives in the same building.
“This old dude’s always outside,” he says. “He doesn't speak very good German and doesn't speak a word of English. I don't think he knows that I don’t speak German! We have these weird interactions every single morning. It's pretty funny.”
By chance, we’ve caught Muroki on the cusp of beginning a new life chapter, one in which the future is uncertain. “I’ve been battling with it a little bit,” he admits. “It’s kind of weird not knowing exactly what’s happening next. It’s a strange period. I think it’s really good, but sometimes you’re like, ‘Is this the right decision?’” He pauses for a second, then says, “I think it is.”
The move has been on Muroki’s mind for a while, with his plane tickets purchased nine months ago. The shift also helps decode and add extra depth to Timezones, his newest EP that has just been released and is the reason for our chat.
The seven-track EP pushes him into deeper emotional territory than previously and expands his genre-hopping sound while losing none of its characteristic smooth flavour, synth-funk grooves and feel-good vibes. Fans of his platinum-selling single, Wavy, will find a lot to love here.
Timezones’ seven songs were recorded quickly, with Muroki writing, recording and laying down the tracks in a blisteringly fast 11 days. “It happened swiftly,” he says. “I’m really happy with how it all came out, and in the process of making it, I learned a lot in terms of how I want to go about creating things in the future.”
He says the sudden success of his 2020 debut, Dawn, led to feeling intense pressure while creating his 2022 follow-up, Heading East. He burdened himself with expectations and on reflection says he didn’t particularly enjoy the process. The fast turnaround of Timezones was a successful attempt to rediscover the joy.
“I didn’t let it consume me,” he says. “I’m really happy with how the third one’s come out.”
He’s described the EP as “an emotional awakening”. This, it turns out, was another benefit of working quickly. He didn’t have time to second-guess or edit himself.
“I tapped deeper, man,” he says. “I was trying to be more authentic with how I was feeling and the experiences I was having. It came out by not overthinking. I didn't go into the record thinking, ‘I’m going to open up.” I just let it happen and let it all come out naturally.”
Muroki may be new to Berlin, but the similarities with his hometown of Raglan are already apparent. Size discrepancies aside, it’s the city’s huge support for the arts and music scenes that reminds him of home.
“I love Raglan. It’s cool, man. There’s a nice sense of community – everybody knows everybody and everybody's supportive of each other. Everyone was really supportive of what I was doing from a pretty young age. It’s got an artsy scene there. Some good stuff comes out of it. But it’s the sense of community that makes it. A lot of people there support and come to the shows.
“When I started out, everyone would come down to the gig,” he continues. “I’d have a sold-out gig and I hadn't even released a single yet! There’s a confidence boost.”
Then he smiles and says, “I don’t think I’d be where I am without the people from Raglan.”
Muoki’s new EP Timezones is out now.
Flexing your musical muscle at Totara St.
Great teachers are instrumental in developing a certain gift that keeps on giving, and UNO knows where you can find one.
Great teachers are instrumental in developing a certain gift that keeps on giving, and UNO knows where you can find one.
WORDS NICKY ADAMS / PHOTOS SALINA GALVAN
Having flexed my musical chops at an early age by mastering “London’s Burning” on the recorder, I was a little taken aback to be told by my music teacher as a young teen that I was tone deaf.
The bubble of my fledgling pop career burst by the harsh words of Mr Crabb, I never picked up a musical instrument again (unless you count the triangle in the Christmas nativity play), and although my children have each shown some musical ability, I can lay no claim to being the genetic source of their talent. Music trends have moved with the times, though, and it’s fair to say that the array of possibilities now open to young (and not so young, for that matter) learners is extensive – and, more than that, exciting.
Here in Tauranga, we’re lucky enough to have among our options the Mauao Performing Arts Centre (MauaoPAC) based at multi-function venue Totara St, which offers tuition in every avenue you could imagine. No longer must parents be subjected to the screech of a recorder, when the array of instruments to choose from at MauaoPAC includes guitar, ukulele, bass, keyboards, piano, percussion, saxophone, violin and voice. In group classes and one-on-one lessons, there are up to 12 tutors available who operate out of four rooms.
The idea is to immerse the students not just in their lessons, but in the whole scene; some of the tutors are jobbing musos (until recently L.A.B frontman Joel Shadbolt taught here), and at the end of every term, a concert is put on in the high-tech on-site venue. Budding Billie Eilishes or not, this experience blows the kids’ minds. Although the thought of igniting and facilitating their children’s creative passion tops many parents’ to-do lists, like anything, it has to be the right fit.
Tauranga’s Carly Stewart sends her son to MauaoPAC for electric guitar lessons and her daughter to voice classes. She says she loves the culture because, “It has a laid-back, family feel, and the go-with-the-flow vibe fits nicely with the whole music scene”. When it comes to the benefits of being part of this community, Carly says, “It’s so important and has become a huge part of our lives. The temptations out there for teenagers are real and being passionate about music helps kids focus on the right stuff.” She also enjoys the end-of-term concerts. “They’re a definite highlight. They give the kids something to work towards – and parents love it too.”
It’s not just the musically gifted who reap rewards. Music can open a window for anyone to a truly wonderful world. Aside from the joy it brings in the moment, it’s a gift that keeps on giving. Neuroscience studies prove that music can enhance brain function in children, and it helps to develop the left side of the brain, related to language and reasoning. People who are musically trained have been proven to have better working memory skills, which helps them to remember things even while their minds are busy with other matters. As someone with a shocking memory, this leads me to think it’s not just children who should be encouraged to pick up an instrument. Playing music also requires concentration, and in this day and age when technology cultivates an unhealthy desire for immediacy, training the brain to focus on something for sustained periods is invaluable.
Whether you have the next member of Sol3 Mio in your home or just a kid who loves to bang on a drum, MauaoPAC offers a joyous, encouraging environment for all. Add to this the confidence-building attached to any kind of performing, and even the ‘tone deaf’ like myself will come away richer. As German philosopher and composer Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Without music, life would be a mistake.”
UNO celebrates 50 issues with cover star Joel Shadbolt!
“On stage ready to welcome everyone to UNO’s 50th birthday party, I could see exactly why the Bay of Plenty’s thriving. The room was full of people who support each other. Locals in the arts, business, governance, community groups and medical teams, our columnists, advertisers, readers – we wanted to invite everyone we'd ever met to share the joy together.”
We recently celebrated our 50th issue – hurrah! Editor Jenny Rudd has the round-up.
PHOTOS Jordan Vickers
On stage ready to welcome everyone to UNO’s 50th birthday party, I could see exactly why the Bay of Plenty’s thriving. The room was full of people who support each other. Locals in the arts, business, governance, community groups and medical teams, our columnists, advertisers, readers – we wanted to invite everyone we'd ever met to share the joy together.
And what better way to celebrate than with the lead singer of one of the country's biggest bands (and the cover star of our 50th issue) playing all their bangers and some epic covers?! We hit the dancefloor while L.A.B's Joel Shadbolt performed, before singing our hearts out to his closing rendition of Lean On Me. He showed us exactly why L.A.B’s In The Air was 2020’s biggest-selling single – the energy in the room was electric.
The entire night was truly a local effort; everything we ate, drank and did came from the hard work and enterprise of those connected with the Bay of Plenty. Pals came from Jay and Anna Reeve and Katikati’s Leveret Estate kept us bubbly. Non-boozy bubbles came from San Pellegrino, which is distributed nationwide by Federal Merchants, based here in Tauranga. The iconic yellow Easy Lager cans were from at The Island in Papamoa, and the absolutely delicious grazing table came from Tauranga caterers Blank Canvas. And, of course, the fabulous location was Totara St, arguably the best venue in the country, right here at the Mount.
Thank you to everyone who came to UNO’s birthday party and celebrated and smiled along with us. Here's to the next 50 issues!
Jay Reeve talks to Ben Harper
“Everytime I’m here I’m thinking, ‘I just need to send for all my sh*t and stay right here.”
A long-time Ben Harper listener, our columnist Jay Reeve (along with his radio co-host Duncan Heyde) relives his youth and talks to his teen idol during the musician’s recent New Zealand tour that included a gig at the Mount.
I’m a Ben Harper fan – have been since his first album, Welcome to the Cruel World. In my early teens, I used to recreate his cover art in the misguided hope it’d impress the masses of girls enamoured by this guitar-playing, bohemian, skateboarding world traveller.
In 1994, Welcome to the Cruel World struck a chord with me, and Ben still has that swagger he rolled with back then – although he’s arguably better looking – and still has the effect on the fairer sex; the 17-year-old girls I was trying to impress back in the day were reliving their own dreams during his recent appearances in Aotearoa. His male fans were too, causing a veritable babysitter shortage on the night of his Mount gig.
The crowd was older, but music drops a veil over your tired adult eyes and transports you to wherever you first heard it or it affected you. I love that, I love the way Ben’s music transcends age and I love seeing people enjoying themselves. The one thing I don’t love, though, is ‘Steal My Kisses’. I understand it’s one of Ben’s most commercially successful singles, peaking in the top 20 on the Billboard charts on its release in early 2000. It garnered him more fans and the record label wanted more, so the division was set: you were a ‘Steal my Kisses’ kind of Ben Harper fan or not.
I’m not. To me, unlike his gig-closing tune ‘Glory & Consequence’, it’s not a great song and not one worthy of rolling out 20 years later. But the crowds of predominantly 40-something women at his recent show – those ’90s teens – loved it.
While he was in New Zealand, my The Rock radio show co-host Duncan Heyde and I had a chat to the man himself about what he loves...
Duncan: Welcome mate!
Ben: Well-equipped with a cheering section and everything. How’s it going, Jay and Duncan?
Jay: Oh good, mate. Kia ora, kia ora, kia ora and welcome back to our fine shores – we’re looking forward to having you. So, your biggest musical inspiration came around the age of nine… We heard a cheeky rumour you played your first gig at 12?
B: Well, you wouldn’t call it much of a gig when you’re just hammering out some chords. At 12 I was actually on the drums, because I started on the drums.
D: Isn’t there a funny story about one of your first open mic nights that you got paid for? At a church?
B: The first gig I ever got paid for was in the church basement, and at the end of the night the guy who ran it handed me $50 in the parking lot. I said, “What’s this?” and he said it was for the door. And you know churches have those fancy doors on them with stained glass and stuff, so I said, “No, no, no you can’t sell the door to pay me, that’s crazy! Go find it, go get it back.” And he said, “No, no, no, that’s the money from people who walk through the door”!
D: And you’re like, “Oh wow, I can get paid for doing something I love!”
J: You’ve had 28 years of commercial success and worked with so many different musicians – who’s still on the hit list for you of musicians you’d love to work with?
B: Alicia Keys.
D: Oh, that’d be good!
B: Yeah man.
D: Isn’t it just as simple these days as sliding into their DMs, sending them an Instagram message like, “Righto mate, I’ve got a couple of months spare coming up, let’s do this”?
B: You’d think so, right?! I stopped drinking, though. If I was still drinking I’d probably have the nerve to do that.
D: She’s hardly going to say no to you, though? That’s a fun message for her to read in her inbox, isn’t it?
B: But what if she did?!
J: You hold a special place in a lot of New Zealanders’ hearts and I can only assume that New Zealand holds a fairly special place in yours. When was the last time pre this tour that you set down in Aotearoa?
B: It’s been about four since we’ve been here, and as far as I’m concerned that’s four years too long. Every time I’m here I’m thinking, ‘I just need to send for all my sh*t and stay right here’. It’s on me, man, it’s on me everywhere – my back, my arms, my entire upper torso is here.
D: You’ve actually spent quite a bit of time here. We heard you owned a house here, we heard [musician] Jack Johnson owned a house here, we knew that [musician] Serj Tankian owned a house here... And weirdly, as Kiwis, we kind of just let celebrities do their thing when they’re in New Zealand, but we also like to think that you all go round to each other’s holiday houses for barbecues and play tunes together.
J: And go surfing!
D: Has that ever happened?
B: Oh yeah, that happens plenty with Jack and I. Jack and I are always getting together and looking for reasons to record together. In fact, we’re talking about doing a duet record.
D: That’d be sick!
J: I know that you’ve made your political ambitions heard and that you’re thinking about throwing your name in the hat for the United States of America presidency. I heard that you’re running on surfboards and steel guitars for everybody and then putting a [skate] bowl in at the White House. How’s that progressing? Would Jack be a running mate of yours?
B: Yeah, Jack or [retired professional skateboarder] Tony Hawk, I suppose!
J: You’ve got a couple of days spare while you’re here. It’s a very tight tour schedule, but you’ve got a little bit of a gap in the middle between your gigs in Queenstown and Auckland. Have you got any plans to check out some waves or skate parks while you’re here? What do you do in your downtime in New Zealand?
B: Yeah, skate parks. That’s it – concrete, finding as much concrete as possible. When I get off the phone with you, there’s a local coffee shop here in New Plymouth that supposedly has a bowl in the coffee shop, so that’s getting hit up right now.
Katchafire: burning hotter than ever
If you like reggae then you’ll love Katchafire, if you weren’t sure if you like reggae, you’ll still love Katchafire.
WORDS Nicky Adams PHOTOS Joel McDowell
If you like reggae then you’ll love Katchafire, if you weren’t sure if you like reggae, you’ll still love Katchafire. These guys are the musical Moro bar, the experience is universally uplifting and leaves you feeling better than you thought you could feel. With their chilled-out vibes and harmonies that ease the soul, one minute you can feel so relaxed that you can’t even form the word stress, the next an upbeat tempo will hit, and you just want to dance till you drop. And when you look around you know that it’s not just you, but the world is dancing with you.
Katchafire has been around for over 20 years and is one of New Zealand’s hardest working and most well-known reggae bands, with a cool factor that spans audiences and age groups. A multi-award winning, platinum record-selling formation, they have made it big internationally, rubbing shoulders and performing with musical icons, yet when I sat down to speak to founding member Jordan Bell, there wasn’t a bit of trumpet blowing or whiff of name dropping. Reggae is a musical genre that has exploded worldwide, and Katchafire has been at the center of the big bang. Each strain is taking on its own identity and these guys are 100% South Pacific roots reggae. Their unique formula blends different instruments and sounds until classical reggae morphs into mixed genre music that can be considered ‘an artform’, and amid it all the positive vibes just keep on coming.
Brothers in arms
The band is made up of founding brothers Jordan and Logan, plus ‘lifers’ Tere Ngarua, brother-in-law Leon Davey and Roy Kaiki. Jordan explained that at the end of last year they finished off their latest single, Circle Back. “Definitely a love song, it’s about circling back on anything you love – it was a real summer banger.” The timing of its release was perfect “It came out just before the summer tours so it was great to get it out there live; the support for it has been amazing, as we speak it’s on a million streams and climbing.” Circle Back was worked on during lockdown, it’s a silver lining to a period where, in normal circumstances, the band would have been touring overseas. The other upside of lockdown was the extra time at home. The importance and influence of family is at the core of this band, and pulses through the lyrics of their tunes, from the purity of Addicted to the adoration of family and Aotearoa in Fyah in the Trenches. It’s easy to see how these tunes have been written on the road, when home has felt far away.
Katchafire creates what Jordan calls “good message music. It’s about stripping back, about not worrying – about family and having a bit of consciousness.” You can’t help but wonder about the dynamic of such a tight-knit group, but Jordan laughingly verifies that harmony on the tour bus is kept by rules and a fining system. The bond is clearly strong, and creatively the energy flows. Songwriting is helped by their synergy - they’re even on the same page with musical influences, “between us we listen to everything from Tupac to Lenny Kravitz to anything in between; R&B, Metallica, it’s all on the same playlist.”
From league to the bright lights
Jordan and Logan didn’t start life as muso’s – in fact up until teenage years life was all about Rugby League. Even when music came into their lives, it wasn’t an immediate switch. As pre-teens he and Logan stumbled across a stash of their dads prized musical instruments hidden in his closet. Their father, a talented musician, had hung up his guitar, and embraced a life filled with church and family. He encouraged the boys to start with the basics, and a passion ensued. Around 1997/9 when the boys were in their late teens a choice had to be made – Rugby was subbed out and they ran with music. In what Jordan considers a defining moment for their future, their father, Grenville, rented a loft in central Hamilton where the boys could jam to all hours with friends. They began to score gigs and before long they were playing from Raglan to South Auckland. Initially a cover band, from the outset their love was of old school Reggae - in fact Bob Marley is still to this day one of Jordan’s key musical influences (Katchafire is derived from a Marley song). Growing up, Jordan says, reggae was “a forbidden genre – linked with dope smoking, it was a different religion from what we were doing. But at the same time, it was all around us.”
After winning a competition run by NZ record label Dawn Raid the group had the confidence to write their own songs. Hits Giddy Up and Bounce were the result, and led in 2003 to the release of Revival, the first of (to date) five albums. Transitioning to original music was nerve wracking, but the audience loved it, and the fan base followed them and grew. The success of the band has spread well beyond New Zealand, with the band garnering a huge international following – playing Glastonbury in the UK was “next level”. Of course, home is home, and the One Love festival here in the Bay is one of the favourites “it allows us to catch up with the reggae community and see how well the tree has flourished and grown. Not just here but through the Pacific. It’s good to get together and see how strong the support is and how the next generation has come through, for the musicians and audience.”
Overseas success has not blunted Katchafire’s love for this home audience: “New Zealand has a diverse palette when it comes to music, so we get a mixing of styles... it’s really interesting and works really well. It rings in our music, which as Pacific Reggae has more harmonies and messaging.” Talent, positivity, uplifting music and cool beats – this is why muso’s of all ages go mad for Katchafire.
Chalium Poppy: Mount Maestro
With a Welsh dragon tattooed over his heart, a love of swimming in winter and a husband who works in fashion, the mould was clearly broken when Chalium Poppy was born. Performing since he was four years old and all over the world, he’s arguably one of the most experienced classical musicians in the country.
With a Welsh dragon tattooed over his heart, a love of swimming in winter and a husband who works in fashion, the mould was clearly broken when Chalium Poppy was born. Performing since he was four years old and all over the world, he’s arguably one of the most experienced classical musicians in the country.
WORDS JENNY RUDD PHOTOS SHAWN ROLTON
My voice broke at 12 and I thought my life had ended. I felt like a bad angel about to be cast out of heaven. When the time came for me to be dismissed from the choir, we had a big party. Every boy got one. We called it our puberty party. It was hard saying goodbye to the other boys and I cried for weeks.
My parents put me into a local school but that didn’t last long. I hated it and let everyone know. One week, my mother was called to the school every day. I don’t really want to say what I did but I was very naughty. I was ‘moved’ to another school.
I flourished there. They had a great music program led by talented teachers. They allowed me to play the organ in chapel for services now and then, and help conduct the choir. The chapel became my second home.
INTERNATIONAL STAR
One teacher sent a recording of my singing to a university in Austria. Someone came over to hear me sing live. In a few weeks I received an offer of a full scholarship to study music in Vienna. Although my father loved classical music, my parents absolutely did not support it as a career choice. Knowing they would have forbidden me to go, I ran away from home and have never been back since.
My seven years spent studying at the Academy in Vienna were amazing. I worked with tutors and academics who were leading authorities in their field of music, travelled, studied and performed in Italy, France, Germany and the Czech Republic.
My grandmother had been a contralto soloist of considerable talent, although her piano skills were terrible; a bit music hall-like. It was she who diagnosed my musical abilities and that of my two brothers early on. I had the voice of an angel, she was convinced. My brothers didn’t fare so well. She declared my elder brother tone-deaf and advised him never to sing in public.
At four years old, I auditioned successfully to become a choirboy at Oxford Cathedral, where my family lived in the UK. The training and education of choirboys is an ancient tradition. Our lives are centred around music-making in the context of worshipping God; education, both academic and physical, is really quite secondary to that. Oxford Cathedral is an exceptional place – much of Harry Potter was filmed in its beautiful halls and quads.
All 23 choirboys do absolutely everything together, and we were busy every minute of the day with a continuous round of rehearsals, services and studies. From the beginning, the principles of respect and kindness were instilled in us by the choirmaster. We followed his guidance above all others.
One year, Christopher Hogwood, the great conductor, brought his orchestra The Academy of Ancient Music to record Messiah while we sang. I didn’t appreciate his brilliance and knowledge at the time, I just kept thinking what cavernous nostrils he had.
TEA PARTY
Besides our vocal studies, we were all required to study an instrument. I chose the piano, having taken private lessons since I was five. My father woke me early one Saturday and took me to the cathedral. The organ was undergoing maintenance and repair – they had opened the enormous wind chest up and you could see all the pipes and mechanisms. We sat inside the wind chest having a sandwich and a cup of tea whilst my father explained how it worked. I decided to learn to play the organ too, even though my feet didn’t yet reach the pedals.
After completing my Masters (in Protestant Church Music), I moved to Canada and worked full time as a musician: organist and choirmaster in the cathedral, as well as singer, conductor, teacher, lecturer. I was often asked to conduct Gilbert & Sullivan operas. They thought that being English I was automatically an expert.
Although exciting professionally, this was also a very lonely time. I worked very hard. The life of performer was beginning to lose its lustre and appeal as I got older.
I am a creature of habit. On Sundays, after the morning services at the cathedral, I would walk to my favourite Irish pub for lunch and a pint or two of Guinness, and then return to the cathedral in the afternoon for Evensong. One Sunday, something happened that would change my life dramatically and for the better. I met Michael.
LOVE
There was a young chap sitting at the bar enjoying a drink and chatting casually with the barkeep. He had the most striking red hair and a wonderful smile. I was electrified. I summoned all my courage and asked him to join me for lunch. He was a New Zealander travelling through Canada on his o/e, an avid snowboarder exploring Canada’s world-famous slopes.
I wasn’t sure how he would respond to my chosen career path – being a church music specialist isn’t very glamorous. To my eternal surprise, he asked to come to Evensong in the cathedral that afternoon.
I fell deeply in love with Michael that day. Two weeks later I asked him to marry me. We have just celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. I couldn’t ask for a better, more loving and supportive partner in life.
As Michael was only in Canada on a holiday visa and I was estranged from my own family, we decided to move to Mount Maunganui. We arrived on the first day of winter 2009. I knew very little about the country.
We watched the sunrise over the water on the day we arrived. Surfers and swimmers were all heading towards the water. I thought to myself – if this is New Zealand on the first official day of winter, what a wonderful place to live!
MUSIC, FAMILY, NEW ZEALAND
Aside from performing and conducting locally, I’ve worked in Auckland, Gisborne, Napier, Whakatane, Kerikeri, Dunedin, Rotorua, Hamilton – all over the place.
In Canada, I performed primarily at a professional level. Here in New Zealand, there simply aren’t the choirs and orchestras to provide much work at that level. My objective is to make music at the very highest level that I can – whether I’m singing Messiah in a barn in Kerikeri or works of Bach in the Auckland Town Hall with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. What’s important for me as a musician is to have the same level of musical integrity no matter what the circumstances.
I’ve been put up in fantastic hotels in Auckland when I perform, or slept quite comfortably on a pull-out couch in someone’s living room. That is what makes the life of a musician in New Zealand different from anywhere else I’ve been.
When I’m not music-making, we usually like to spend our time close to home. We are both home bodies and foodies. Michael is an exceptional cook so we are rarely alone at dinner time. Just over a year ago, we adopted Paddington. He keeps us on our toes. If I have a gap in my schedule, we pack up and take Paddington on an adventure somewhere. Of course we live right at the beach, so I like to get into the water as much as I can – Paddington too.
Chalium is the Musical Director of Scholars Pro Musica, a Tauranga-based chamber choir of exceptional talent.