Lilburn Trust related talks in New Zealand Music Month Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa 2021

With you having expressed interest in Lilburn Lectures and Archive of New Zealand Music events in the past, I thought you might like to know about three events planned for New Zealand Music Month that involve research projects funded by the Lilburn Trust.

Counting the beat, sounding the changes

Mathew Hoyes, Lilburn Research Awardee 2020

Thursday 6 May 2021, 4:30pm to 5:30pm

Programme Rooms, National Library Wellington

Mat Hoyes presents his project to create an online NCEA resource that analyses New Zealand rock and pop music.

Through his experience as a music teacher in New Zealand, Mat has identified a serious need of a resource for the study of New Zealand popular music. He has started compiling analyses for 200 rock and popular songs by New Zealand artists to develop a NCEA teaching resource. Mat will discuss his process for preparing the resource and how he expects it to be used. He will talk of the obstacles and challenges met in preparing the work and for making it available.

About the speaker

Mathew Hoyes is a secondary school music teacher, having taught at Taita College, Wainuiomata High School and Porirua College. He has a Bachelor of Music from Otago University and experience as a music producer, musician, composer as well as music video editing. He has performed in many bands playing both covers and original material. Mat has also taught music to private students and in prisons.

A Huia calls the Tui singing in a Kowhai tree

Michael Vinten, Lilburn Research Awardee 2020

Thursday 20 May 2021, 12:10pm to 1pm

Programme Rooms, National Library Wellington

Michael Vinten talks on his project of collecting, recording and publishing pre-1950 New Zealand art-song. Initially intending it to be one volume the project has now expanded to four.  Titled Call of the Huia, it is envisaged this new resource will be of great benefit to singers and students wishing to include New Zealand material into their repertoire. Each volume will include a sound recording of the songs, giving it a wider appeal to music lovers generally. In this lunchtime talk Michael Vinten will explain what constitutes a New Zealand art-song and the process of selecting material. This will include some interesting stories of past New Zealand composers, with wider links to New Zealand’s history. 

About the speaker

Michael Vinten has been the Wellington Chorus Master and Associate Conductor for New Zealand Opera for twenty-eight years, as well as conducting for many other opera companies and musical groups. Having studied music history and composition at Victoria University of Wellington he went on to study a Masters Degree in orchestral conducting at Cincinnati University.

Gamelan Aotearoa

Gamelan Padhang Moncar, introduced by Dr Anton Killin, Lilburn Research Fellow 2021

Monday 31 May 2021, 6pm to 7:30pm

Te Ahumairangi, National Library Wellington

‘…rhythmic intricacy, hypnotic patterns, sheer sonic power, and refreshingly different tunings…’ Experience gamelan at the National Library with Wellington’s Gamelan Padhang Moncar (Dir. Budi Putra), introduced by Dr Anton Killin.

Gamelan first arrived in New Zealand in 1975 when Allan Thomas imported a set of instruments from Java to Victoria University of Wellington to support ethnomusicology teaching, with a performing ensemble soon being formed. There are now ensembles based around the country. Composers who were subsequently inspired to write works for gamelan include David Farquhar, Judith Exley, Megan Collins and Lilburn Fellow Anton Killin, whose works feature in this concert, along with that of Dedek Wayhudi from Indonesia and others.  Anton’s research will focus on cross-cultural music composition in New Zealand relating to the use of Indonesian gamelan. Gamelan has been a significant cultural influence on New Zealand composers since it was introduced. 

About the speaker

Dr Killin studied music composition and philosophy at Victoria University of Wellington, with cross-cultural music being the focus of much of his research. Since being awarded his doctorate in 2017, he has held post-doctoral fellowships in Australia, USA, and Canada.