25 May 2024, 2:30 pm & 7:30 pm
Bruce Ritchie Performing Arts Centre
Massey High School, 274 Don Buck Rd
“In the tapestry of life, we’re all connected.” – Anita Moorjani
Six world-class musical acts join the multi-award winning West City Concert Band in this not to be missed concert celebrating diverse cultural backgrounds and the things that weave us together. Discover some of the vibrant musical traditions that thrive in our own backyard and how intersections with other cultures can create something truly special.
Guest Artists
Emily Roughton & Claire Robertson
Emily is a traditional Scottish fiddle player based in Auckland, New Zealand. Inspired by luminaries of the “modern trad” movement such as The East Pointers and Mec Lir, she loves to see music bring the party to life. She has conducted the Auckland Folk Festival Youth Orchestra for over 15 years and taught Scottish Fiddle Workshops in association with The String Workshop/Rangitoto College Music Department and as a resident of the Ockham Collective. Emily enjoys performing with a number of bands throughout New Zealand.
Claire is a NZ-based traditional harp player and dancer. Deeply influenced by the Celtic tradition, Claire plays a mixture of Scottish and Irish traditional music. From a young age, Claire has been involved in numerous folk festivals. She received the Frank Winter Memorial Award at the Auckland Folk Festival. Claire has played alongside Adam Ogle and Emily Roughton in the band Three Point Turn and has most recently been part of Chris Priestly’s “Unsung Heroes”.
Helen Douglas & Mark Sanders (Underdrones)
Helen Douglas, originally from the North East of England, has been playing the Northumbrian Small Pipes since a young teen. While touring around Canada and North America during her university years she attended various trad events which introduced the wonders of Irish and Scottish music. She was very much the loan piper after arriving in NZ in 2001, and once she joined Titirangi Folk Music Club in 2019, magical musical connections started to ignite.
Mark Sanders migrated from the UK to NZ in 1994, and a couple of years later, heard the sound of the Uilleann pipes on a CD by a french new age band. Shortly afterwards, he came across Lorcan Dunne, who had just started making pipes in Ponsonby, and he was hooked. Having never had exposure to folk music, it was quite a mission to learn some tunes as well as the instrument, but perseverance paid off, and 23 years later, he has the skills for wonderful collaborations.
Helen and Mark first met at The Auckland Folk Music Festival in 2020. Together they love nothing more than combining their unique individual sounds to create rich harmonies, and experiment with the musical possibilies that traditional music can conjur up.
Ricky De Medeiros
Ricky is a highly skilled musician with a unique style that blends elements of Bossa Nova, classical guitar fingerstyle, Latin grooves, and flamenco techniques. He honed his skills by studying under masters of classical and traditional music in his native Brazil. His talent has earned him recognition as a reference in Latin guitar, and he has performed with a number of notable musicians, including Latin Grammy Award Winners Romulo Castro and Mireya Ramos.
In New Zealand, Ricky quickly made a name for himself with his fingerstyle guitar technique and has performed at a variety of special events and venues across the country. He has also recorded with NZ Music Award Winners LatinAotearoa and performed live on TVNZ with Sony Music singer Yulia.
Basant Madhur Ensemble
Basant Madhur is a widely acknowledged tabla player and a much-respected artist in the arena of Indian Classical Music. Born to a musical family, he studied music from a young age. Madhur moved to New Zealand in 2002 and established the “Sargam School of Indian Music.” In 2008 he received the Award of Appreciation for his contribution to the field of music by GOPIO (Global organization of People of Indian Origin New Zealand). Basant has had the honor of accompanying some of the stalwarts of Indian Classical Music such as Grammy winner Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt in New Zealand and USA, Pt. Ronu Majumdar in New Zealand & Australia, Pt. Rakesh Chaurasia, saxophone genius Dr. Kadri Gopalnath and mridangam player Patri Satish Kumar to name a few. He has also collaborated with several western musicians in fusion music. Other than being a regular feature in many music festivals in New Zealand, Basant is known to perform in India, Australia, Fiji and USA on other occasions.
Riki Tamanuitera Bennett, Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue, Te Arawa, Ngati Porou
Riki Bennett has been a tāonga puoro player since attending a wānanga at Auckland university with the late Dr Hirini Melbourne, who was recognized for bringing back the traditional sounds of Māori flutes. Since this time, Riki has continued with his passion, performing and playing tāonga puoro in a range of diverse settings. He has created soundscapes behind films and animations with Teaorapa Kahi and Kiwa digital productions, provided live backing in stage shows, and demonstrated and performed at many schools throughout the Auckland region. In 2009, Riki also performed as part of a group called Te Aratoi, and received a silver scroll for a Māori composition called Te Papakanga in the Maioha Silver Scroll awards.
Hanna Wiskari
Hanna Wiskari is a Swedish musician and educator, based in Aotearoa since 2016. She studied the saxophone at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg and graduated from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with at Bachelor degree from the Folk Music Department. Hanna has 20 years of experience as a freelance musician with numerous bands and projects and extensive tours both in Scandinavia and abroad. Alongside her playing Hanna has always been a passionate educator, teaching both youth and adults. Since 2010 Hanna has worked as an Artistic leader for Ethno, an international organisation with the aim of to celebrate diversity and to learn music from musicians from all around the world. When Hanna moved to Aotearoa she decided to bring Ethno here as well and is now organising Ethno NZ together with a dedicated team. Both as a musician and a teacher Hanna is strongly driven by how music connects people, no matter age, experience and cultural background.