Other People’s Lives – Kawiti Waetford

REPORT AND FUTURE PLANS

Kei aku rangatira, tena koutou katoa.  E mihi maioha atu nei ki a koutou o te kainga, e kaha tautoko nei I enei mahi aku kua hunuku kit e tenei taha o Papatuanuku.  Akakoa nga taiawha o te wa, o te ngakau, na to koutou tautoko e tu maia ai ahau I roto I oku mahi. Kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi.

It is with fondness and gratitude that I write to the Foundation and the many supporters back home to outline how the past year has gone for me.  Though far from home, family and friends, new relationships and a sense of home are being forged here too, but your support is a constant foundation upon which I am able to stand throughout this journey, and for that I am grateful.  Through challenges and hardships I have made some recent vocal discoveries that have shed light on exciting possibilities for the future!

Since leaving New Zealand it has always been my intention to spend two years studying vocal technique with Dennis O’Neill at the Wales International Academy of Voice, to give me sufficient time to consolidate and refine my technique.  Over this time my voice has changed dramatically, yet over this period a fundamental ‘block’ has remained, halting my progress somewhat.  The root of this has been identified as threefold; confusion about how to support my airflow properly, deep-seated tension in the solar plexus relating to both physical and emotional blockages , and singing as a baritone when the natural voice lies in the tenor range.  Recent work with a vocal pedagogue in Venice named Sherman Lowe has helped me identify these problems and I am now working through rectifying them, with dramatic improvement and results, specifically working on the appoggio and sostenio technique passed down through the Marchesi-Garcia Italian school of singing.

Over the course of this year, having an appropriate visa to remain in the UK as well as being based in Cardiff has meant that I have been able to work in singing in the UK, where previously this was not possible.

Throughout the second year of study visiting teachers and coaches to the Wales International Academy of Voice have included: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Richard Bonynge (international bel canto conductor), David Gowland (Director of Royal Opera House Jett Parker Young Artist Proramme) Nelly Miricioiu (Romanian-British soprano), Gareth Jones (conductor & coach, Welsh National Opera), Julian Smith, Susan Bullock, Tina  Ruta (Italian language coach), Anthony Negus (coach & conductor, and Wagner specialist), Marie Mclaughlin, Andrew Greenwood (conductor & coach), Julie Pasturaud (French language coach), Yvonne Kenny, Isabella Radcliffe (Italian language coach), Joyce Fieldsend, Marco Canepa (Italian coach), Ryland Davies, Tanya Harrison (Russian/Czech language), Jacqueline Pischorn (German language), Della Jones (Welsh soprano & coach).

I have also had the opportunity to see productions from Welsh National Opera, including Die Zauberflote (Mozart), Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck), Pelleas et Melisande (Debussy), Guillaume Tell (Rossini), Mose in Egitto (Rossini), Peter Pan (Ayres), Carmen (Bizet).  I feel that in the attempt to make opera more relevant or accessible to contemporary audiences sometimes modernisation can hinder or detract from its desired aim.  I found that when the emphasis was placed on the quality of the production (staging, costume, design concept etc) the quality of singing at times became secondary – the antithesis of what opera should be.  However when productions utilise the most adept and skilful singers and all else is used to emphasise the music and vocal line, while being totally engaging  from an audience member’s point of view, my inner singing student-come-critique and I were satisfied.

Other productions seen include the evocative Swanhunter (Dove), a dynamic opera of only six performers utilising stunning puppetry to bring to life the snowy landscape of Finnish folklore, showcased at the Royal Opera House.  Watching friends and colleagues performing in the Royal College of Music’s Die Zauberflote on the other hand showed me the calibre of work that students in the larger London conservatoires were doing – something integral that I feel lacks and should be implemented somehow at WIAV.  English National Opera’s production of Sweeney Todd, with Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson was simply stunning and one of the best shows I have ever seen live.  Also by ENO, Tansy Davies’ new work Between Worlds starred Phillip Rhodes in one of its lead roles.  Based on a collection of stories from the tragedy of 9/11, the opera’s content was extremely powerful, but to be in the audience watching Phillip perform, as a tuakana or older Maori male role model, was both moving and inspiring. I also visited Glyndebourne for the first time to watch the dress rehearsal of Die Entfurung, which perfectly captured what I thought of as a quintessential English operatic experience, elegantly dressed audience members and quaint evening picnic feasts scattered across the Glyndebourne meadows next to its lake and gardens.  The singing was all right too!

To celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign and ANZAC commemorations Dame Kiri was invited to give a concert recital off the coast of ANZAC cove on the 25^th April.  It was an absolute privilege to join her in this performance, not only because of the significance of the occasion but also for the historical and genealogical connection that we both shared to that place and to that event in history.  ANZAC is something that we as New Zealanders are all taught about growing up.  Standing on the bow of that ship, in the small hours of dawn, at the exact time that the soldiers would have been deployed one hundred years ago, there was an indescribable feeling of nostalgia and peace.  It was a deeply emotional experience throughout the day, and evoked such a profound sense of pride and loss within me, knowing what our tupuna or ancestors sacrificed for our freedom and the privileges we enjoy, and to share in that with our group.  The trip began in Istanbul where we visited the grand bazaar, then sailing to ANZAC cove where the recital took place; a huge success.  We then sailed through the Greek Islands, stopping at Heraklion in Crete and visiting the Palace of Knossos, then disembarking at Valletta in Malta and flying back to the UK.

Most recently, in June I was asked to be a part of Murray Schaffer’s 20^th century opera entitled Apocalypsis, directed by internationally renowned Samoan-born director Lemi Ponifasio and conducted by David Fallis, for the international Luminato Festival held in Toronto, Canada.  I was asked to sing the role of The Archangel Michael, and was one of nine soloists in a cast of one thousand performers including twenty-four dancers; a one hundred and fifty-piece orchestra; eight hundred chorisers in multiple mixed choirs with twenty conductors.  It was my first international production, and a wonderful experience to be involved in, working in Canada and meeting such a diverse range of people.  It was an extremely active production and called for a lot of physicality.  I was able to incorporate elements of Maori Performing Arts and the use of mau rakau as well as karakia to imbue the role of Michael with the ‘other-worldly’ dimension Lemi was looking for.  Schaffer’s music was quite jarring, and called for an array of various musical expressions and articulations; the second half was a lot less so with some absolutely stunning and beautiful tonal writing.  The sheer size of the production means that this work is not likely to be performed again, at least to the same degree, so it was indeed something special be a part of.

It was an absolute pleasure to be invited back by David and Corina Silich, to sing once more for their family, the Count and Countess Salburg-Falkenstein of Linz, at the christening of their new grandson at Altenhof Castle, Austria.

This was a perfect opportunity for further German language immersion, and learn some of the Austrian dialectical differences to High German.  It was also a good opportunity to perform a recital of German Lieder to an actual German-speaking audience, which they absolutely loved and gave their seal of approval.  Following this I went on to a weeklong language course in Italy where I worked with Sherman Lowe.  Here too I visited the 56^th Venice Biennale international contemporary art exhibition, where work by artists from all over the world are displayed across the city including of course the New Zealand pavilion represented by sculptor and installation artist Simon Denny, held in the incredible setting of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.

I would like to acknowledge and thank most deeply Dame Te Kanawa and the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation for their continued support, and the support of the Ngarimu VC & Maori Battalion Trust Fund, David & Corina Silich, Professor Jack Richards and the James Wallace Arts and the Deane Endowment Trusts.  To my friends, whanau, teachers and supporters back home and abroad, for your unwavering and ongoing support I thank you all.

E kore hoki ra e mutu aku mihi nui, aku mihi aroha.

Kawiti Waetford