Maori music draw for international music makers

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Maori music could get a high profile when the International Society for Contemporary Music holds its triennnial New Music World Music Days in Aotearoa in 2020

Associate Professor Glenda Keam, the head of music at the University of Canterbury, says Auckland will host a two-day conference, while Christchurch will put on a half day symposium which will include a taonga puoro demonstration and concert.

She says New Zealand has a very open approach to music composition, and it will be a chance for the international visitors to hear new sounds and combinations.

"Certainly they are very interested in Maori culture and finding out what it means to be in a country where Maori culture is alive and not in a museum, not tucked away in a glass box somewhere but is very alive and certainly in the last few festivals the ICM has held including this year's one in Vancouver, first peoples and their music are an important and acknowledged part of the living culture," she says.

The New Music World Music Days are expected to attract hundreds of delegates, composers, performers, academics and leaders in the new music world from more than 50 countries.

GLENDA KEAM INTERVIEW

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