Waiata Māori are blending with songs from around the planet as more than 11,000 singers from 30 countries contest the World Choir Games in Tamaki Makaurau.
After a grand opening on Wednesday, choirs have fanned out across the city for competition, workshops, evening performances and free daytime concerts,
Organiser and performer Melissa Absolum says audiences will get the chance to hear a wide variety of music over the next week.
“You can go see te ao Maori, you can see Maori, you can see choirs from New Zealand singing Maori pieces and they are doing it really well so I love that we’ve got that element, that we as Maori can be part of this too and we’re just as good but we can also perform and do our kapa haka like Te Waka Huia and Tumanako on next week,” she says.
On Monday and Tuesday there’s a Matariki Concert featuring nine choirs singing one piece each to represent the stars of Matariki.
The event website is here:
