Ariana Tikao

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Ariana Tikao
Birth nameLeanne Rahera Tikao
Born1971 (age 52–53)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • composer
  • author
  • research librarian
Instrument(s)Taonga pūoro
Years active1993–present
Spouse(s)Ross Calman
Websitearianatikao.com

Ariana Rahera Tikao (born 1971) is a New Zealand singer, musician and author. Her works explore her identity as a Kāi Tahu woman and her music often utilises taonga pūoro (traditional Māori musical instruments). Notably, she co-composed the first concerto for taonga pūoro in 2015. She has released three solo albums and collaborated with a number of other musicians. She was a recipient of an Arts Foundation Laureate Award in 2020.

Life and career[edit]

Tikao grew up in Christchurch, with seven older siblings. She is of Māori descent through her father, and her iwi (tribe) is Kāi Tahu. She attended Lincoln High School, where she performed in school productions.[1] In 1993 she graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in Māori Studies.[2] Born Leanne, Tikao changed her first name by deed poll in the 1990s as part of reclaiming her identity as a Kāi Tahu women.[3]

Much of Tikao's music explores her identity as a Kāi Tahu woman.[4][3] She was tutored in taonga pūoro by Richard Nunns and Brian Flintoff, musicians who led the revival of these traditional instruments.[1][5]

Her career began in 1993 as a singer with the folk duo Pounamu.[4][6] She released her first solo album, Whaea, in 2002, which was a celebration of motherhood and inspired by her own experiences as a mother of two children. The lyrics on the album were all in te reo Māori (the Māori language).[7] It was followed by Tuia (2008). Her third album, From Dust to Light (2012), was inspired by a photograph showing dust rising from the city of Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake.[4][8] In 2008 she was awarded a $10,000 grant from Creative New Zealand to be the musician-in-residence at Birkbeck, University of London.[7] From 2011 to 2020, Tikao worked as the Research Librarian, Māori, at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington.[8][9][10][11]

In 2020 she was the recipient of the Jillian Friedlander Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Award, a Arts Foundation Laureate Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.[4][1] In 2022, she and Philip Brownlee were finalists for the SOUNZ Contemporary Award |Te Tohu Auaha for their composition Manaaki.[12][13] In 2022 she completed a Master of Arts in creative writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters, and was awarded a Creative New Zealand Ursula Bethell residency at the University of Canterbury which she will take up in 2023.[14]

Collaborations[edit]

In 2015, in collaboration with Philip Brownlee, Tikao developed the first concerto for taonga pūoro, called Ko Te Tātai Whetu. Brownlee composed the orchestral framework with Tikao adding improvisational taonga pūoro.[15] She has performed it with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Stroma and the Nelson Symphony Orchestra, and was due to perform it with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in April 2020 (postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic).[4][1] In 2015 she also performed In Paradisum by composer Kenneth Young with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.[6][16] In 2016 she performed in No Man's Land by John Psathas together with an orchestra of musicians from around the world.[4]

Tikao is a frequent collaborator with choreographer and dancer Louise Potiki Bryant. Potiki Bryant created the music video for Tikao's song "Tuia", which received an award for Best Music Video at the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival in 2009.[17][18] In 2019 Tikao toured New Zealand performing the dance show Onepū with Potiki Bryant's company Atamira Dance Company; Tikao composed the soundtrack to the show, together with Potiki Bryant's husband Paddy Free, and performed the role of Hinearoaropari (a deity).[4] They also collaborated on Te Taki o te Ua / The Sound of Rain, a video installation art project about climate change which formed part of the 2021 Festival of Colour in Wānaka.[19]

In 2019 Tikao collaborated with Karl Steven on the soundtrack for a documentary called Fools and Dreamers about the Hinewai Reserve. The soundtrack was made available as an online fundraiser for the reserve.[4] In 2021 Tikao and fellow taonga pūoro artist Al Fraser released an album Nau Mai e Kā Hua.[5]

Tikao is a member of the Tararua musical quartet together with Ruby Solly, Al Fraser and Phil Boniface.[20][21] Their album Bird Like Men was released in 2021.[22][23] She is also part of the Maianginui taonga pūoro ensemble of women, together with Solly, Te Kahureremoa Taumata and Khali-Meari Materoa. They performed their work Ātahu with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at the 2023 Auckland Arts Festival.[24]

In 2022 Tikao collaborated with Ross Calman, her hoa tāne (husband), a writer, editor and translator; Matt Calman, Ross's cousin, photographer, writer and former journalist; and tā moko artist Christine Harvey, culminating in the publishing of the book Mokorua: Ngā kōrero mō tōku moko kauae: my story of moko kauae. The book is an account of Tikao's journey to obtaining her moko kauae, and features text by Tikao, a translation in te reo Māori (the Māori language) by Ross and photographs by Matt.[3][25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Green, Kate (26 September 2020). "Wellingtonian Ariana Tikao named among latest Arts Foundation Laureate winners". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Ariana Tikao". Kōmako. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Newth, Kim (4 November 2022). "Why Ariana Tikao wants you to know exactly how she got her moko kauae". Stuff. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ariana Tikao's Biography". The Arts Foundation of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Arts Laureate Ariana Tikao: the power of pūoro". Radio New Zealand. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Songwriter's Choice: Ariana Tikao". AudioCulture: Iwi Waiata. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b Anderson, Vicki (30 June 2010). "Singer/songwriter Ariana Tikao". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b Anderson, Vicki (10 June 2015). "Taonga puoro - the voices of our land". The Press. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Interviews: From the Archive - Ariana Tikao". Wellington City Libraries. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  10. ^ Tikao, Ariana. "What's in a Tupuna name?". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Tikao, Ariana Rahera, 1971-". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  12. ^ "2022 SOUNZ Contemporary Award | Te Tohu Auaha Finalists". SOUNZ. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Finalists announced for songwriting and composition awards". Radio New Zealand. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Turbine | Kapohau writers off to a flying start". Victoria University of Wellington. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Philip BROWNLEE & Ariana TIKAO: Ko te tātai whetū". Radio New Zealand. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  16. ^ "In Paradisum". SOUNZ. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  17. ^ Revington, Mark (5 April 2015). "Keeping the well filled". Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  18. ^ Anderson, Vicki (26 October 2009). "Christchurch music video wins award". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  19. ^ Perry, Joanna (15 April 2021). "Te Taki o te Ua / The Sound of Rain unveiled". Wanaka Sun. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  20. ^ Kino, Shilo (20 May 2022). "'Our practice is connected to wellbeing': Creativity in Te Ao Māori". Ensemble Magazine. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Tararua - 'Bird Like Men'". Radio New Zealand. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  22. ^ "Meet Tararua - Art Music Quartet". SOUNZ. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  23. ^ Fox, Rebecca (14 April 2022). "Taonga puoro not typecast". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  24. ^ "Ātahu: 'Women are at the heart of what makes this story work'". Radio New. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  25. ^ Tikao, Ariana; Calman, Matt; Calman, Ross (2022). Mokorua: ngā korero mō tōku moko kauae = my story of moko kauae. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 978-1-86940-970-8. OCLC 1347428633.

Literature[edit]

  • Tikao, A. (2022). Mokorua: ngā korero mō tōku moko kauae: my story of moko kauae. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press.

External links[edit]

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