The Glamaphones will be bringing it home this November with their Homegrown Aotearoa concert of kiwi music. There will be a Wellington concert at St Andrews on the Terrace on Saturday, 25 November that will include refreshments and a light supper after the performance. Tickets are available from choir members or this website. Kids aged 12 and under have free entry to the Wellington concert.

Note: Please search for the second, matinee concert in Paekakariki on Sunday, 26 November, if that’s the one you are after.

This programme weaves together the traditional with the modern. Maori waiata form the foundation of the concert, craftily woven together by musical director Rachel Hyde with an line up of iconic kiwi pop. Rachel hopes that the concert will have broad appeal: Everyone will enjoy key moments of the kiwi songbook, with pop music stretching back to the seminal kiwi classic, Pixie Williams’ 1940s hit “Blue smoke”. The pop journey takes us through the decades, with contributions from 1970s Split Enz, 1980s Crowded House (“Don’t dream it’s over”), 1990s Mutton Birds, and a modern classic from Hollie Smith.

A “homegrown” line up has real significance for the choir. While some of the choir are kiwi born and bred, many members are more recent arrivals. “These songs have a distinctly kiwi feel that we can all identify with; they provide a common experience that remind us of how lucky we are to be a part of this progressive, compassionate and multi-cultural democracy”, Rachel says.

Rachel is most grateful to the support of kiwi musicians in helping to make this programme work: “We have pieces especially arranged for the choir. The three songs from Don McGlashan deserve special mention. Both of his silver scroll winning compositions are included in our concert (“Anchor me” and “Bathe in the river”) as is the Glamaphones’ version of “Nature” which was covered by the Mutton Birds”.

If you would like to support the choir further, you will be able to buy raffle tickets at both performances. Proceeds from the raffles will go towards taking the concert to Sydney in March 2018.