Gillian Whitehead
These smaller-scale chamber works by Whitehead all address the common idea of Place. The performances feature some notable NZ musicians with Aroha Yates and Janet Roddick on vocals, Richard Nunns on taonga puoro, and bassoon soloist Ben Hoadley a feature of almost all the tracks. The cd also presents solo pianist Stephen de Pledge, and poet Greg O’Brien reads his own poems to Whitehead’s accompaniment.
As one of New Zealand’s foremost composers Gillian Karawe Whitehead sits in a unique position to weave classical and Māori together in modern composition. Here in Arapātiki, she has focused on a series of works encapsulating a sense of place ie. each piece has a visual or spiritual link to a certain place…