Waiora is a trio of indigenous

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

musicians from New Zealand. The three members of Waiora are

Horomona Horo Horomona Horo (born 1978) is a New Zealand Māori people, Māori musician and composer. He is a practitioner of taonga pūoro, the collective term for the traditional musical instruments of the Māori, which include an array of flutes, trumpets ...

, Korey Atama, and Joshua Henare Rogers. The musical performances of Waiora are centred upon the ancient cultural practices of the Maori people and their musical instruments commonly referred to as

taonga pūoro Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand. The instruments previously fulfilled many functions within Māori society including a call to arms, dawning of the new day, communications with the gods a ...

. Their performances combine elements of traditional war dances or

haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

, melodic songs with lyrics written in the Maori language, and instrumental music that fuses the mystical sounds of taonga pūoro with guitar and percussive instruments from around the globe. When the group was formed in early 2013 Waiora was originally a duo with the founding members being Horomona Horo and Joshua Henare Rogers. In March 2014 Korey Atama joined the group just before Waiora's performance at WOMAD Taranaki. Historically the concept of Waiora was formed many years earlier in 2002 at a taonga pūoro workshop held at the Heitiki Art Gallery in Rotorua, New Zealand. Taonga pūoro expert

Richard Nunns Richard Anthony Nunns (7 December 1945 – 7 June 2021) was a Māori traditional instrumentalist of Pākehā heritage. He was particularly known for playing taonga pūoro and his collaboration with fellow Māori instrumentalist Hirini Melbourn ...

and his protégé Horomona Horo were tutoring the workshop. Classical guitarist Joshua Henare Rogers had decided to attend the workshop to learn more about the instruments to help with his composition of the seminal opus for taonga puūoro and classical guitar 'He Karanga Ki Te Ao' premiered three years later in Whakatane.

Members

*Korey Atama - percussion and vocals *Horomona Horo - taonga pūoro and vocals *Joshua Henare Rogers - guitars and vocals

Performances

* May 2013 tour of Slovakia, Ireland & Great Britain * October 2013 tour of Scotland, Wales & Great Britain * September 2013 performances at the

Singapore Grand Prix The Singapore Grand Prix; ta, சிங்கப்பூர் கிராண்ட் பிரிக்ஸ் is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The event takes place on the Marina Bay Street Cir ...

* March 2014 performance at

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, ...

- Taranaki, New Zealand * January 2015 performances at

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of tra ...

Discography

;Albums *''Te Puaotanga O Te Ao'', 2015 ( Orowaru Arts & Minaaka LTD)

References

External links

website"Maisey Rika, and Waiora featuring Horomona Horo."
NZ @ Showcase Scotland, at

Glasgow 2015, New Zealand, 21 January 2015. Retrieved on 5 April 2015.
"Maisey Rika, and Waiora featuring Horomona Horo."

. New Zealand. Retrieved on 5 April 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Waiora New Zealand Māori musical groups Māori culture New Zealand composers Māori-language singers New Zealand Māori singers