Aroha presents first of concerts

Aroha Music Society is presenting a trio of concerts between August and October, each held at a different venue.

The first is on Sunday 21st August at Cornerstone-Whare Karakia O
Manaki, 144 Kerikeri Road.

Featured is what Aroha term the “dynamic duo”, Ensemble Gô. Monique Lapins, who is second violinist with the New Zealand String Quartet, is joined by marimba player Naoto Segawa. Their extensive repertoire includes works by Peter Klatzow from South Africa, JacobTV, a Dutch avant-garde composer and Linda Dallimore from New Zealand.

Dallimore is the recipient of the inaugural Chamber Music New Zealand Commissioning prize. She has composed a piece entitled Matariki with a movement dedicated to each of the stars of the Pleiades cluster.

Monique Lapins likes diverse collaborations as a chamber musician, soloist and as an orchestral player. She performs on a 1784 Lorenzo Storioni violin donated by David Duncan Craig on behalf of the Lily Duncan Trust.

Naoto Segawa is a contemporary percussionist who specialises in marimba performance. He has won numerous awards in competitions. He seeks out the works of up-and-coming composers such as Joshua Pangilinan, David Taylor, Tsu-Chin Hsu and Simon Eastwood.

Other concerts will be held on Sunday 18th September at Kingston House, entitled Strings Amore and Duo Enharmonics at the Venue Bar, Turner Centre, on 16th October 2022.

Artist with fresh vision of Pompallier

Auckland-based artist Peter Atkinson has discovered that Pompallier Mission and Printery in Russell has made a significant impression on him.

The painter found a source of inspiration in the historic building and site cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga that has resulted in a series of artistic pilgrimages for him to the north.

He and his wife did a tour of the printery, and he was fascinated by the printing and bookbinding objects on display. He thought that, bathed in a half-light, they looked like something out of a painting by Vermeer or Chardin, and he decided to paint them as still-life.

“I was offered the opportunity to set up my gear in a corner in the printery building and began building the collection of photographic resources from which the paintings emerged, all while tours were taking place around me,” he said.

The result was Teatro, which is the Greek root word for ‘theatre’, literally meaning a place to view. It’s a collection of still-life works that capture the objects associated with the mission printery, where Bishop Pompallier and his French Marist priests produced almost 40,000 religious book in te reo Māori.

“The paintings in Teatro focus largely on the objects which are story-bearers that tell the narratives of what went on here. They then become part of the ongoing history of the place,” he says.

Peter has a degree in Theology and Pastoral Counselling. He held a “real” job but went back to painting after his son, Andrew, died in an accident.

“Not long after he died I found his last Father’s Day card to me, and in it was a $100 gift voucher for art supplies, and a little note saying: ‘Do your art Dad’.

“I realised that at that time in my life I probably had more time left than Andrew had alive, and that it was important to do what’s in me for as long as I’m able,” he said.

He worked through his parental grief and the bereavement process with his art. Of Teatro, he says there is a sense of seeing beyond the present to connect with the past.

“These stories weave together the bookbinding and printing aspect of the place and have become a kind of metaphor for the actual compiling and sharing of these stories.”

Far North District Council manager takes new top job

Far North District Council will lose one of its top managers in September when he takes up a new role as Chief Executive of Kāpiti Coast District Council.

Darren Edwards was appointed General Manager – Strategic, Planning and Policy with Far North District Council in May 2021. But he was well known to FNDC, having previously spent five years in senior leadership roles.

These included as Manager – Environmental Services, Chief Information Officer and Acting General Manager – Environmental, Community and Customer Services.

He returned to the Far North after spending just over a year with the Invercargill City Council as a senior manager.

He has played a key role on FNDC’s Strategic Leadership Team. Blair King, FNDC CEO, said Mr Edwards has made a “huge” contribution to the organisation and the district.

He will leave FNDC on 30th September and take up his new role with Kāpiti Coast District Council on 10th October 2022.

Kaikohe hosting community workshops

A series of six Community Development Economic workshops is being conducted in Kaikohe for two weeks, from the 1st to the 14th of August. All workshops are free to attend and include spot prizes.

The workshops are community discussions about future mahi, skills and opportunities needed or required.

The first was held on 2nd August, and was a chance for attendees to give voice to what they wanted to see in the community.

The second was at Ngawha Park Office on the 3rd August. A subsequent workshop on the 10th August will give an overview of what is happening at Ngawha Innovation and Enterprise Park.

This is followed by an afternoon at Kaikohe Library on 5th August. Children are invited to experience virtual reality through headsets, crafts and robotics.

On Saturday 6th at 6B Broadway (rear workshop), the workshop is intended to disclose Kaikohe’s “problems” and to lay the groundwork for the town’s regenerative and economic civic development.

On Tuesday 9th August at Te Pu O Te Wheke Gallery, 118 Broadway, the call is for creative artists and organisations to plan the future. It will explore innovative and creative ideas to support existing and new business growth for the Kaikohe creative arts sector.

Friday 12th August is all about teenagers. Teens are asked to share their aspirations for training and jobs they would like to see in the future.