Pasifika music performance papers a 'first' in Wellington

16 January 2012

Published 16 January 2012

Performing and studying Pasifika music will be one of the exciting new opportunities offered to students as Te Koki, the New Zealand School of Music welcomes Opeloge Ah Sam to the teaching staff.

The appointment of Opeloge to the staff of NZSM is a result of a collaboration between the Pasifika team (Academic Office) at Victoria University of Wellington and NZSM led by Assistant Vice Chancellor (Pasifika) Assoc Prof Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban and Prof Elizabeth Hudson respectively.

"It is marvelous to have someone of Opeloge's calibre and experience," Assoc Prof Laban says. "There is just so much talent in our Pacific Island community and we want our students, and their families, to see that university study with the New Zealand School of Music is a valuable way of focusing and developing this talent. This is a 'first for Wellington - to have tertiary level courses devoted to deepening understanding and experience of Pasifika culture through music, and I anticipate this collaboration between my team and NZSM will have wonderful results not just on campus, but in the wider community also."

Opeloge will be teaching Pacific Islands Performance 1 (PERF251) in Trimester 1 2012, exploring traditional and modern approaches to understanding and performing Pacific music. Topics of study will include the influence of musical styles such as Hip-Hop, Jazz, Art Music, and Gospel on Pacific Island musicians, cultures, and practices. This will be followed and extended in Trimester 2 through PERF351, Pacific Islands Performance 2. [While initial enrolments for both of these courses were due by Tuesday 10 January, late enrolments and course changes are possible after that date.Check with NZSM if you are interested.]

"These courses will involve singing as well as learning about the traditional forms of Samoan and various other Pacific Island music and the ethics and issues surrounding its performance today," Opeloge Ah Sam explains. "There will be dancing too! Singing and dancing go 'hand in hand' in most Pacific Island cultural traditions.

"I believe that these courses will be of interest to students across a wide range of backgrounds, not just those involved with other NZSM study," Opeloge comments. "I've often thought that it is odd that in New Zealand Aotearoa, a 'Pacific' country, it can be quite hard to find courses at a tertiary level that allow you to learn about and explore Pacific culture. These new papers will be a way for Pacific Island students to explore these musical elements so intrinsic to their culture; for Maori and New Zealand students to extend their knowledge of music within a Pacific context; for voice students to extend their repertoire and experience; and for International students from Europe, Asia, Americas.... to explore and experience the music which 'belongs' to this part of the world."

"My role at NZSM has several elements. Primarily, I will be teaching these Pacific Island Music Performance papers through the Music Studies Programme at NZSM. In addition, in collaboration with the Pasifika team at VUW, I will be able to support Pasifika students studying at university and will also be looking at ways to use NZSM resources to support Year 12 and 13 high school students with an interest in Pacific Island music, ensuring they have the requisites for furthering their study at university."

Opeloge comes to us from Auckland where, over the last six years he has been working as a secondary school itinerant teacher of piano, trumpet and voice, run workshops in composition at high schools, was assistant music director for several years for Auckland’s Christmas in the Park, and worked with Lakeside Rotorua programmes. "I also ran the MVE Community Choir where we sang a wide range of cultural music: African, Samoan, Tongan, Maori… and I worked in quite a number of high schools taking workshops in composition." Opeloge worked as Orchestra and Choir director at St Kentigerns College, Auckland, followed by three years as HOD Music at Mangere College. The vastly different contexts gave Opeloge valueable experience relevant to his new role at NZSM.

Opeloge was born in Samoa and recalls his first music lessons as a four or five-year old on the only orchestral xylophone in Samoa. "My grandfather brought the instrument into Samoa from England. He used to stand me on an upturned fizzy drink box so that I could reach! "My parents decided that my sister and I should get our intermediate and secondary school education in New Zealand and so we moved to Auckland in 1987. It was at Mt Albert Grammar School that my interest in music and composition was really confirmed and I started getting gigs both with my jazz quartet and as a pianist. At 15 I had a steady gig playing at a bar and restaurant in Newmarket which was a great way to both perform and practice."

Opeloge studied composition at Auckland University’s School of Music but when John Rimmer retired from there he decided to look around for a change of perspective. "I applied to 10 universities around the world and was accepted into 9 of them. Because I’d visited Melbourne on a holiday some years before and really enjoyed the city, I decided to continue my study at Melbourne University." He graduated with a Masters in Music majoring in Composition in 2002 and moved back to Auckland in 2005.

Opeloge's move to NZSM this year will also allow him to complete his PhD which has a particular focus on ‘music composition and the role music plays in discovering and defining ones’ identity both as an individual and within a social and cultural context.’

Aside from his teaching and own study, Opeloge is still a very active composer and performer. He regularly provides choral works with a regional theme for his church, has recently released several singles on iTunes with his Masque Jazz Quintet, and is currently completing a Jazz Concerto for three vocalists, jazz combo and small orchestra. "The fact that NZSM has Classical and Jazz performance and composition streams is a great advantage. I found that one of the best ways to engage Pasifika students with music was through jazz – they really related to those musical elements and through performance, which they picked up really easily, I could then extend their musicianship and other skills."