Opera singer Zara Ballara will perform in Ashburton this weekend at a public concert hosted by The Ashburton Musical Club.
Ballara, nee Hollis, is a former Ashburton lass now living in Christchurch, and has travelled throughout the UK and Europe with her career.
She said she is ‘‘coming home to make some new truths’’.
She is doing a Doctorate of Musical Arts, called The Waiata Project, which is nearing completion, and will perform part of it at the Sinclair Centre, Park St, on Saturday at 7.30pm.
She said her doctorate documents a collaboration between herself, professional pianist (Iola Shelley), and nine Otautahi Christchurch composers, as they reimagined the accompaniments of well-known Maori waiata.
‘‘The waiata have been carefully selected from published song books and songs for entertainment. The aim is to develop them into unique modern hybrid art songs, promoting te reo Maori and Maori stories in a classical context.’’
‘‘I’ve created a narrative journey of the three years of my doctorate that I’m about to finish,’’ she said.
Ballara, 52, started with hybrid art songs focusing on narrative and built on the idea that songs were a way for people to connect.
‘‘I’ve done it my entire life through song,’’ she said.
As a disconnected Maori of mixed descent (Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu and Whakatohea iwi) she hoped that weaving a connection to her whakapapa, tupuna and taha Maori through the waiata would facilitate a cultural reconnection.
‘‘They will not only reflect the times in which they were written but also find greater relevance in the 21st century.
‘‘The brief to the composers has been to preserve the original melody and te reo, while creating innovative, contemporary accompaniments which enhance the poetry and encapsulate the wairua (spirit) of each waiata.”
Ballara’s thesis was underpinned by a series of vocal recitals, which began in 2022 with the hybrid art songs of American composer, Georgia Stitt.
She said her mahi (work) had progressed to a recital of folk song arrangements and concluded with The Waiata Project.
Traditionally, Maori wrote waiata for specific events where every song had purpose, she said.
It was considered to be a very bad omen to sing without a reason.
However, this changed with the arrival of sea shanties and missionary hymns – waiata were no longer just a specialised oratory tool sung by tohunga (experts) to mark an occasion, but rather entertainment for the masses.
In recent years te reo Maori had seen a resurgence in the performing arts, infiltrating musical forms from R’n’B with Auckland-based artist Rei, to jazz, rap and thrash metal with heavy metal bands like Alien Weaponry, she said.
However, te reo in classical art songs and opera was yet to reach that level of influence and visibility.
‘‘It is my hope that my doctorate of musical arts will help to normalise te reo in classical song compositions.’’
Zara Ballara, nee Hollis, is a former pupil of Allenton and Ashburton Intermediate schools and Ashburton College, is classically trained and studied at Victoria University, Wellington with Emily Mair.
She returned to Christchurch in 2012 after a 16-year career of performing and teaching in London. She completed postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Ballara has sung as a solo artist throughout the UK and Europe, and is focused on voice teaching, both peripatetically and privately.
- * The Waiata Project, hosted by the Ashburton Musical Club, will feature opera singer Zara Ballara who will perform at a public concert on Saturday at the Sinclair Centre, Park St, from 7.30pm. Cost $20, members $10, optional Koha, students free.
