In 'Breath of the Birds' Dame Gillian Whitehead discusses the origin of taonga puoro, their revival, and how she has used traditional Māori musical instruments in her compositions.

Eminent New Zealand composer Dame Gillian Whitehead celebrates her 80th birthday on 23 April 2021. In this 2019 Lilburn Lecture she explores the renaissance of taonga puoro (traditional Māori musical instruments), and how she brings their extraordinary sounds into her own compositions.

Listen to 'Breath of the Birds' by Dame Gillian Whitehead

In this lecture, Dame Gillian Whitehead, DMus, DNZM, MNZM (Ngāi te Rangi) speaks on the origins of ngā taonga puoro, their revival, and how she has used these traditional Māori musical instruments in her work.

The lecture concludes with a performance of her work Hineraukatauri by NZSO principal flautist, Bridget Douglas and taonga puoro performer and researcher, Alistair Fraser.

Three-time winner of the SOUNZ Contemporary Award and the 2018 recipient of the Arts Foundation Arts Icon Award, Gillian's work has been recognised internationally for several decades. Often working collaboratively with artists from various disciplines, Gillian has also frequently incorporated taonga puoro and Māori themes into her work.

Scroll down for a transcript of the lecture

The Lilburn Lecture 2019 was recorded on 1 November 2019 at National Library of New Zealand by RNZ

(Producer: Adrienne Baron / Engineer: Marc Chesterman)

Hosted by the Lilburn Trust and the Alexander Turnbull Library.

Related:

Previous Lilburn Lectures

More about Gillian Whitehead

More about taonga puoro

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details