August 19, 2013
Awards organiser looking for reo hit crossover
The organiser of the Waiata Māori Music Awards says the next step will be getting bigger crossover success for Māori artists.
Sixteen finalists have been named for next’s month’s awards, including Maisey Rika with six nominations, Toni Huata and Ahorangi Winitana with four nominations each, Rim D Paul, Te Awanui Reeder and Pieter T.
Tama Huata says in the six years since he created the awards as a way to acknowledge Māori compositions, composers and recording artists, the number of people recording in te reo Māori in all different genres has increased.
He says an award has become an important stepping stone.
"Previous winners have gone on to bigger and better things which has been encouraging for those new ones coming through. Always our biggest challenge is te reo itself in terms of mainstream. We've probably got to look at how we can get some of the crossovers happening a bit better," he says.
The Waiata Māori Music Awards and seminar will be held at the Hawkes Bay Opera House in Hastings on September 13.
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