Bay News with Sandy Myhre: Concert for Ukraine; and walk to fix

A fundraiser for Ukraine:

Riverside Homestead Waitangi owners Chris Whareringa Swannell and Michael Hooper are hosting a concert for Ukraine at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Russell.

Proceeds from the fundraiser will be used
for the benefit of the Kiwi ReliefAid organization and the Save The Children fund.

Members of the Jade String Quartet will perform. James Yoo (cello), Professor of Cello and Chamber Music at the University of Auckland, Liu-Yi Retallick (violin), currently Associate Principal Violin with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Robert Ashworth (viola), Principal Viola at the Auckland Philharmonia and Miranda Adams (violin), deputy concertmaster of the Auckland Philharmonia, all come together as a quartet for special recitals.

There is a fortuitous connection between Chris, Michael and the quartet. The owners of Homestead have sponsored the Auckland Philharmonia for 27 years.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to New Zealand addresses the gathering via video. Likewise, the founder of ReliefAid from within Ukraine. There are silent auction items from The Duke, Explore Group, Riverside Homestead Waitangi, and paintings of Ukrainian women.

The program includes music by Ukrainian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Those present will recognize the Romeo and Juliet theme, and there are also selected pieces by New Zealand composers.

For tickets contact Chris and Michael (09 402 5432).

The professor and author as speaker:

Alison Jones is a professor at Te Puna Wānanga, School of Māori Indigenous Education at the University of Auckland.

As part of the Matariki celebrations, she was invited by the Kororāreka Marae committee to talk about her book, Tuai: A Traveler in Two Worlds. She co-wrote it with longtime friend and collaborator Professor Kuni Kaa Jenkins.

It traces Maori’s first encounters with paper and writing, and won the Ockham Prize for Illustrated Non-Fiction in 2018.

Fittingly, his talk took place at the Pompallier Mission House, built in 1842, where Church texts were first translated from Latin into te reo Māori, then printed and bound.

She brought with her framed reproductions of original documents, most of which date from 1814 to 1826. These are examples of very early Maori engagement with Pākeha.

His book elucidates the first quarter of the 19th century, which was a time of intense rivalry for Maori in the Bay of Islands. The rangatira (chiefs) and their companions traveled overseas to Australia, and even as far away as England, to study European society and form political alliances with European leaders.

She spoke of early Maori-European relations in New Zealand’s early schools, such as Rangihoua Pā and at Oihi Mission Station at the southern end of the Purerua Peninsula on the northwest shore of the Bay of he is. .

The exhibition was made possible with the support of the Marsden Fund and Ngā Pae o to Māramatanga and the University of Auckland.

Lorelle McNaughton plays for Aroha Music Society:

Lorelle McNaughton is a specialist in Spanish piano music who has performed extensively in New Zealand, Australia and Europe. She recently performed as a special guest at the Oceania exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, playing Michael Parekowhai’s sculpted grand piano.

She also recently gave a recital at the Turner Center as part of the Aroha Music Society Concert Series. Bruce Carlsson, on behalf of the Aroha Music Society, said of the occasion that Spain presents its own sense of passions and emotions.

“They are represented through their own innate styles of ornamentation, rhythms and idioms that give Spanish music its unmistakable flair and style, and Lorelle’s performance offered a variety of well-chosen and grouped works for present the best of Spanish piano.”

She presented a chronological program that began with a selection of Baroque
composer Padre Antonio Soler and ended with a piece by Enrique Granados, 12 spanish dances.

The second half was Isaac Albeniz’s great masterpiece Iberiawhich Lorelle presented in two parts with an interval in between.

It has been said of the composer, himself a virtuoso pianist, that he almost destroyed his manuscript because he was in despair of ever finding someone capable of really interpreting it, so great is the complexity of the work.

Bruce Carlsson said the wide jumps, stretched chords, crossed hands and intertwined fingers sometimes playing intricate crossed rhythms between piano keys offer clues as to why.

“It was fascinating to see and hear someone who was up to the task of delivering this magnificent but rarely executed work,” he said.

Lorelle McNaughton’s recital is the result of a collaboration between Chamber Music NZ and the Kerikeri International Piano Competition Trust.

Improvement of the Paihia Ōpua footbridge:

In February, the Far North District Council had hoped to begin work to replace a busy section of the coastal path between Ōpua and Paihia which had been closed just before Christmas.

Access to a boardwalk and wooden bridge, located south of Te Haumi Beach, near the entrance to the Paihia Top 10 Holiday Park near National Highway 10, was blocked by the Council after that an engineer’s report confirmed that the piles supporting the structure had been seriously weakened by rot and marine worms. The report warned that the bridge could collapse under additional weight.

This section of trail takes walkers across a tidal inlet and through a grove of mangroves. Although relatively short, there are no safe alternative routes that bypass the promenade, thus cutting off pedestrian access between Ōpua and Te Haumi.

Although work was delayed, a specialist walkway company, Frame Group Limited, was contracted to provide designs and approvals for the new structure. It is expected that a contract for construction will be awarded in early July and work will begin on August 1. The construction should last six weeks.

Once work on the new promenade and new bridge is completed, improvements will be made to other parts of the Ōpua-Paihia track.

These are expected to continue through 2022 and 2023 and will include lane realignments, new handrails, boardwalks and steps.

Improvements will be scheduled to minimize disruption to events, such as next year’s Kiwi Walk & Run.