Media Release

11 September 2024

Elegiac, ethereal, and urgent, Muriwai carry the message for our times. Conduits for the instruments and voices of the atua, their work is a journey from the source towards the future we must urgently protect. Both balm for the soul and a rousing call to action

(Jacquie Boer)

Long-time collaborators Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu) and Bob Bickerton join forces as Muriwai, a duo and musical concept six years in the making, and they are set to release a new album and perform nationally under the auspices of Chamber Music New Zealand this spring.

Muriwai refers to a confluence of two rivers, with the music of Bickerton and Tikao coming together as a convergence of Māori and Celtic musical traditions through waiata, taonga puoro and Celtic harp. These interlinked musical journeys through time and place begin with a Kāi Tahu creation story relating to water, moving through to the arrival of people in Aotearoa, our impact on the environment, and imagined consequences of our actions.

“Ariana and I first started to explore the Muriwai concept in August 2018 when Ariana was in my studio for a recording session. We improvised with Ariana on vocals and kōauau pongāihu and myself on harp and the magic started to happen. This turned out to be our first single, Auroko. Little did we know at the time that we were embarking on a project which would be six years in the making and culminate with an album release and a national tour produced by Chamber Music New Zealand”, said Bickerton.

The music explores the use of taonga puoro and harp in new ways, all enhanced by Bickerton’s considerable audio production skills, to create never-before-heard soundscapes.

“Playing taonga puoro is an improvisational process where one is moved by the moment whilst being cognisant of the kaupapa and the whakapapa of the taonga involved. Using innovative audio technology to advance this approach with the instruments has resulted in exciting musical concepts that stay true to the intention, but provide subtle sonic support for the wonderful voice of Ariana.” Bickerton added.

The pair met through their association with the late Richard Nunns who mentored and performed with Tikao and who was a friend and musical colleague of Bickerton. “We’ve worked together on a number of projects now, and Muriwai has been a slow-burning side project that we’ve had to fit around other kaupapa such as the Ngā Hau Ngākau exhibition soundtrack, a Tikao whānau album of waiata, and Hākui - an online resource bringing back the art of oriori writing (birth chants) to Kāi Tahu whānau, all of which Bob has been lending his skills to. I’m so pleased that we can finally share this mahi with people now”.

Tikao and Bickerton are releasing Muriwai through Wellington-based Oro Records with an online event on Sunday 29th September at 8pm (New Zealand Time). People can register for the event by clicking the link on their website here: https://www.muriwaimusic.nz/

Their national tour runs from 10th October and finishes with a performance in the Nelson Arts Festival on 29th October. Details can be found at: https://www.chambermusic.co.nz/muriwai

Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu) is a composer and performer of waiata in te reo Māori, and an accomplished taonga puoro player. She has performed as a soloist for many of Aotearoa’s orchestras and chamber groups such as Stroma and the New Zealand String Quartet. She has collaborated with a diverse array of artists such as Louise Pōtiki Bryant, Paddy Free, Alien Weaponry, and Shayne Carter, and has recently been performing in Europe and Brazil. She is also the co-author of two books Mokorua and Te Rā: The Māori Sail, and a published poet. In 2020 the New Zealand Arts Foundation awarded her the inaugural Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Laureate Award.

Bob Bickerton is a performer of both traditional Irish music and taonga puoro and has recorded with Richard Nunns, Aroha Yates-Smith as well as many others. He has performed extensively in concerts, festivals and schools around Aotearoa, including with the New Zealand String Quartet in the Adam Chamber Music Festival and the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts. Bob was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2015 New Year’s Honours list for services to music.

For more information and interviews contact: ororecordsnz@gmail.com, or mail@bickerton.co.nz