Please visit www.musiclivenz.com for more information about this project.

Legends of Rotorua was premiered at the Rotorua Festival of the Arts in 2011 and recorded in June 2013 with world class musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra, Solstice Quartet, Badke Quartet and leading international soloists under the musical direction of composer, Paul Lewis.  

Composed by UK film and concert composer, Paul Lewis, with taonga puoro composition by Horomona Horo, the work tells two of the best loved stories of the Te Arawa Maori of New Zealand set in Rotorua.  "Inhenga and the Fairy Folk of the Mountain" is just one of the many tales of the great explorer and "Hinemoa and Tutanakei" is the great romance of forbidden love.  Many people in the Rotorua area still trace their ancestry to these star crossed lovers.

The work is approximately 45 minutes in length, written for string quartet, harp & flute, soprano & taonga puoro.  A story teller tells the tales, accompanied by the music.

Watch our 8 minute clip about the recording of Hinemoa and Tutanakei below.  This clip focuses on the taonga puoro composition in the music, and story telling (performed by WAIORA partner, Joshua Rogers). This location is Air Edel studios in London.

Horomona Horo, Elizabeth Woollacott & Paul Lewis at the premiere in 2011 at the Rotorua Museum