RELAXED GUITAR MUSIC Captions by Tom Wilson. Edited by June Yeow. www.tvnz.co.nz/access-services Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. TVNZ Access Services 2013 MUSIC CONTINUES Talofa lava. I'm Oscar Kightley, and I know a thing or two about working in the arts and struggling against stereotypes. Pene and Amitai Pati grew up in the Samoan version of the Von Trapp family, singing at a Mangere rest home throughout their teens. On the other side of town in Glenfield, Moses Mackay is making a difference to the lives of dementia patients with his music. Through singing to others, these three found their voices and each other and are pursuing the same dream ` to make it on the world opera stage. This is their story. MEN SING OPERATICALLY My earliest memory of hearing opera was, uh, probably a CD of Pavarotti. The first time I listened to it, I just thought, 'Jeez, I wish I could sound like this,' you know? 'The opera that I saw that really caught me was, um, Eugene Onegin. 'Kind of embarrassing, cos I` I started crying, and... (LAUGHS)' But that` that was the moment where I just thought, 'If that can really move me, man, I wonder what` what I can do if I get up there.' 'The first opera I saw was this opera called La Boheme by Puccini, and it was amazing. 'I didn't know that opera ` they sang from beginning to end.' I didn't know it was fully in a different language, and so it was a whole new experience. And at the end, I was bawling my eyes out, and I thought, 'I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna be on that stage one day.' LIVELY MUSIC PLAYS Our parents were very, very, very, very strict. PEOPLE SING IN SAMOAN Dad had this idea, because he had four kids, and he wanted to form this Von Trapp kind of... (LAUGHS) family singing group thing, and so he made us sing every Friday at this rest home. Man, we were sick of it by the` by the last. We stopped at about 19, 20, and we` man, I was sick of it. I hated it. We both went to Aorere College over in Papatoe, and at the time, the music director there was Terence Maskell, and he was the one who picked us up and` and taught us. (SINGS OPERATIC SCALE) Terence is the one that kind of` he shaped our musicality with countless weekends where we turned up to his house, and we played music` played music on a piano, and he was just as strict. He was very, very, very strict. If you hadn't have done your work, he would yell in your face, and he would not` Which was good. It was good. It kind of reminded us of our parents, you know? Kind of just shoving us in the right direction. Kind of just shoving us in the right direction. It was full on, and I really liked it, because, you know, we'll do these scales, and I'm like, 'I hate this.' (LAUGHS) 'I hate scales!' And he'll say, 'No, you keep learning it. One day you'll` you will thank me for learning these scales.' (PLAYS CHORD, SINGS SCALE) (PLAYS BACH'S 'MINUET') I` I was very athletic. I was in the sports teams. I was doing all the athletic track-and-field stuff. That was Minuet by Bach. And my music teacher, she` she pulled me aside, and she said, 'Look, I wanna give you singing lessons.' # Edelweiss, edelweiss. # And I was kinda, 'What?!' You know, like, 'Nah, I don't do that stuff,' you know? 'I'm` I'm too cool for that,' you know. But I started getting more and more intrigued, because I was` I always sang, you know? Singing was like` Everyone sung in the house. I first realised I had a voice when I... when I was` when I was young, and my` my mum made me sing to` to the people at the rest homes. Um, she's an occupational therapist, and she works with people with dementia and stuff like that ` people that I just thought were almost not` almost not there, you know? They just` They were just vacant. And then as soon as I started singing, they just` they saw me, and they heard me. When Moses applied for the university, he failed his` his, um, theory paper, so technically he shouldn't have got in. But` But when we met the lecturer later on, at the evening they had, they` the lecturer told me that his voice comes once every 25 years, and so they took him. MEN SING OPERATICALLY 'I met Pene first, uh, through` through university in Auckland, 'but then after that, I met Amitai through the NZ Youth Choir.' Oh, do you have a key? Oh, do you have a key? (LAUGHS) 'I started hanging out with him, and he said, "You must know my brother." 'I was, like, "Oh, Pene?" I was, like, "Oh, 'course." 'So there was always that` you know, that sense of just family vibe.' SINGING STOPS From Eugene Onegin ` 'What Will This Day Bring For Me? Kuda, Kuda.' Darren Pene Pati. APPLAUSE When I did the 2009 Aria ` NZ Aria, I thought, 'Oh wow, this is gonna be, like, the first time ever I'll sing with an orchestra.' (SINGS 'KUDA, KUDA') 'And it was the best buzz, and my brother and my sister journeyed down literally for a holiday, come to see what's going down, but I invited nobody, cos I thought, 'You know what? I don't want to bring someone down to disappoint them. 'It's kind of pointless, really.' (CONTINUES SINGING) He was an unknown, and he came there, and we just all went, 'Where did that voice come from, and who is he?' And the winner is Pene Pati. CHEERING, APPLAUSE It was ridiculous. We watched the footage again, and all you can see is that the camera is focused on him. As soon as his name gets called out, it just moves to the side. That's because I'd` I'd fully just elbowed my sister in the` in the shoulder, and she moved the entire camera over, and I was like, 'Oh my God!' I just stood up and... Oh, it's` It was crazy. It was crazy. In the end, I was just really proud. I was completely confused, cos I thought I had in my head who was gonna win it, and yet this guy had su` such a natural, beautiful sound. And all he could say to us was, 'I'm gonna ring my mum. I need to ring my mum.' (LAUGHS) I told my mum and dad not to come. I told my mum and dad not to come. LAUGHTER I just... Mum, I` I did it. CHEERING, APPLAUSE We received a call that said, 'Oh, Mum and Dad, uh, PJ won the...' I said, 'Won the what?' And he said, 'He won the competition.' I don't know, but I didn't take it serious, because I had no idea what competition. We was just, you know, wait for them to come back and tell` give them a good telling off. (LAUGHS) My mum was really angry. Yeah, she was. I went back up to the` to Auckland, and I was like, 'Uh, here's the cup.' She was like, 'From what?' And I said, 'I won the NZ Aria.' And she was like, 'Oh!' (IMITATES SLAP, LAUGHS) (SINGS OPERATICALLY) DAME MALVINA MAJOR: I felt that this was a voice that I needed to listen to again, and I sat back and really listened, and, um, I thought, 'There's a young Pavarotti.' I had worked with Pavarotti in the early days, when he was new on the stage. I was younger than him, but he was, you know, working. And I thought, 'Pene ` that's the young Pavarotti.' Even looked a bit like the young Pavarotti. (CONTINUES SINGING) (SINGS OPERATICALLY) (SINGS OPERATICALLY) Like unfolding a coat. (SINGS OPERATICALLY) I was told about him, and he sent me a tape, and the singing ` you know, the technical side of it, the production ` wasn't that great. But the sound was wonderful. (SINGS OPERATICALLY) The quality hit me really like a sledgehammer. It was quite` I thought, 'My goodness, there's something individual about this boy.' He offered me the spot, and I thought it was quite crazy, because he said, 'Look, I wanna offer you your master's. Do your master's here.' And I said, 'Are you sure you've got the right person?' Cos it's quite prestigious. Everyone knew of it. And he says, 'Yes, yes, I know who I'm talking to. I wanna offer you this spot.' And so I took it. (SINGS OPERATICALLY) 'It's a bit of an elite situation, really, because we'd only take 20 students every year. 'I would hear 80, I guess, maybe sometimes more.' (CONTINUES SINGING) (LAUGHS) It sort of filters down very quickly, because we know what` we know what we're looking for. When I first arrived here in Cardiff, it was scary. It was very very scary. I was thinking, 'You know, OK, I'm homesick. I'm homesick. I don't like being by myself.' But what was motivating me was, 'I know why I'm here. I'm doing it for my family, doing it for myself, doing it for my future, 'and I gotta get through this.' APPLAUSE I wanted him to follow... not to follow, but to pursue the music career, because I knew he has` and he has a much more broader talent than I do, I think. And I knew that if he follows this it will come naturally and that he can hopefully experience the same, like, feeling I have. ORCHESTRAL MUSIC BUILDS, PAUSES (SINGS OPERATICALLY) ORCHESTRAL MUSIC BUILDS I went into the competition, uh, not thinking that I was gonna get placed or anything. I just thought, 'You know, there are so many good singers out there.' But, um, when I` when I made it to the final, and I knew the people that I was` that I was, um, up against, you know, and, um, when it came down to it, I didn't actually think about being placed or anything. (CONTINUES SINGING) GENTLE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS APPLAUSE I remember, just before walking on to the stage for the final, my brother was talking to me, and he said, 'You know, if you come first, I will` I will come up on stage with you.' When he` When he sang, and when the names started being called out, I was, like, clutching on to the seat. I was like, 'Holy Lord.' And I had in my head who I would have thought` 'OK, OK, this is first, second, third.' It could be` It's out of those three, but jumbled around. One of those guys is gonna come first. < ANNOUNCER: And the first prize goes to... < Amitai Pati. < Amitai Pati. CHEERING, APPLAUSE And then when he did, I was like, 'Oh!' And I lost it. APPLAUSE CONTINUES He stood there, and he was pointing at me, and he was trying to pull me up on to the stage. I was like, 'Oh.' (LAUGHS) APPLAUSE CONTINUES (SINGS OPERATICALLY) (CONTINUES SINGING) Ah! Ah! Very good. > 'I first heard about Amitai when I was walking through the student common room,' and Pene was watching a video on his computer. And I just heard it and almost passed, and I heard this sound. I said, 'Who's that?' and let him finish, and he said, 'It's my brother.' I said, 'My goodness.' (SINGS OPERATICALLY) 'No, not only was he` He was very strikingly good straight away. There was no question. 'And this time, I could see him as well, and, you know, it was very easy to make a quick decision. 'So I told Pene` I said, "Look, if he wants to come here, tell him now."' (CONTINUES SINGING) (CONTINUES SINGING) Ah! Ah! (SINGS SAME SECTION) Now, they say, 'What's he gonna do now?' Start small. (CONTINUES SINGING) See? I make sure that you've got enough breath to hold that last note, > because you can kill it in the last second. Do you wanna try it? because you can kill it in the last second. Do you wanna try it? Yep. (LAUGHS) (SINGS INDISTINCTLY) (SINGS INDISTINCTLY) (LAUGHS, SINGS SAME SECTION) That's what gets 'Bravo!' That's what gets 'Bravo!' (LAUGHS) That's what gets 'Bravo!' (LAUGHS) Guarantee you. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. Oh yeah. But it's frightening, you know, to get up and sing, particularly for the first time in a concert ` obviously a bit frightening. < (LAUGHS) < (LAUGHS) But you're up with the big boys now. Whoo-hoo! Yeah! Whoo-hoo! Yeah! ALL LAUGH Whoo-hoo! Yeah! ALL LAUGH Thank you, maestro. PIANO PLAYS CLASSICAL MUSIC PIANO PLAYS CLASSICAL MUSIC (LAUGHS) Try not to cry, man. Try not to cry. Try not to cry, man. Try not to cry. Nobody likes to cook in a messy kitchen. You're always told in NZ, 'You're from a small country. Someone out there is gonna eat you up if you... 'You're not doing it right.' You know? 'There's a kid out there who's practising 25 hours a day.' You know, they expect a lot. You expect a lot from yourself. > They want to you to succeed, but they don't really expect you to succeed in the industry. It's kind of... They expect to see you back at home with your tail between your legs, saying, 'Well, the career gobbled me up in one go.' So... Yeah. Sometimes you don't get cast as the big role. Sometimes you don't get cast as a small role. Sometimes you just get one line, and for me, I've had` I've had my fair share of one lines, but one that I'll never forget is the one in Rigoletto that I did with the NZ Opera Company. And, oh, it was fantastic. I` I waited for my line, my cue, and then I would open these grand doors... (IMITATES THUD) And I'd just stand there, and I went... (SINGS IN ITALIAN) And then I walk off. And that was it. (LAUGHS) And I tell ya, I was so nervous about that one line, because if I stuffed it up, oh man, everyone would know about it. (LAUGHS) (PRAYS IN SAMOAN) I came to visit Pene, um, last year in Cardiff, in Wales. ALL: Amene. 'On my way here, I emailed Dennis, and I said, '"Oh, Dennis, um, maestro, do you mind if you give me a lesson?"' And he said, 'Sorry, sorry, I` I don't have time, but at the moment we're giving auditions.' And so I cheekily emailed back, and I said, 'Well, if you have any` any time, 'do you mind if I have an audition?' And he said, 'Yeah, sure.' < (SINGS OPERATICALLY) 'The day that I was leaving to go back to NZ was the day of my audition. 'And so I turned up in my big, you know, hiking backpack, 'and I rocked in, and I dropped it down, and I was in shorts and, you know, jandals, whatever I had, 'and he goes, "OK, sing for me." I was like, "Yeah, sure." And I just` you know, I just sung.' (CONTINUES SINGING) He just looked at me with a poker face. He goes, 'Hmm.' And then I said, 'Oh, thank you.' And he goes, 'Yeah, OK, OK.' So awkwardly, I picked up my bag and started walking out, and he goes, 'Oh, Moses.' And I go, 'Oh, oh, yes?' And he goes, 'Well, I'll be seeing you next year, then.' And I was like, 'Oh!' You know? I was just taken aback, you know? And then I kinda stumbled out, and I went straight to the train station and left. I off` I offered him a place on the spot. Again, it takes really exceptional talent and the personality, you see. And so, you know, he's a` He's young, of course, but... it's all a whole. You know, the sound and the personality go together. That's unmistakable when you hear that. (SINGS OPERATICALLY) (CONTINUES SINGING) The` The tuition fees to attend the academy are 28,000 a head, and, um, we budgeted to` to 40,000 for living expenses and` and all that` all that stuff. So for` for me, that was` it was... impossible, you know? It was out of this world. And` And it was still out of the world` out of that world three months before I had to fly out. OPERATIC SINGING BOYS SING OPERATICALLY (SINGS OPERATICALLY) (SINGS OPERATICALLY) (SINGS OPERATICALLY) The way O Sol3 Mio came together was literally to fundraise to get us here,... (STOPS SINGING) ...especially me and Amitai. And so we did a lot of concerts, you know, promoting it ourselves, just trying to raise funds. ALL SING OPERATICALLY 'We did a, um` a concert that was put on by Dame Malvina Major, and Sir Owen Glenn was invited, 'and he` he sat in the front row, and we sung and told him` told the crowd what we were gonna do ` 'we were trying to get to Wales; we want to, you know, study with Dennis and all that jazz.' And Sir Owen Glenn stood up, and he said, 'I would like to give each of you $10,000.' And so we kind of just melted. Like, 'Are you serious? That's exactly what we needed.' You know, we just needed that boost, cos we were all just a bit short. ALL CONTINUE SINGING 'We got picked up by Universal Music. 'They were very interested in us, and they wanted to record an album. 'I would like to see it bridge the gap 'between people who know opera and the people who do not know opera, because we've been there.' The classical music is fantastic, you know? There is such beauty in it, but yet there a lot of people who don't know it. And we find a lot of it` A lot of those people are people our age. And we want to just introduce it, you know? Just say, 'Actually, guys, stop listening to on the radio. Just listen to this.' ALL CONTINUE SINGING I believe the opera path is the harder one for all of us. Um, you know, I wanted to be a song and dance person, and I wanted to be in` in, uh, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' shoes. Um, and I believe that I could have done that quite easily. Um, but I was` I was advised not to, because if I did that, I wouldn't have an operatic career, and I couldn't do both. I couldn't do Gilbert and Sullivan, because I wouldn't be serious about opera. And in this day and age, I think you can do both. It's how you're engaged and how you're contracted and whether you can balance it. ALL: # E iwi e. # Karanga mai nga ki nga iwi e... I don't think any of them will be far away from each other, no matter where they are in the world. I think they` their voices could take them to anywhere they wanna go. They will have difficulty deciding. They've got the goods. They've got the goods, and I think the quality is really really exceptional. I could confidently say that. I don't have a crystal ball, but they have a very strong chance of making it. Because it's not easy ` not at all ` but, uh, the sound alone is just remarkable. ALL: # E iwi e. # ALL CHANT: Ru ana te whenua whatiwhati. Hei! LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE RELAXED GUITAR MUSIC My first thoughts were, 'What...?' You know, I literally cried. There was a sudden realisation of 'what the hell have I done?' When he was a kid, it was already there on display. He was a wonderful writer. He had a very natty turn of phrase, and he could really really make me laugh.