Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Commissioned by Wellington City Council for the reopening of Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Central Library, Briar Prastiti's 'Te Matapi'i' is a musical interpretation of the library as a central welcoming figure for Pōneke. After seven years of closure, this choral work announced the opening of the space to the community.
The work involves a massive eight choirs, more than 300 singers, working under the baton of Brent Stewart, and featuring moving solo vocal work from the composer, and colourful and evocative contributions from Alistair Fraser on taonga puoro. 'Te Matapi'i' moves back and forth between more traditional four-part harmony where the choirs all sing together, and semi-improvised sections where choir members are given instructions to perform certain melodic figures in their own time, overlapping and layering with each other as they go.
Te Mataphi ki te Ao Nui means The Window to the Wider World, and Briar's work places the newly-opened building as a living community space - the heartbeat of the city!
Choirs: Orpheus Choir Wellington, Supertonic, The Glamaphones, Signature Choir Wellington, Wellington Young Voices, Wellington Youth Choir, Nota Bene, FilCoro - Wellington Filipino Choir.
Audio recorded by RNZ Concert - producer David McCaw, engineer Darryl Stack. Filmed and edited by Chris Watson for SOUNZ. Film funded by NZ On Air.
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Learn more about the composers and performers of music from Aotearoa New Zealand on our website (sounz.org.nz), or by following us on Facebook (@SOUNZnz), Instagram (@sounz_nz), or TikTok (@sounz_nz).
#nzmusic
Commissioned by Wellington City Council for the reopening of Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Central Library, Briar Prastiti's 'Te Matapi'i' is a musical interpretation of the library as a central welcoming figure for Pōneke. After seven years of closure, this choral work announced the opening of the space to the community.
The work involves a massive eight choirs, more than 300 singers, working under the baton of Brent Stewart, and featuring moving solo vocal work from the composer, and colourful and evocative contributions from Alistair Fraser on taonga puoro. 'Te Matapi'i' moves back and forth between more traditional four-part harmony where the choirs all sing together, and semi-improvised sections where choir members are given instructions to perform certain melodic figures in their own time, overlapping and layering with each other as they go.
Te Mataphi ki te Ao Nui means The Window to the Wider World, and Briar's work places the newly-opened building as a living community space - the heartbeat of the city!
Choirs: Orpheus Choir Wellington, Supertonic, The Glamaphones, Signature Choir Wellington, Wellington Young Voices, Wellington Youth Choir, Nota Bene, FilCoro - Wellington Filipino Choir.
Audio recorded by RNZ Concert - producer David McCaw, engineer Darryl Stack. Filmed and edited by Chris Watson for SOUNZ. Film funded by NZ On Air.
--
Learn more about the composers and performers of music from Aotearoa New Zealand on our website (sounz.org.nz), or by following us on Facebook (@SOUNZnz), Instagram (@sounz_nz), or TikTok (@sounz_nz).
#nzmusic
