Music News - Trilingual Kids Music EP, 'Kōwhai: Kōrero Mai' featuring Suzy Cato, releasing September
17 August 2023 - 0 Comments
A very special EP, Kōwhai: Kōrero Mai, from Loopy Tunes Music, made in collaboration with Ko Taku Reo - Deaf Education NZ, featuring NZ Children's Music royalty, Suzy Cato, with the support of New Zealand on Air Music, will be launching 8 September, 2023.
Kōwhai: Kōrero Mai is a fun and interactive set of four trilingual waiata, featuring English and te reo Māori lyrics, and NZ Sign Language in the accompanying music videos.
The first singles Kia Ora E Hoa, Māori Animal Alphabet and Toro Like A Kakīroa will be released August 18, 25 and September 1, respectively. Māori Vowels, the final single, will be released on the same day the full EP is launched, on September 8. This will also be the day that the three trilingual music videos, produced by the team at Ko Taku Reo - Deaf Education NZ, will be released on TuriTV and YouTube.
This EP has been created for preschool and primary school music lovers and their whānau. “We wrote these songs for 4-8 year olds in mind because they are learning to read, engage, and embrace, te reo Māori in their school setting, so we wanted this to complement what they are already learning” shares Siu Williams-Lemi, from the musical sister duo, Loopy Tunes.
“We created this EP to encourage the use of te reo Māori basics, in a fun and interactive way!” adds Loopy Tunes co-founder, Leah Williams-Partington.
“A key thing about learning te reo Māori is mastering the vowels, so we are constantly telling people, ‘When you're starting out, focus on those vowels, master them, and you’ll be speaking beautifully in no time!’” encourages the duo. “We hope people find these songs useful and fun to sing along to.”
Suzy Cato shares her part in the project. “I approached Siu & Leah, earlier in the year, about joining with them to create an echo song incorporating te reo Māori” says Suzy. “Both Siu and Leah were very open to the opportunity and happened to be in the midst of creating an EP of songs about learning Māori. They invited me to join them on the rest of the EP and immersed me in their creative process, completely, which was wonderful!”
“From that initial idea, to shared documents online and melodies sung through the phone and recorded on smart devices; to recording in Siu’s studio, filming the music videos with the Ko Taku Reo multimedia team, and preparing for the launch parties – Siu and Leah have been wonderful to work and play with, and I can’t wait for these songs to be out in the world and enjoyed by tamariki everywhere.”
Loopy Tunes worked with Ko Taku Reo - Deaf Education NZ to create music videos in NZ Sign Language (NZSL), starring three amazing tamariki turi to help make these songs more widely inclusive and accessible. “Providing the music videos is an added bonus that enables a trilingual resource that can be enjoyed by so many more people,” share Siu and Leah.
"This collaboration offers us a remarkable chance to create resources that will captivate our learners,” says Ko Taku Reo Acting Executive Principal, Dr Denise Powell. “By combining music with NZSL, we are able to make a fun and enjoyable experience for all Deaf and Hard of Hearing children. Furthermore, these resources will also serve as valuable tools for our stakeholders, helping them foster inclusivity and understanding in their communities."
This is the first project of its kind and an exciting collaboration for Aotearoa Children’s Music, showcasing the three official languages of New Zealand. “We are excited about the potential impact this project can have in promoting early language access in environments where tamariki learn alongside their families and whānau,” say Ko Taku Reo - Deaf Education NZ.“Through these collaborative videos, we also hope to inspire and empower educators to create inclusive learning environments and foster a greater appreciation for NZSL.”
Working in this new space did provide some challenges. “Something that has come up in the project is that there are some words where there isn’t a Māori sign for it yet, for example, arewhana | elephant,” share Siu and Leah. “In the Māori Animal Alphabet song, we repeat the word elephant three times - once in Māori, followed by echoes of the word in Māori and then English. Because there isn’t a sign for the word ‘arewhana’, a solution was created using images of the animals, having the kids point, and then finishing with the NZSL sign for elephant.”
Loopy Tunes also worked closely with Māori translator, Kaycee Soutar. “Even though these are simple bilingual waiata, we knew it was important to ensure that we were using the kupu in the right way and using the right structures. Kaycee was awesome to work with and was always open to discussing how we could simplify things, while also ensuring that we weren’t taking away from the language,” explains Siu.
This is the third album being added to the Loopy Tunes "Rainbow" Collection of children's music, following their 2019 debut album Kākāriki: Simply Us, and bilingual (Māori and Tongan) Christmas album Whero: Kirihimete | Kilisimasi, released last year. "We chose Kōwhai for this EP because we wanted it to be like a ray of sunshine in people's reo Māori journey, supporting them to 'Kōrero Mai'!” shares Siu.
Loopy Tunes and Suzy will perform four ticketed shows as part of a double EP launch on Friday, 8 September, in Christchurch, and then Saturday, 9 September, in Auckland, to celebrate the release of Kōwhai: Kōrero Mai.
Christchurch EP Launch
- 8 September, at Tūranga Tautoru | TSB Space
9.30am and 11am shows - tickets from $3-$10pp, available through Humanitix
Afternoon shows at two local schools
Auckland EP Launch
- 9 September, at Te Manawa Community Hub Auditorium and Te Atatū
Peninsula Community Centre
10am and 11.30am shows at Te Manawa
2.30pm show at Te Atatū
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