Music Seminar Series: Te Oti Rakena

Dr Te Oti Rakena presents his current research, "The Impact of the Spoken Voice on the Sung Voice: The Colonised Māori Voice."

This event is part of the Music Seminar Series: a series of presentations highlighting current research at the School of Music.

Abstract:
There are a great many myths associated with knowledge transfer in the vocal arts; however, iconic texts in the area of voice science and vocal pedagogy consistently align in one truth, that speech patterns impact vocal quality. Teachers in the voice studio often outsource vocal problems that originate in the spoken voice to speech therapists, recognising that speech habits can interfere with vocal development and effective, consistent, healthy singing.

Aotearoa/New Zealand is an ideal microcosm to examine the effects of speech habits on the sung voice. There is a large body of work in the area of socio-linguistics that has examined the development of the colonial English regional variants, much of it focused on New Zealand English. In addition, anecdotally, Māori in the field of vocal arts and sociolinguistics recognise the impact of the New Zealand accent on the Māori language. Unlike past generations of first language Māori speakers, the current generation is surrounded by the English language, which is spoken with an accent that has evolved from its original British roots into a distinct antipodean sound.

This presentation will discuss the project in progress, which proposes a parallel devolution of the Māori accent from its authentic Pacific roots, to the antipodean-influenced language of today. It will demonstrate that Kiwi classical singers working in the western European tradition and singers working in the Māori performing arts form Kapahaka have similar vocal issues. I propose similar strategies for improving vocal health and sustaining quality voice production in both genres.

Biography:
Dr Te Oti Rakena’s whakapapa links him to Ngati Ruanui, Nga Puhi and Kai Tahu. He returned to New Zealand in 2004 to take up a position at The University of Auckland after receiving a Masters Degree from New England Conservatory (Boston), a Doctor of Musical Arts in voice from the University of Texas at Austin, and three years post-doctorate study based in Germany. He is currently the Coordinator of vocal studies (classical) and Associate-Dean Equity for the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries at The University of Auckland.

Te Oti recently collaborated on the Ministry of Education Teaching and Learning Initiative two year research project "Success for All" and is currently participating in Te Ara Kakena, an international collaborative research project with the University of Melbourne, The University of Texas at Austin and the Emily Carr University in Vancouver, Canada that explores graduate students’ experience of supervision in the studio learning environment. He is also currently completing a two year research project “The Loss of the Pacific Quality: The Colonised Māori Voice" that looks at the influence of Kiwi English on the Māori sung voice.

Research and intellectual interests have centred on studio pedagogy, vocal pedagogy, teaching strategies for studio learning in the vocal theatrical arts and performance as epistemology. A key ongoing research interest is the integration of non-western research methodologies (Kaupapa Māori Research and Pasifika Research methodologies) and their associated analytical frameworks.

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