Catch up on Choral Connect '21: Dr. Opeloge Ah Sam
6 Oct 2022
6 October 2022
A year on from our highly successful Choral Connect conference in Auckland, we’re delighted to release a series of videos recorded at each of the sessions.
Choral Connect is the Association of Choral Director’s biennial conference providing professional development and networking for choral musicians of all backgrounds and experience. The 2021 conference theme was The Choral Traditions of Aotearoa New Zealand, and many of the presentations explored and celebrated the musical traditions of our Māori and Pasifika communities.
This month’s video release features Matatumua Dr. Opeloge Ah Sam. Opeloge has worked as Music Director at various churches in NZ, Samoa and Australia, and has been the choir director of Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park and the NZ Music Awards. He is currently Head of Performing and Visual Arts at Kaitaia College and also directs Kaitaia Community Voices.
Opeloge completed his PhD in Music Composition at the University of Victoria in 2019, looking at how music composition and performance is an expression of Samoan identity. His presentation, titled Engaging Pasifika Music, draws from historical, social and cultural aspects that inform the practice, commissioning and performance of Pasifika music and dance in modern Aotearoa.