Dame Kiri’s festival circuit
Soprano Dame Kiri te Kanawa is to perform at three North American summer music festivals – Washington D.C.’s Wolf Trap, Chicago’s Ravinia and the famous Ontario Elora Festival on July 13. Elora artistic director…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Masterpieces in Ink
Ta moko is more than aesthetics, it is writes the Los Angeles Times, a solemn declaration of Maori identity and dignity. With a little ink, some stinging pain and a helping hand from the…
Worth the Air Miles
New Zealand could be the most “luxurious destination of all” according to Canadian newspaper The Vancouver Sun in an article which promotes Rotorua’s Treetops Lodge and Estate, Waiheke Island and Peter Gordon’s Dine. “In…
At Large in Sydney
New Zealand is well represented at this month’s Australian Fashion Week with thirteen fashion designers joining together to create a formidable showroom line-up. These include Kate Sylvester, Cybele, Lonely Hearts and Stitch…
Potentially Pinot
Though Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc continues its global popularity – sales grew nearly 29 per cent last year – New Zealand winemakers seek a new viticulture challenge. This challenge is Pinot Noir. The winemakers’ excitement…
Anti-nuke Politician Remembered
New Zealand politician Fraser Colman, remembered for travelling to Mururoa Atoll in 1973 to draw attention to French nuclear testing in the Pacific has died, aged 83. Colman sailed on board the…
Seaweed Means Fuel
Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, a New Zealand-based company, is likely to be the first of its kind to produce biofuel from large quantities of wild algae. Aquaflow’s chairman Barrie Leay said his company had successfully…
Just to Say Thank You
Forty years after the Wahine capsized near Steeple Rock in Wellington Harbour, Queenstown artist Kate Watson, née McGibbon, still searched for the man who rescued her, only to discover he died five years ago….
At the Helm of Harrod’s
Former Wellington business man James McArthur, 48, has been appointed chief executive officer and Group chief of Harrod’s, reporting to chairman Mohamed Al Fayed. A 12-year Gucci Group veteran, McArthur was most recently president…
Sir Geoffrey’s TV Legacy
Celebrated New Zealand journalist and soldier Sir Geoffrey Cox has died in Britain, aged 97. As editor-in-chief of Britain’s ITN from 1956 to 1968, Sir Geoffrey built the foundations of 50 years of popular…
Beijing Pact Signed
New Zealand is the world’s first developed country to sign a free-trade deal with China. “It’s a bit like getting the first date with the best-looking girl on the block,” says Stuart Ferguson, chairman…
Rogue takes orders
Wellington actress Anna Paquin, 25, will star as Sookie Stackhouse in HBO drama True Blood, to air in the US in September. Paquin, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Jane…
First Knight Memorialised
Sir Edmund Hillary was honoured by the Queen at a ceremony in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. To a full congregation, Sarah, his daughter, read Allen Curnow’s elegiac poem You Will Know When You…
NZ’s Hottest Beaches
New Zealand’s four most “sizzling” beaches feature in a Forbes Traveler’s ‘Sexy Beaches Downunder’ slide show. These are: Piha, Hot Water Beach, Onetangi Bay, and Abel Tasman National Park, which receives a “’10’ rating…
A Model Ambassador
Auckland model Anna Fitzpatrick, is an official ambassador for the newly established Princess Charlotte Alopecia Foundation in Australia, named for the daughter of Penrith Panthers assistant coach Mathew Adamson. Fitzpatrick, like Charlotte Adamson,…
Peter Jackson step aside
Christchurch video production company Gorilla Pictures is making a zombie film “better than most indie stuff cranked out on the cheap” in the US, according to horror film aficionados Dread Central. Director Logan…
Rose’s Web Comeback
Mt Maunganui former lonelygirl15, Jessica Rose, returns soon to Web-only-TV in a US-made horror-thriller Blood Cell. The show follows Rose’s character, Julia, as she contends with an unseen murderer who will talk to her…
Hawaiian Hunt
New Zealand hunting specialist Prohunt has been hired by The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii to help stem the destruction of the island’s native forest by marauding wild pigs and goats. Prohunt is conducting research…
Aotearoa a la Mode
New Zealand lifestyle and design fills 15 pages in this month’s Marie Claire Maison. The French publication’s spread includes Outpost Hokianga (Rangi Kipa’s Corian Tiki pictured), EON, Stevens Lawson, David Trubridge, Black…
Competing with Green
New Zealand has a reputation for its responsible ecotourism practices; it is a country committed to connecting conservation, communities and sustainable travel, as ecotourism defines. But keeping up with these practises…
Taylor-made for Shortlives
Richard Taylor’s animated children’s programme Jane and the Dragon now airs in the US every Sunday afternoon on NBC. Jane and the Dragon is created from drawings so detailed they required even more…
Moore to Head Charity
Former prime minister and World Trade Organisation Director-General Mike Moore has been hired by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman. Moore will chair the Altimo Foundation, one of Fridman’s charitable organisations associated with the telecom…
Gold in Manchester
New Zealander Hayden Godfrey has won the men’s omnium title at the track cycling world championships in Manchester. The omnium was introduced at world championship level last year and includes five events: the…
Dispelling the Myths
Black Grace is in Aspen where founder and artistic Neil Ieremia is helping the American public come to grips with a dance company “from a place not especially known for dance.” Ieremia has…
Land This Good
Cape Kidnappers is not only home for thousands of gannets, Wall Street magnate Julian Robertson visits his properties on the scenic coastline every US winter. Robertson, who founded Tiger Management Corp, has recently purchased…
Sound System Men
Hamilton reggae group Katchafire are touring the US “spreading their Aotearoa Roots” to big crowds from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Hawaii, where the band headlines at the One Love Reggae Festival. Lead singer Logan…
Fleming’s New Game Plan
Stephen Fleming made a gracious departure from the Black Caps on the fourth day of the final Test against England in Napier. Although New Zealand had a disappointing loss, Fleming left Test cricket much as he…
Ancestral Art in UK
George Tamihana Nuku, renowned Maori carver and sculptor, is staging his first solo exhibition at the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Middlesbrough, UK. Nuku’s exhibition ranges from large carved pieces to traditional Maori weapons, and…
Sydney Sees Red
Established in 1953, the Royal New Zealand Ballet had humble beginnings, performing nationwide with a company of three and a pianist. Now 32-strong, and with an international reputation to boot, the RNZB…
Chopper Challenge
Mount Cook National Park is to host the 2008 World Heli Challenge over two weeks in August. After a six-year hiatus the competition, deemed the most legendary freeriding and freeskiing event on the planet,…
Right-hander’s Ultimate Innings
Walter Mervyn Wallace, one of New Zealand’s greatest batsmen has died, aged 91. As a young man Merv Wallace appeared such a prodigy that the New Zealand press did not scruple to make allusions to Don…
Questions of Difference
Are New Zealanders really afflicted by a ‘tall poppy syndrome’? Do they lack in confidence? Are they indeed Australia’s poor cousin? And if so, does this mean the New Zealand culture is to blame…
Feasts in Factories
New Zealander Margot Henderson, sought-after London gourmand and the other half of Arnold & Henderson catering, does not like to use the word ‘simple’ when describing their menus. “It’s more like it…
Antarctic Oddities
New Zealand scientists were part of a 50-day “voyage of discovery” through the Ross Sea recently, coming face-to-face with some truly odd creatures. The marine life encountered during the 2,000-mile voyage included, jellyfish with…
Lightning Success
Liam Finn is currently touring the United States promoting his 2007 solo album I’ll Be Lightning, and is mesmerising critics there. In Texas, former Dirty Vegas frontman, Steve Smith was impressed with how Finn…
Company in LA
Auckland artist Misery, aka Tanya Thompson, best known for her work with New Zealand clothing label Illicit, is part of group show Anything Could Happen … at Carmichael Gallery in West Hollywood. For the exhibition,…
In London cinemas
Duncan Sarkies’ 2006 movie Out of the Blue – a dramatic reconstruction of the 1990 Aramoana massacre – is showing in London this week and continues to receive favourable reviews. The Guardian…
Pacific Mix
Eleven-piece New Zealand band Te Vaka travelled to Macau where they enchanted the audience with the sound of the South Pacific, just as they have done at venues throughout the world…
Kezia comes alive
Katherine Mansfield’s Prelude and Carnation are amongst four of the writer’s short stories adapted for theatre and performed by Toronto’s Theatre Smith-Gilmour, celebrated for their stage adaptations of Chekhov. The Mansfield…
Wilson pitches the unpitchable
Christchurch comedian Cal Wilson is part of this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, performing on March 29 in Axed! The show is billed as “stories of the unpitchable, unprintable and unwatchable” and the…
Contemporary Navigation
Dancer and choreographer Jeremy Nelson’s latest performance Sail, is inspired by his childhood in New Zealand; inspired by the sea, the Maori haka and rugby. Nelson performed Sail at New York’s Danspace Project,…
Tunnel Museum Opens
During the Great War beneath the unassuming French town of Arras and the German enemy, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company built two interconnected tunnels, almost 20km long and able to hide 25,000 troops. The…
Tour of Auckland
The Flight of the Conchord’s manager Murray Hewitt, Aucklander Rhys Darby, introduces the Guardian‘s Sarah Bourn to New Zealand’s largest city and his favourite place, One Tree Hill. “I used to go there a…
Alaskan War Chant
Taranaki basketball player Jeremiah Trueman, 19, has introduced New Zealand’s haka to his Alaskan team, the UAA Seawolves, and the crowds love it. Trueman, a junior transfer to the Seawolves, said he was trying…
Twain’s Tramping Track
Motatapu Track, which cuts across a Central Otago high country property owned by Canadian country singer Shania Twain, has officially opened. The 28km track is part of Te Araroa/The Long Pathway – a walkway…
Maconie Explains Stockhausen on War
Composer and musicologist New Zealand-born Robin Maconie writes about celebrated German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s controversial statement after September 9/11, in which he called the terrorist attacks “the greatest work of art” ever. Maconie writes:…
Peak Inspiration
In preparation for a race to the South Pole, adventurer Ben Fogle hits the South Island for some thrill-seeking training. “The country that staged the world’s first commercial bungee jump has invented a whole…
Off-Stage Antics
Wellington-born musician and “New York Rock God” Dean Wareham formed the band Luna in 1992 and later, together with his second wife Britta Phillips, Dean & Britta. Black Postcards is Wareham’s…
Kiwi Hatched in US
Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Zoo has successfully hatched a rare North Island Brown kiwi, their third since 1975. The Smithsonian is one of only four zoos outside New Zealand to successfully breed the…
Titillating Fantasy
Artist Hye Rim Lee, graduate of Inter-media from Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts, has her first American solo exhibition at New York’s Max Lang Gallery entitled, Crystal City. Originally from Korea,…
Portable stories
Wellington production company Gibson Group’s made-for-mobile drama series My Story has been purchased by French conglomerate Lagardère Group from ohm:tv, a Cologne-based developer and distributer of TV formats, programmes and mobile phone content. Produced…
On Financial Restraint
New Zealander Robert Wade, Professor of Political Economy and Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of Governing the Market, debates global finance with the UK’s leading economic commentator…
Dale’s no loony
New Zealand actor and Ugly Betty star Alan Dale treads the West End boards in his debut appearance as King Arthur in the comedy Spamalot at London’s Palace Theatre. Dale was born in Dunedin…
Christchurch Blackout
On 29 March from 8pm, Christchurch joins 23 cities worldwide in turning off their lights for climate change. Earth Hour was first held in Sydney last year and was organised by the World Wide…
Massive Robotics
New Zealand software company Massive, famous for its on-screen swarms of pillaging orcs in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, recently showcased new business potential in Hanover, Germany. This included engineering, architecture and robotics….
Memory in Bronze
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, the New Zealander who led the Battle of Britain against Germany in 1940, deserves recognition from the city of London according to British politicians and senior…
