Inia Te Wiata

The triumphant tour of Inia Te Wiata through New Zealand is in its last stages. The Maori people, proud of their new world celebrity, flocked to his concerts and although the arias in the first half of his programme were strange to many, all could appreciate his superb versions of the West Indian songs, the Negro spirituals, many short popular numbers—and of course the Maori items performed at each of his concerts.
There was little in Inia Te Wiata's early background to lead him to world fame or the life of a professional artist. His father, Watene Te Wiata, died early, after which Inia was brought up by Pairoroku and Rakete Rikihana in Otaki. He went to live in the Waikato. Here he became interested in Maori carving and was employed at Ngaruawahia for three years on the carving of Turongo, the house of the Maori King, which was opened in 1936. Afterwards, he worked at the Horotiu Freezing Works, near Hamilton.
During all these years, although his musical talents remained undeveloped, singing was an important part of his life. He first performed on the stage at the age of seven. ‘This first concert’ says Te Wiata, ‘still stands out as one of the great days in my life’.
The concert took place at the Old Otaki Lyric Theatre, which was situated about a hundred yards from the Telegraph Hotel, in the direction of the town.
His music teacher, Miss Edith Miller taught him at the Otaki State School and it was from her that he received his first music lessons. He remembers that the song he sang was “Margie” and that when the audience acclaimed him he was very mystified and did not know what to do next. His teacher told him to return to the stage and take a how, but he was still not sure about what was expected of him, so he sang “Margie” again. Again the clapping came and with a quick look at the pianist he started up and again sang “Margie”. It was here that he began to understand the meaning of being an artist and he began to enjoy it immensely. He had to be carried off the stage before he was tempted to again sing “Margie”.
At the age of 13 ½ his voice broke and almost overnight he became a bass-baritone. When this happened he joined his cousins quartette which included Wi Nicholls, Henry Tahiwi, and Dan Rikihana. All these people were adults except the young Te Wiata.

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