Celebrating our moana as precious taonga with uplifting music from around the globe, this beautiful concert accompanies the flight of the kuaka/godwit, from icy northern seas all the way down to a fragile sanctuary in Antarctica.

Starting in the North with a new work by eclectic Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi about the Arctic Ocean, we encounter whales, turtles and mysterious serpents on this musical journey following the great Māori navigator Ui-Te-Rangiora on his quest to save the oceans. Travelling through Latvia, Canada, the US and Indonesia, we arrive at a sanctuary, the majestic Antarctic captured in a new work by New Zealand’s Warren Maxwell, inspired by his own, personal experiences on the ice.

Conducted by Karen Grylls, with elegant direction and choreography by New Zealand Arts Laureate Sara Brodie, Taonga Moana is set to a stunning landscape of projected moving images.

This spectacular theatrical event is an ode to the power and poetry of oceans – essential, now more than ever, to survival on our planet.

This Auckland premiere is part of the Auckland Arts Festival. We’re proud to be part of the ROHA KI TE TAIAO / CARING FOR OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT – AIR, LAND, WATER strand of events at the festival.

With support from