A song and video soon to be released with the youth of Dunedin from different cultures.

I was recently contacted by Peter and Linda Kesha of ‘PeterKeshaMusic’, who had been contracted to compose and produce a song and video with youth from different cultures throughout Dunedin, for Race Relations Week on Monday, March 21. 

It would involve each student singing part of the song in their native language and the chorus in Te Reo. Peter was also keen to add instrumentalists to the mix.

As King’s has a diverse multi-ethnic community, it was a no-brainer that we were involved in this exciting project.

Initially, students from Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and India were eager to give the recording opportunity a go but the final participating number was fairly quickly reduced to only a few, as COVID made its way into our community and over half of those involved needed to isolate. 

With the recording deadline looming, three students, two from King’s and one from Queen’s, were still able to make their way to the studio to record their part in the song. 

For the King’s boys, working in a professional recording studio was a new and exciting experience.

Many thanks to our superstar musicians Nikhil Rawat (Year 12) and Mathew Latuivai (Year 10) who laid their tracks in their own native language with the ease of seasoned professionals. 

Being a multi-instrumentalist, it was no surprise that Nikhil was also keen to improvise on trombone and baritone saxophone.

Special mention must also be made of our own Mr Jope Tudreu, for helping organise the boys at school while I was at home isolating, and to his daughter, Mili (Queen’s High School) whose amazing vocals can be heard in the Fijian verse and Te Reo chorus.

We eagerly await the release of the song and video in the next week or two. "Watch this space".

The website is active now. Please spread the word: https://dmec.org.nz/rrw22/https://www.facebook.com/dunedinracerelationsweek