Noma Sio-Faiumu

Last updated
Noma Sio-Faiumu
Born1950s
Upolu, Samoa
NationalitySamoan
Occupation(s)Arts Manager, Events Coordinator, Administrator, Community Leader
Notable workAPO (Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra) Remix the Orchestra (2013) & Co-Founder and Managing Director of 37hz Productions (2017 - Present)
SpouseMatthew Sapalu-Faiumu (2012 - Present)
Children3
AwardsSpecial Recognition Award at Creative New Zealand's Pasifika Arts Awards (2017)
Website https://anonymouz.com/

Noma Sio-Faiumu is an event producer and arts manager [1] of Samoan descent based in Onehunga, New Zealand. [2] She has worked for over 30 years as an arts administrator within the New Zealand arts industry. [3] [4] Her work is cross-cultural and spans a wide social spectrum facilitating multidisciplinary art projects independently and for leading arts organisations. [5] Within arts administration, Sio-Faiumu served as the lead facilitator for the APO (Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra) Remix the Orchestra for a decade. [3] [6] The show received an International Music Council Musical Rights Award from the United Nations in 2013. [3] Within the New Zealand music industry she is a founding member of the Pacific Music Awards (2005). [3] She received a Special Recognition Award at Creative New Zealand's Pasifika Arts Awards for her contributions within the Pacific community (2017). [3] [4]

Contents

Early life

Born in the 1950s in Upolu, Samoa to Samoan parents from the villages of Satupuala and Lotofaga, Sio-Faiumu is one of nine siblings. [7] Her family migrated to New Zealand in the late 1960s and settled in South Auckland. They settled after a journey from Samoa to Fiji on the Tofua boat, followed by a flight from Fiji to Auckland. [7] They first lived in Māngere, then Ōtāhuhu, before settling in Ōtara when Sio-Faiumu was six years old. [7]

Sio-Faiumu's earliest connection to the arts is her mother playing the piano around Christmas when she was young. [7] [3] Raised in a deeply religious Mormon-Catholic family that valued tradition and Fa'asamoa, [2] she actively participated in church activities and sang in choirs. [7] As a child, Sio-Faiumu helped her parents with their cleaning jobs. Her and her family would clean hotels like the Criterion and the Star Hotels in Ōtāhuhu. [7] [3]

Growing up in Ōtara, Sio-Faiumu's home became a pit stop for other families from her villages in Samoa who chose to migrate to New Zealand. [3] Her family would assist them in finding jobs, completing visa papers, securing housing and provided meals. [3] Despite facing dawn raids twice during her childhood, Sio-Faiumu was immersed in a diverse multicultural Pacific community. She learnt from community leaders like Terina Ricky and Tui Va Kolo. [7] These experiences taught her the significance of honouring tradition and ancient processes from an early age. [7]

She attended Mayfield Primary School, Beds Intermediate, and Sir Edmund Hillary College. [7] During her time at Sir Edmund Hillary College, Sio-Faiumu joined a band named Karma [8] [ unreliable source? ] and began her lifelong relationship with Otara Music and Arts Centre through a youth development program. [8] Her itinerant teachers, Teina Bennioni and Peter Hoera, were local musicians respected in the Pasifika-South Auckland music scene. [7]

Biography

Upon leaving high school Sio-Faiumu became a vocalist for various live bands in the late 80s to late 90s. [3] The bands would work a circuit that was both local and national which included places like Tamaki Tavern, the Tribesman pad, the Black Power pad, Duke Wellington and Cleos at the time. [3] Prior to her becoming an arts manager, Sio-Faiumu cites while on tour with South Auckland band, The Emeralds, watching their female drummer and manager in negotiations with venue holders. [3] During this time as an artist Sio-Faiumu had her first experience with arts management while on a national tour with a more prominent band. The first part of the band's tour was spent in their accommodation as their manager failed to inform venues that they would be performing. [3] During a two-week layover in Masterton Sio-Faiumu was nominated by her band members to become the manager for the remainder of the tour, from Masterton to Invercargill and back to Auckland. [3]

Following her work as a vocalist, in 1997 Sio-Faiumu began working as a Centre Coordinator for the Otara Music and Arts Centre. [5] During this time she would have her first interaction and begin her friendship with her future husband and collaborator Matthew Salapu-Faiumu / Anonymouz. [2] She would then leave in 2001 and take a job as Creative Director of Wahine Malosi Charitable Trust until 2005. [5] Alongside other prominent people within the Pacific Music community Sio-Faiumu founded the annual Pacific Music Awards (2005). [3] [4] She also began serving as the Director of Operations for her husband's sound design company Anonymouz in 2005 and would stay in this position until 2017 [5] when the company would shift their branding and become 37hz Productions of which Sio-Faiumu is a Co-Founder and Managing Director to the present day. [4] In late 2005 she left the Wahine Malosi Charitable Trust and began a position as the Personal Assistant to the National Director of Te Wananga o Aotearoa - School of Performing Arts. [5]

Following her time at Te Wananga o Aotearoa Sio-Faiumu would begin her decade long involvement with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. [3] While employed there from 2006 to 2016 she would hold various roles such as Personal Assistant to the CEO, Office Manager, Board Secretary and Pacific Island Community Liaison. [6] She was a lead facilitator for their annual youth music programme, APO: Remix the Orchestra, which ran for the course of her term there. [5] It was a highly successful programme for musically talented kids from South Auckland to engage with classical and contemporary music. [6] [3] It produced many successful figures in Pacific New Zealand Music including, David Dallas, Dei Hamo, Frisko, Erhmen, Tyree and Anonymouz. [6] At the end of the programme, the children and mentors hold a large showcase performance. [6] In 2013 her show was one of three to receive a prestigious Musical Rights Award from the United Nation's International Music Council. [3]

Whilst working with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Sio-Faiumu was also working at RAN Events as an Events Producer which she began in 2006 and left in 2017. [3] She cites in 2012 a career highlight of hers was playing a role in the introduction of the Sistema Aotearoa Programme to her Otara Community. [3] It is a programme to help uplift the Otara community by introducing the children on the area to classical music and then training them in classical instruments. [9] This helped to create a young orchestra that was ready to compete on a national level. [3] [6] The Sistema Aotearoa headquarters are within the Otara Music and Arts Centre. [9]

From 2016 to 2020 Sio-Faiumu became a contracted Project Coordinator for the annual Auckland Arts Festivals Whanui Programme. [10] [4] [1] The programme was a collaborative effort between the Auckland Arts Festival and Auckland communities, featuring five projects celebrating creative intergenerational conversations. [10] In 2018 as part of the Whanui Programme she produced the show 4 THA LUMANA'I which was a live performance exploring parallels between traditional Samoan customs and contemporary Hip Hop art forms. [11] [10] Sio-Faiumu cites another career highlight when she was a part of the team who founded the Manukau Secondary Schools Performing Arts Awards which is now Stand up Stand out / SUSO showcase (2016). [3]

In 2019 Sio-Faiumu was hired as Co-Chair / Toihau Matarua of SOUNZ: Centre for New Zealand Music. [12] [3] She is valuable connector between the musicians of Pacific communities and SOUNZ. She is still in this role to the present day. [3] [4]

For the New Zealand Festival of the Arts in 2021 Sio-Faiumu produced the work Resample Tatau by Anonymouz with their company 37hz Productions. [2]

Awards

Career

Work Catalogue [5]
YearCompanyRole
1997 - 2001 Otara Music and Arts Centre (OMAC)Centre Coordinator
2002 - 2005 Wahine Malosi Charitable Trust Creative Director
2005 Pacific Music Awards (PMAC)Founding member of the Pacific Music Awards
2005 - 2006 Te Wananga o Aotearoa - School of Performing ArtsPersonal Assistant to the National Director
2005 - 2017 Anonymouz Served as the Director of Operations at Anonymouz from 2005 to 2017
2006 - 2016 Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Held various roles from 2006 to 2016, including Personal Assistant, Office Manager, and Pacific Island Community Liaison.
2006 - 2016 Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra - Remix the Orchestra Lead facilitator of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's award-winning programme, Remix the Orchestra
2008 - 2017RAN EventsEvents Producer
2012 Sistema Aotearoa Program Played a role in supporting the introduction of the Sistema Aotearoa program into the Ōtara community, [3] helping build a nationally ready-to-compete orchestra. [13]
2016 - 2020 Auckland Arts Festival - Whanui Programme

(Contracted)

Project Coordinator for the Whanui Programme
2016Otara Music and Arts CentreBeing a part of the team who initiated the Manukau Secondary Schools Performing Arts Awards which is now Stand up Stand out (SUSO) [14]
2017–Present 37Hz Productions Co-founded and currently serves as the Managing Director of 37 Hz Productions, a digital creative production company, since 2017
20184 THA LUMANA'I [15] Producer of 4 THA LUMANA'I
2019–Present SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music Co-Chair / Toihau Matarua of the Board of SOUNZ
2021 New Zealand Festival of the Arts - 37 Hz Productions: Resample Tatau [2] Produced Resample Tatau with her co-founded production company 37hz Productions.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auckland Philharmonia</span> Symphony orchestra based in Auckland, New Zealand

The Auckland Philharmonia is a symphony orchestra based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its principal concert venue is the Auckland Town Hall, and it is also the accompanying ensemble for Auckland stage performances by New Zealand Opera and the Royal New Zealand Ballet. The Auckland Philharmonia's patrons are Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Rosanne Meo, Dame Jenny Gibbs and Barbara Glaser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatu Feu'u</span> New Zealand artist

Fatu Akelei Feu'u is a noted Samoan painter from the village of Poutasi in the district of Falealili in Samoa. He has established a reputation as the elder statesman of Pacific art in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karlo Mila</span> New Zealand poet (born 1974)

Karlo Estelle Mila is a New Zealand writer and poet of Tongan, Pālagi and Samoan descent. Her first collection, Dream Fish Floating, received the NZSA Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry in 2006 at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. She has subsequently published two further poetry collections, A Well Written Body (2008) and Goddess Muscle (2020), the latter of which was longlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Bowater</span> New Zealand composer

Helen Bowater is a New Zealand composer. She was born in Wellington into a musical family, and studied piano and violin with Gwyneth Brown. In 1982 she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in music history and ethnomusicology from Victoria University of Wellington. She continued her studies in electroacoustic music with Ross Harris and in composition with Jack Body.

Kenneth Young is a composer, conductor, radio presenter and lecturer in composition, conducting and orchestration at the New Zealand School of Music, Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington. As a composer, Young has had works commissioned by New Zealand and Australian orchestras and arts organisations including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra New Zealand International Arts Festival and Chamber Music New Zealand. He works as a freelance composer and is fully represented by SOUNZ: The Centre for New Zealand Music. In 1976, Young became the principal tuba for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and first conducted the orchestra in 1985 becoming Conductor in Residence in 1993. In 2001, he resigned from the orchestra to become a full-time conductor, composer and recording artist for orchestras in New Zealand and Australia, as well as engagements in Japan and the United Kingdom. He is well known for his interpretation of Romantic, 20th Century, New Zealand and Australian orchestral repertoire and in 2012 conducted both the winning album, Angel at Ahipara and finalist album, Releasing the Angel, for Best Classical Album at the New Zealand Music Awards. Young has been recorded by EMI, Atoll Records, Continuum, Trust Records, ABC Classics and Naxos and is a frequent presenter on RESOUND, Radio New Zealand Concert introducing and contextualising work from the RNZ archives. In 2004 was awarded the Lilburn Trust Citation in Recognition of Outstanding Services to New Zealand Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemauga Lydia Sosene</span> New Zealand Labour Party politician

Lemauga Lydia Sosene is a New Zealand Labour Party politician. She was a member of the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local board from the October 2010 local elections until her election to the New Zealand House of Representatives in May 2022. After completing the balance of Louisa Wall's term as a list MP, Sosene was elected as MP for Māngere at the 2023 general election.

The Arts Pasifika Awards celebrate excellence in Pacific arts in New Zealand. The annual awards are administered by Creative New Zealand and are the only national awards for Pasifika artists across all artforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Taouma</span> Samoan-born New Zealand writer, film director, and producer

Lisa-Jane Taouma is a Samoan New Zealand writer, film and television director, and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janetta McStay</span> Concert pianist

Janetta Mary McStay was a New Zealand concert pianist and music professor who performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras, as a solo artist and as an accompanist and chamber music associate with leading artists from around the world.

Kila Kokonut Krew is a theatre company and music producer in Auckland, New Zealand. They have produced 12 music albums, a web series, a TV skit series as well as theatre productions.

Pati Solomona Tyrell is an interdisciplinary artist from New Zealand who focuses on performance, videography and photography. Tyrell is a founding member of art collective FAFSWAG. In 2018 Tyrell became the youngest nominee for the Walters Prize, New Zealand's most prestigious contemporary art award, for the video work Fāgogo, subsequently purchased by Auckland Art Gallery. In 2020 Tyrell won the Arts Pasifika Awards' Emerging Pacific Artist Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Amituanai</span> New Zealand Pasifika photographer

Edith Amituanai is a New Zealand photographic artist. In 2007, she was the inaugural recipient of the Marti Friedlander Photographic Award. Examples of her work are held in the collections of Te Papa, Auckland Art Gallery, and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

Natalia Lagi'itaua Mann is an international harpist and musician, born in Wellington, New Zealand. In 2013 she received the Iosefa Enari Memorial Award at the Arts Pasifika Awards. She has performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and collaborated with Richard Nunns. Her album Pasif.ist (2011) reached number 4 New Zealand album charts in its second week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanaki Prescott-Faletau</span> Tongan-New Zealand performer and director

Amanaki Lelei Prescott-Faletau is an actor, writer, dancer, choreographer, producer and director of Tongan descent, living in New Zealand. As a playwright, she became the first fakaleitī to have her work published in New Zealand with Inky Pinky Ponky. This play was awarded Best Teenage Script (2015) by New Zealand Playmarket. As an actor, she was awarded best performance at the 2015 Auckland Fringe Festival for Victor Rodger's Girl on the Corner. Her acting credits include The Breaker Upperers (2018), SIS (2020), The Panthers (2021), The Pact (2021) and Sui Generis (2022), in which she is also a writer for the TV series. Faletau competed as a dancer in the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in 2011 and has been a judge at the National Hip Hop Championships in New Zealand over several years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasifika New Zealanders</span> Ethnic group in New Zealand

Pasifika New Zealanders are a pan-ethnic group of New Zealanders associated with, and descended from, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands outside of New Zealand itself. They form the fourth-largest ethnic grouping in the country, after European descendants, indigenous Māori, and Asian New Zealanders. Over 380,000 people identify as being of Pacific origin, representing 8% of the country's population, with the majority residing in Auckland.

Ruby Mae Hinepunui Solly is a New Zealand poet, taonga pūoro practitioner, cellist, composer, music therapist and scriptwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Sagapolutele</span> New Zealand photographer

Raymond Eddie Sagapolutele is a New Zealand photographer and visual artist of Samoan descent, active as a photographer since 2003.

Polyfest is an annual secondary school performing arts festival celebrating Polynesian culture held in Auckland, New Zealand. It was founded in Ōtara in 1976 and is now one of the largest Polynesian festivals in the world. The festival includes a performing arts competition between secondary school students.

Matthew Salapu-Faiumu aka Anonymouz, is a composer and sound/music/video producer of Samoan descent, based in Onehunga, New Zealand. Matthew-Salapu under the name Anonymouz has been a pioneering figure within the Pacific NZ music industry for over 15 years. Within the New Zealand and Pacific music industry, he was a founding member of the Pacific Music Awards (2005) and won a Phillip Fuemana Award, Most Promising Artist in 2008. He was appointed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra to be the Music Director for their APO Remix the Orchestra programme (2013). The show received an International Music Council (IMC) Musical Rights Award from the United Nations (2013). He was commissioned by NZ Pacific Radio stations Radio 531 PI & NIU FM to create their new imaging music which still plays every four minutes to the present day (2014). He was a part of the Aotearoa delegation that attended the Festival of Pacific Arts in Guåhan, Guam (2016). There he presented his 20-minute soundscape work Resample: Guahan to much praise.

Tuāfale Tanoa’i AKA Linda T is a DJ, photographer, documentary maker and performance video installation artist of New Zealand. She is often known as DJ Linda T. Through her art she documents often misrepresented communities including Māori, Pasifika and LGBTQI+ communities which she is connected to.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Arts Pasifika Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in Pacific Art". creativenz.govt.nz. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "From workmates to wedded bliss: 'He turned up for his interview looking beaten up'". www.stuff.co.nz. 29 January 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 sounzdigital (2019-12-13). "Meet the Board | Noma Sio-Faiumu". SOUNZ. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Auckland.Scoop » Noma Sio-Faiumu joins Board of SOUNZ" . Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sio-Faiumu, Noma (2006). "Tiumalu Noma Sio-Faiumu". Linked in.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 APO Remix the Orchestra | The Story So Far.. , retrieved 2024-02-24
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Noma Sio-Faiumu | We Are Ōtara Podcast | Ep17 , retrieved 2024-02-24
  8. 1 2 OMAC 30/30 #10 - Noma Sio-Faiumu | Noma is a former OMAC facility co-ordinator / manager and describes herself as an OMAC baby. Noma reminisces here about the vibrant live music scene in... | By OMAC | Facebook , retrieved 2024-02-24
  9. 1 2 "About Us". Sistema Aotearoa. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  10. 1 2 3 Whānui – Auckland Arts Festival 2018 , retrieved 2024-02-24
  11. ↑ 4 Tha Lumana'i , retrieved 2024-01-28
  12. ↑ "noma sio-faiumu Archives". NZ Musician. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  13. ↑ "Omac - Article | AudioCulture". www.audioculture.co.nz. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  14. ↑ "SUSO (Stand Up Stand Out)". Rockshop. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  15. ↑ "4 Tha Lumana'i — thecoconet.tv - The world's largest hub of Pacific Island content.uu". www.thecoconet.tv. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.