Tawaroa Kawana
Solo musician, 17
Palmerston North
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Talented Tawaroa has brains as well as brawn!
The teenager attends state of the art Maori language school Mana
Tamariki. A self-taught guitarist, pianist and singer, he also
excels at kapa haka and is the male leader of the region's fierce
Te Piranga group, which this year came second overall in the Kura
Tuarua Kapa Haka national secondary schools
champs.
A skilled orator in both English and Te Reo Maori, Tawaroa
additionally scooped this year's regional title in the secondary
schools Nga Manu Korero competition going on to proudly represent
his school at the national contest in Nelson in September.
He performs publicly with a band and has songs on iTunes. One of
his biggest performance highlights to date is opening for the
legendary Maori jazz and soul diva Whirimako
Black.
Tawaroa draws musical inspiration from everyone from Beyonce to
Bob Marley. His dream is to study music full-time at an
internationally acclaimed institution and to eventually work as a
music producer.
He entered NZGT because: "I think I have what it takes and with
the right guidance I could go far!"
