Polynesian Music - Te Vaka
Opetaia Foa'i is the founder, composer, lead singer, guitarist and percussionist from Tokelau and Tuvalu. He is a grammy-nominated songwriter for his work in Moana. He founded the group in 1994.
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Olivia Foa'i is the daughter of Opetaia from Tokelau, Tuvalu, and New Zealand. She is a singer, dancer, and choreographer for the group. Her debut album has won three music awards.
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Matatia Foa'i is the master percussionist and percussion composer. He is from Tokelau, Tuvalu, and New Zealand, and he started playing with the group at age 6.
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Sulata Foai-Amiatu is a singer for the group from Tokelau. She joined the group in 1994.
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Douglas Bernard (AKA D.Burn) is the singer, keyboardist, and percussionist from Samoa who joined in 2004.
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Styles and Musical Influences
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Achievements
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Te Vaka is a contemporary Polynesian band who have toured for over 20 years to 40 countries and released nine studio albums. They have performed at the Beijing and London Olympics, the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and the Rugby World Cup in Paris.
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Musical examples
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- Styles and musical influences of the group
- Musical examples - include some video/audio
- Write a summary paragraph about their achievements as a group.
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- Choose a song and analyse it using the musical concepts. This can be in dot point form HOWEVER it must be detailed. You need substantial information for each concept not just one point.
- YOU ALSO NEED TO: include a statement explaining what the song is about.
Joe Toomata is an electric guitarist and percussionist from Samoa. He originally joined the group as a bass guitarist in 2001.
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Neil Forrest is a bassist, percussionist, and flautist. He is from New Zealand, and also occasionally sings backup vocals. He has been on and off with the band since 1994.
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Etueni (Edwin) Pita is a dancer from Tokelau, Tuvalu, and Cook Islands. He joined the group in 1997.
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Dave Kuresa is a dancer from Samoa. He is the group's newest member.


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