Richard Nunns
Richard Nunns was born in Napier, and spent most of his career as a high-school English teacher. Over the last decade he has played and researched taongo puoro full-time, giving a huge number of traditional performances and presentations all over the world, while also performing with taonga puoro in many other non-traditional situations, including free jazz and in the classical world, most notably with the New Zealand String Quartet. He has received numerous awards and accolades for his work, including an Arts Foundation Laureate, and an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Victoria University. He lives in Nelson.
Allan Thomas (1942-2010) was a Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at Victoria University for over 30 years. A specialist in music from many different parts of the world, he was also very interested in traditional Maori music, and played a key role in helping Richard Nunns develop the manuscript that became Te Ara Puoro.
Websites: Wikipedia; Documentary; Playing the putorino; Images