Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead (born 23 April 1941) is a New Zealand composer. She is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

Ngāi Te Rangi Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tūhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east. ...

descent. Her Māori heritage has been an important influence on her composing.

Early life

Whitehead was born in Hamilton in 1941. The daughter of Ivan and Marjorie Whitehead, she is of Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Her father was a music teacher and conductor of the Waipu Choral Society and her mother played the piano. She began composing early, making clear to her mother at age 17 that she wanted to be a composer.

Education

She studied at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

from 1959 to 1962, and

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in 1963, graduating BMus(Hons) in 1964. She then studied composition at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

with

Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighbouring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigi ...

from 1964–65, graduating MMus in 1966. That same year she attended a composition course given by

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

and in 1967 travelled to England to continue studying with him.

Career

Whitehead worked in London composing and copying music for two years and then with the assistance of a New Zealand Arts Council grant worked in Portugal and Italy from 1969 to 1970. For the next seven years she continued freelance composing, principally based in the United Kingdom. From 1978 to 1980, she held an English academic post, having been during that time Composer in Residence for Northern Arts attached to

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

. In 1981, she returned to New South Wales, to join the staff of the Composition School at the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM) — formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, and known by the moniker "The Con" — is the music school of the University of Sydney. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious music ...

. She was Head of Composition for four years. She left the Conservatorium in 1996. Since then she has spent most of her time in New Zealand, mostly in Dunedin. In 1989 she was Composer in Residence at Victoria University of Wellington. She took up the

Mozart Fellowship The Mozart Fellowship is a composer residency attached to the Music Department of the University of Otago, one of the five Arts Fellowships at the university. It is the oldest full-time composition residency in New Zealand, and is currently the on ...

at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

in 1992. During 2000 and 2001 she was Composer in Residence at the

Auckland Philharmonia The Auckland Philharmonia (formerly Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, APO) 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 ...

. Her major orchestral work, ''The Improbable Ordered Dance'', written during the Residency won the 2001 SOUNZ Contemporary Award. From 1998 to 2003 she was president of the

Composers Association of New Zealand The Composers Association of New Zealand (CANZ), established in 1974, after an initial meeting of composers was organised by David Farquhar. Farquhar was the association's first president. It is a body that lobbies for the interests of New Zealand ...

. In 2005–2006 she was the Composer in Residence at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University. She was the first Composer in Residence to stay at the Lilburn Residence. In 2009 Whitehead was one of the 2009 Henderson Arts Trust artists-in-residence in

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

Compositions

Whitehead has written a wide range of music including works for solo, chamber, choral, orchestral and operatic forces, most of them direct commissions from performers and funding organisations. A number of her works have been recorded for commercial release, including a CD of her chamber works by

Wai-te-ata Music Press Wai-te-ata Music Press is a centre of Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, that publishes New Zealand sheet music, CDs and other music-related publications. Based at Victoria University of Wellington, the press was established by Douglas Lilbu ...

and a recording of her opera, ''Outrageous Fortune''. ''Outrageous Fortune'' (1998) was commissioned by the Otago Commemorative Opera Group, Te Atamira Whakamaumahara to mark 150 years since the founding of the city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

and

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

province. Another opera, ''The Art of Pizza'' (1995), was commissioned by Chamber Mode, a Melbourne opera group. Set in a Sydney shopping mall it looks at the situation of refugees. The

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

commissioned Whitehead to write a piece to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook's arrival in New Zealand; she produced ''Turanga-nui'' (2018), referring to the name of Gisborne and Cook's landfall there. In 2020 she wrote a piece especially for the baroque ensemble Juilliard451 from the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

who toured New Zealand.

Influence of Māori heritage and instruments

Since her time in London Whitehead has used Māori themes in her work. ''Pakuru'' (1967), for baritone and ensemble, is based on Māori sayings and the seasonal cycle. She began to incorporate

taonga pūoro Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand. The instruments previously fulfilled many functions within Māori society including a call to arms, dawning of the new day, communications with the gods ...

(traditional Māori instruments) in her work in the 1990s after meeting

Hirini Melbourne Hirini (Sid) Melbourne (21 July 1949 – 6 January 2003) was a Māori people, Māori composer, singer, university lecturer, poet and author who was notable for his contribution to the development of Māori music and the revival of Māori culture ...

and

Richard Nunns Richard Anthony Nunns (7 December 1945 – 7 June 2021) was a Māori traditional instrumentalist of Pākehā heritage. He was particularly known for playing taonga pūoro and his collaboration with fellow Māori instrumentalist Hirini Melbourn ...

. Her Lilburn Lecture in 2019 examined how she uses the sounds of taonga pūoro. Other works with Māori themes include ''Ahotu (ō matenga)'' (1984), ''Outrageous Fortune'' (1998), ''Hineraukatauri'' (1999) and ''Hine-pu-te-hue'' (2001).

Use of magic squares

Whitehead has used

magic square In mathematics, especially History of mathematics, historical and recreational mathematics, a square array of numbers, usually positive integers, is called a magic square if the sums of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diago ...

s in her composition, also used by Peter Maxwell Davies and others. She first read about them in the 1970s and used them for the next 20 years. In the 1980s when she moved to Sydney she used squares but much more freely and later pieces combined prime numbers and squares in a more integrated way. Squares remained as the starting point of her composing but later she moved to compose more instinctively. She acknowledged the process of using a systematic approach, its potential and then moving away from it. Gg-may18-iconawards 016

Honours and awards

In the

1999 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1999 for various Commonwealth realms were announced on 30 December 1998, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1999. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various orders, d ...

, Whitehead was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to music. She has received two awards from the Arts Foundation: an Arts Foundation Laureate in 2000 and an Arts Foundation Icon in 2018. Victoria University of Wellington awarded her an honorary DMus in 2003. In 2007 she received the Composers Association KBB/CANZ Citation for Services to Music. In the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was promoted to

Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, also for services to music. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, following the reinstatement of titular honours by the New Zealand government, Whitehead accepted redesignation as a

Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

.Special Honours List
(12 August 2009) 118 ''

New Zealand Gazette The ''New Zealand Gazette'' (), commonly referred to as ''Gazette'', is the official newspaper of record the New Zealand Government (government gazette), serving as the medium by which decisions of Government are promulgated. Published since ...

'' 2691

Selected works

Orchestral works

* ''Resurgences'' (1989) * ''… the improbable ordered dance …'' (2000) * ''Turanga-nui'' (2017) * ''Retrieving the fragility of peace'' (2022)

Operas

* ''Tristan and Iseult'' (1976) *''The King of the Other Country'' (1983) – libretto by

Fleur Adcock Fleur Adcock (10 February 1934 – 10 October 2024) was a New Zealand poet and editor. Of English and Northern Irish ancestry, Adcock lived much of her life in England. She is well-represented in New Zealand poetry anthologies, was awarded an ...

*''The Art of Pizza'' (1995) – libretto by Anna Maria Dell'Oso *''Outrageous Fortune'' (1998) * ''Iris dreaming'' (2016) * ''Mate Ururoa'' (2021)

Vocal and instrumental works

* ''Pakuru'' (1967) – based on

Hone Tuwhare Hone Peneamine Anatipa Te Pona Tuwhare (21 October 1922 – 16 January 2008) was a noted Māori people, Māori New Zealand poet. He is closely associated with The Catlins in the Southland region of New Zealand, where he lived for the latter ...

's poem 'Thine own hands have fashioned' * ''Inner Harbour'' (1979) – based on Fleur Adcock's poems * ''Hotspur'' (1980) – based on Fleur Adcock's poems

Ensemble works

* ''At night the garden was full of voices'' (1977) * ''Ahotu (ō matenga)'' (1984) * ''Clouds over Mata-au'' (2010) * ''Ad Parnassum – Purapurawhetū '' (2021)

References

Bibliography

*Sanders, Noel. (2010) ''Moon, Tide & Shoreline: Gillian Karawe Whitehead: A Life in Music.'' Steele Roberts Publishers: Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand.

External links

Dame Gillian Whitehead's Official Website containing information on her operas, orchestral works, choral pieces, vocal and instrumental chamber compositions, solo works, pieces involving taonga puoro and compositions including improvisation.

Sounz, The Centre for New Zealand Music. A biography and selected list of works.

Australian Music Centre , Gillian Whitehead : Represented Artist

The Arts Foundation , Dame Gillian Whitehead , Ngāi Terangi , DNZM, MNZM Composer

New Zealand String Quartet , Gillian Karawe Whitehead

Arts on Sunday, RNZ, Sunday 12 December 2010 – Dame Gillian Whitehead and Noel Sanders talk about the book 'Moon, Tides, and Shoreline' which explores Gillian's life.

Arts on Sunday, RNZ, Sunday 12 December 2010 – With a new biography out, Dame Gillian talks about her life in music.
*
Dame Gillian Whitehead Collection
at the

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Gillian 1941 births Academics of Newcastle University Australian people of Māori descent Living people Ngāi Te Rangi people People from Hamilton, New Zealand Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand women classical composers University of Sydney alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni Australian women classical composers Australian classical composers New Zealand opera composers 21st-century New Zealand classical composers 20th-century New Zealand classical composers Pupils of Peter Maxwell Davies Women opera composers 20th-century New Zealand women composers 21st-century women composers