Tui Uru (20 January 1926 – 26 April 2013) was a New Zealand opera singer and broadcaster. She was the first

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 ...

television announcer.

Early life and family

Born in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

on 20 January 1926, Uru affiliated to the Ngāi Tūāhuriri

hapū In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

. She was the daughter of the Reform Party Member of Parliament for

Southern Maori Southern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Western Maori and Eastern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updat ...

, Henare Whakatau Uru, and his second wife, Gladys Constance Mary Uru (née Rogers), who was Australian from

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

, New South Wales. Uru's father died in 1929 when she was three years old, and she was educated at Ouruhia School and

Christchurch Girls' High School Christchurch Girls' High School () in Christchurch, New Zealand, was established in 1877 and is the second oldest girls-only secondary school in the country, after Otago Girls' High School. History Christchurch Girls' High School was establishe ...

. Uru took singing lessons, attaining the award of Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music. In 1944, her brother, Henare Whakatau "K" Uru, a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

in the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

, was killed on active service. Tui Uru was the great-aunt of rowers

Jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

and

Storm Uru Storm William Uru (born 14 February 1985) is a New Zealand rower. He is from Ngāi Tahu tribe. Early life Uru was born on 14 February 1985 in Invercargill. His younger brother, Jade Uru, is also a rower. The broadcaster Tui Uru (1926–2013) w ...

Career

Singing

From at least 1943, Uru was singing publicly. That year she appeared in a concert at the Civic Theatre in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, where she gave a solo performance of "

Beautiful Isle of Somewhere "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere" is a song with words by Jessie Brown Pounds and music by John Sylvester Fearis, written in 1897. The song gained huge popularity when it was used in William McKinley's funeral. It was subsequently a staple at funera ...

". A

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, Uru travelled to Australia to compete in 15 events at the 1953 City of Sydney Eisteddfod. In all, she won 11 categories, including the section for singing folk songs of any country, and was second in a further two sections. She won the Dulcie Starkey Memorial Trophy for the overall winner of the adult ballad competitions. The judge, Gregory Stroud, described Uru as having "a voice of fine quality" and a "charming personality". She also competed in ''The Sun'' aria contest in Ballarat in 1953, finishing fourth equal. In 1955, Uru went to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where she studied singing with Roy Henderson and

Dawson Freer Dawson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Dawson (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Dawson (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places Antarctica ...

, and funded her studies by working as a telephonist. She performed in a concert at

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

and as a soloist at

Westminster Central Hall The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building also houses an art gallery, a restaur ...

. In 1964, Uru returned to New Zealand, and was described at that time as a

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

Broadcasting

Uru applied for a job as a radio announcer with the New Zealand Broadcasting Service in 1945, and was appointed to a position in Christchurch in 1950. She covered the 1953–54 royal tour of New Zealand. After her return to New Zealand from London, Uru joined New Zealand Broadcasting's (NZBC) Christchurch television station, CHTV3, as a continuity announcer, becoming the first Māori television presenter in October 1964. After working briefly in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

, Uru transferred to

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 ...

, where she continued working as a radio presenter on the YA and YC stations, and as a continuity announcer for the local NZBC television station, DNTV2. She later moved to private radio station Radio Otago 4XO.

Later life and death

Uru lived in retirement in Dunedin. She died there on 26 April 2013, and was buried at Dunedin Cemetery.

References