Wikitoria Suvia Baker is a New Zealand singer and community worker. Baker's first solo public performance was as a child at a basketball association concert in

Temuka Temuka is a town on New Zealand's Canterbury Plains, 15 kilometres north of Timaru and 142 km south of Christchurch. It is located at the centre of a rich sheep and dairy farming region, for which it is a service town. It lies on the north ...

, South Canterbury. She attended

St Joseph's Māori Girls' College St Joseph's Māori Girls' College or Hato Hōhepa is a Catholic, integrated, boarding and day college in Taradale, New Zealand, for girls in Year 7 to Year 13. It is the largest Māori girls' boarding secondary school in New Zealand. History S ...

in Hawkes' Bay and joined the school choir there. In 1958

Viking Records Viking Records was an independent record label that featured many New Zealand and Polynesian recording artists. Background The company was founded in 1957. In the 1960s, the company was the largest locally owned record label in the South Paci ...

recorded the choir, with Baker as soloist, releasing an album ''Maori Songs of Enchantment.'' The album eventually sold over 300,000 copies. After finishing her schooling Baker moved to Wellington and began singing with the

Ngāti Poneke Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

Maori Club and on television on the show ''Maori Chorale''. She also formed a band called the Phoenix Show Band and performed in cabaret shows. In 1974, Baker sang at the opening of the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, held in Christchurch, New Zealand. The same year, Viking Records invited her and the St Joseph's choir to re-record their initial album, which was re-released in 1976 as ''Maori Love Songs.'' The album sold over 100,000 copies and both the choir and Baker were awarded Golden Discs. Viking also invited Baker to work on a recording ''New Zealand Maori Chorale.'' In 1979, after singing tours around New Zealand, Fiji and Australia, Baker settled in New South Wales. In 1988, Baker returned to New Zealand and settled at Arowhenua. She became involved in a number of community organisations focused on education and social services, including the Ngai Tahu Trust Board, the Aoraki Conservation Board, Te Waka Toi (Maori Arts Board), the National Maori Choir and the Kai Tahu Maori Choir. She also became involved with Women's Refuge and has served on the board of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship Society.

Recognition

In the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. t ...

, Baker received the

Queen's Service Medal The King's Service Medal (created as the Queen's Service Medal in 1975 and renamed in 2024) is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or app ...

, for services to Māori, music and the community. In 2015, her biography was included in an exhibition by

Otago Museum Otago (, ; ) is a 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 government region. Its po ...

focusing on the lives of notable women of

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Wiki Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Temuka Ngāi Tahu people People educated at St Joseph's Māori Girls' College Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal 20th-century New Zealand women singers