4/4 Pacific Music + Arts Volume 2:2 Oct 2017 | Page 14

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NZ families were impacted by Moana and one of the
best outcomes is that our children are singing the
songs from the movie. Whilst this is a simple thing….
this is extremely signifi cant. Our children seeing
characters that refl ect themselves on screen….uplifts,
motivates, empowers them in so many ways.
Opetaia began working with Disney in 2013 and after
3 years of working on the movie’s music, Moana
was released in 2016 and Opetaia and Te Vaka
completed their journey with the fi lm, by performing 3
of the songs he composed for the movie at the World
Premiere, red carpet event in Hollywood. The Moana
soundtrack album has since gone gold, reaching no.2
on the Billboard 200 Albums charts and no.1 on the
Billboard soundtrack album charts.
We are all so proud of the work Opetaia has done
and through ‘Moana’ taking our music and stories to
the world. During Opetaia’s acceptance speech he
acknowledged the importance of being at home and
having the approval of the Pacifi c community here for
the work they did for the fi lm. It was evident due to
the emotion he showed on the night, that the opening
performance and the award itself, meant a lot to him
and he was moved by the support received from
home.
This was so well received and our Trust were so
proud to do this for him and acknowledge his amazing
achievements and hard work. It was our honour to
pay tribute to him at the awards this year
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