You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Heather and goes on to produce three solo<br />
albums under her own recording label Ariki<br />
Records.<br />
“I chose to play in restaurants when Tina<br />
and George left, first at the Edgewater<br />
for 6 years followed by the Rarotongan<br />
Hotel , then Pacific Resort but really I<br />
have played just about every resort and<br />
club on the Island!” Kathy’s style fits in<br />
to those venues so very easily because<br />
she is a performer who loves to play<br />
slow easy listening music and has an<br />
extensive repertoire. That is why she is<br />
one Cook Islands Musician that is never<br />
short of work, playing just about every<br />
night of the week and as if she isn’t busy<br />
enough Kathy is about to embark on<br />
a new journey investing in a hut at the<br />
Punanga Nui market in Avarua which will<br />
become the ‘Kathy Brown School of Music<br />
and Performance’ where she will pass<br />
on her skills and knowledge to the next<br />
generation of performers. “After all these<br />
years of performing I want to help develop<br />
the young ones. I can teach guitar, ukulele,<br />
piano, vocal training so I am really excited<br />
to get this underway”<br />
When I ask Kathy if she has plans for<br />
another album she lets me know that her<br />
plans for a gospel album are underway<br />
with a possible release for the end of the<br />
year she laughs “I have gone full circle and<br />
come back to my roots, back to the church<br />
giving thanks to the Lord for the great<br />
talent he blessed me with so a Gospel<br />
Album is my composition in my Reo (Cook<br />
Islands Maori language)”.<br />
Talking with Kathy I know that her Gospel<br />
Album will be an inspired piece of work<br />
and once her school is up she will be a<br />
formidable teacher. I am excited that<br />
Kathy will be developing a resource centre<br />
for our young people to tap in to their own<br />
aspiring musical talents. Kathy is helping<br />
to create the new bright patterns of the<br />
Musical Tivaevae of Cook Islands music.<br />
When you are in Rarotonga you can<br />
see Kathy performing at the following<br />
places:<br />
• Monday - Moana Restaurant<br />
• Thursday & Sunday – The Muri Night<br />
market<br />
• Wednesday & Friday nights and<br />
Sunday lunch at the Islander Hotel<br />
• Kathy’s albums are available from<br />
Raro Records in Avarua Township and<br />
Heimana Music in Auckland<br />
Cook Islands Retailers<br />
Moana Gems<br />
The Pearl Lounge<br />
Paka’s Pearls<br />
Goldmine<br />
Far from the clamour of our everyday urban<br />
world, in the vast blueness of the Pacific,<br />
lies the pristine necklace of the Northern<br />
Cook Islands. The remote home of Avaiki<br />
pearls. From their clear depths, the profusion<br />
of green, blue, aubergine and silvery hues<br />
in Avaiki pearls capture the rich colours<br />
of the lagoon.<br />
For discerning jewellers and jewellery buyers<br />
who demand beauty, rarity and integrity,<br />
Avaiki pearls have a special appeal. Only the<br />
highest grades of pearls sustainably harvested<br />
from the lagoon become Avaiki pearls.<br />
Their consistently deeper nacre creates higher<br />
lustre and resilience - a rare beauty to stand<br />
the test of time.<br />
www.avaikipearls.com<br />
<strong>ESCAPE</strong> • 21
Change language