Photo: Supplied
Samoan composer Dr Opeloge Ah Sam is a huge part of the music scene in Kaitaia - Head of Arts at Kaitaia College, directing the Kaitaia Community Voices, in charge of the Far North Pasifika Festival, to list just a few of the things he does.
Bryan Crump caught up with Opeloge to talk about how he came to be in the Far North and how the different strands of his life inform the music he writes.
"I live in probably three or four different contexts in my life... I'm Samoan, and that's one of my homes, I'm a Kiwi and that's another part of who I am. The music I listen to, the work I do, the schools... you know, there's so many different spaces I work within. And there's also the work in the church."
"I'm living in a predominantly Māori space up here in the Far North, and also I still have my passion of making sure that my kids know who they are as Samoans. But also that the majority of my life is spoken in English and the communication, how I interact with the people is palagi."
"So all of that... informs what I do as a musician and as a composer."
