Pacific Connection choir at the 2025 International Barbershop Chorus Competition in Denver, Colorado. Photo: Pacific Connection
Pacific Connection came third in this year’s Barbershop Harmony Society International Contest in Denver, USA.
Its members were part of the soundtrack for James Cameron's latest Avatar movie, and the whole choir was part of the film's Australasian opening celebrations earlier this month. And if you listen to this year's Christmas Day church service on RNZ National and Concert, Pacific Connection is singing the carols.
Avatar: Fire and Ash - there's a lot of Pacific Connection on the soundtrack. Photo: Disney
But that's still not enough for the Porirua-based choir. It's also releasing its debut album "Tethered by Tides" this weekend.
The album features popular songs, barbershop numbers, and new music from choir members themselves, all infused with the Pasifika harmonies and rhythms that so impressed the judges and audience at this year's International Barbershop Competition.
The choir's co-founder, Henrietta Hunkin-Tagaloa, and president Julian Wright sat down with RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump to look back on a stellar 2025, which isn't over yet.
RNZ listeners tuning in for the Christmas service will be treated to traditional and contemporary carols, including a stunning arrangement of Silent Night.
Like another Wellington-based Pasifika ensemble, The Signature Choir, Pacific Connection celebrates the culture and music of island nations across the world's greatest ocean.
Hunkin-Tagaloa has Samoan ancestry, while Wright has family from Samoa, Tokelau and Fiji.
One of the highlights of the choir's album is "Na Bua", a new piece written by his Fijian mother, Adi Vitalina Manulevu.
The choir has plans to expand its numbers from about 60 to 80, and fully intends to compete at the next global barbershop competition in St Louis in the USA in 2026 - its third visit to the tournament.
You can hear Pacific Connection in this year's RNZ Christmas service on RNZ Concert from 11 o'clock on Christmas morning, and on RNZ National at 7am and 11pm.
