“Nothing excites me more than the realm of possibility that a role like festival director provides,” says Ria Hall, award-winning singer, songwriter and newly appointed director of the iconic Tauranga Arts Festival.
Ria, who is of Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pukenga descent and is a champion of te reo Māori,
was born and educated in Tauranga, returning to her hometown in 2014. She is the first wāhine Māori to take on the role of director of the Tauranga Arts Festival.
Involved with the biennial 10-day festival since 2015, Ria co-composed the specially commissioned waiata, ‘Takiri ko te Ata’ (‘A Chorus Dawn’), and has trained a community choir to perform it at each festival since. As well, she was named the festival’s first ambassador in 2017.
At the 2017 festival she performed her concept show, ‘Rules of Engagement’, based on her album of the same name which takes its inspiration from the local land wars and their aftermath. For the most recent festival in October Ria worked as an intern, taking on support roles across the entire organisation.
“Community is a huge driver for me, and bringing new and diverse audiences to experience the power of the arts is a dream I look forward to realising for Tauranga Moana.”
For Ria, the arts are one of the most powerful ways to impact a critical mass – a profound means of storytelling, messaging and self-enquiry. “The arts has been my life – it’s paid the bills, kept a roof over my head but more importantly, it has fed my soul. Now that I am in a position to really affect some positive change in our community, I intend to do my utmost to expose a more diverse audience to our incredible festival. It really is an exciting time to be at the helm.”
Another huge driver for Ria is family. Last April she became a first-time mum, and her son, Te Rongotoa, has had a major impact on putting things into perspective for her. In spite of all her accomplishments, she says becoming
a mother has been the most rewarding journey of her life.
