‘Music is magic’: Dame Hinewehi Mohi on the power of sound
Tuesday, 19 March 2024
Dame Hinewehi Mohi is celebrating 20 years of the music therapy trust she created with husband George Bradfield.
The trust was established in March 2004 after finding that music therapy helped their daughter, Hineraukatauri, who has cerebral palsy.
Mohi says music has the ability to help people with disabilities or trauma.
Dame Hinewehi Mohi (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tūhoe) has ticked up another achievement in her storied life and career.
The softly spoken pillar of music in Aotearoa, made a dame for her contribution to music, television production, charity work and advocacy for te reo Māori, is celebrating 20 years of the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust, dedicated to providing music therapy for all ages.
Music therapy is the use of music to aid health and the personal growth of people with identified emotional, intellectual, physical or social needs.
According to Mohi, we’re “born into a world of rhythm”, which allows people to have a meaningful connection with each other through music.
“When you hear a song and it brings back memories, it makes you feel like swaying, tapping, singing along,” she says.
“Magical things happen when two people connect through music or with a person being expressive in front of an enormous crowd.”
Surrounded by musical instruments in one of the trust’s session rooms, the setting could not be more right for this interview.
Mohi credits the producer on her first album, Oceania, for introducing her to music therapy, planting the seed for the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust.
“When my daughter was born in 1996, and it was clear that she was going to have significant challenges in her life, the producer I was working with on my first album said to me, ‘Music therapy is incredible and I think that you should check it out.’”
Mohi said her daughter, Hineraukatauri, responded “really well” to music therapy while the whānau were in London in 1999 to promote the album and sing that notable rendition of the national anthem at the Rugby World Cup.
Mohi caused a major stir when, on the field at Twickenham Stadium in Britain, she sang the New Zealand national anthem in te reo Māori.
After surprising rugby fans by singing only in te reo, she was asked to sing it again – but only in English – when the All Blacks played a semifinal against France.
The All Blacks lost that semifinal, and the Māori affairs minister at the time, Tau Henare, blamed the loss on the New Zealand Rugby Union forcing Mohi to sing in English.
But Mohi’s actions at Twickenham sparked nationwide debate and led to change. Sales for waiata Māori increased and, as we know, the anthem is now sung in te reo as a matter of course.
Back home in Aotearoa, the whānau went looking for a music therapist for Hineraukatauri, a more difficult task than they anticipated due to the small number of therapists.
“So we worked with amazing people who brought it all together and created something really small to start with 20 years ago – just one therapist in one room with a group of children,” she said.
“Now it’s grown into over 1000 people each week through Whangārei, Hawke’s Bay, Bay of Plenty, and the mothership here in Tāmaki Makaurau,” said Mohi.
“I just see it as something so important to people who are either born with conditions that are extremely challenging or are afflicted with things that make life so much more difficult. The smiles say it all, really.”
The power of music
Mohi said music is an incredibly powerful tool that can bring cultures and communities together.
“When I think about special occasions, it's always linked to music and used as a celebration.
“And when I think of some of the most magic moments that I've had, a big crowd, or even in a small, intimate setting… whatever is being acknowledged or celebrated, whether it be at a tangi or a funeral… there's that undeniable feeling of connection and coming together to really understand each other and based on just humanity,” she said.
“Music is a wonderful way of celebrating and, for me, it seems the most obvious way to connect with those who aren't able to speak or aren’t able to come out of themselves because of the difficulty that the condition might place on them to do that.
“Music is magic, and I love everything about it and all its forms.”
The world’s largest haka
Despite multiple attempts by Kiwis to bring the world record for the largest haka back to its homeland, that record has been held by France since 2014 when 4028 people took part.
Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust will attempt to set the record straight on September 29 with a plan to get 10,000–15,000 to perform the haka on the grounds that helped to drive it to global fame – Eden Park.
The attempt will be adjudicated through Guinness World Records.
“Haka is an iconic symbol of Aotearoa, and it's very much an important part of us. So it was very strange to find out that the Guinness World Record for the largest haka is still actually held by 4028 French men and women who performed it nearly 10 years ago.”
Mohi said it was time to bring that record back home.