Associate Professor Te Oti Paipeta Rakena

Biography

Te Oti Rakena is an active performer, researcher and national award winning tertiary teacher. 

Te Oti is an American-trained singer. He studied at New England Conservatory in Boston with master teacher Edward Zambara. He received his doctorate in vocal studies from the University of Texas at Austin and undertook three years’ post-doctoral study in Germany.

Te Oti has a distinguished reputation as a quality solo performer. Since returning to New Zealand he has become known for his performances in boutique operas and his commitment to premiering works on themes of national significance. He performed in the world premiere of Eve de Castro-Robinson’s Len Lye the opera, premiered David Hamilton’s work Erebus with the Auckland Choral Society and the New Zealand Premiere of Street Requiem: for the homeless and in 2017 play the Ferryman in Gareth Farr’s operatic version of Renee Liang’s play the Bone Feeder for the New Zealand Opera/Auckland Festival season. In 2018, he premiered the opera Live Drag-an Opera in the making by Claire Scholes with Opera New Zealand.

He has participated in a number of research initiatives aimed at improving the quality of education for indigenous and minority students in New Zealand, and has worked closely with other researchers interested in non-western research methodologies and their associated analytical frameworks. He is currently a Principal Investigator on the Centre of Brain Research.

His students have included several high profile New Zealand singers. 2014 Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, Hadleigh Adams, Moses Mackay of Sol3 Mio, 2016 Lexus Songquest winner Benson Wilson and current New Zealand Opera emerging artists Samson Setu and Manase Latu.

Research | Current

• Valuing the Arts in Australian and New Zealand: The Australia Council for the Arts (‘Council’) and Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage, New Zealand (‘MCH’) commercial research contract.
• Embedding wellbeing in studio curriculum, University of Leeds, Universtiy of Auckland project
• Studio teaching and healing trauma.
• Why we sing? A community music project.

Recent Publications include

Rakena, T. P. (2019). Tears of the Collective: Healing Historical Trauma through Community Arts. Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education, 18(2), 130-46. doi:10.22176/act18.2.130

Rakena, T. P. (2018). Community Music in the South Pacific. In B. L. Barleet, & L. Higgins (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Community Music (pp. 14-28). Oxford University Press.

Rakena, T. P. (2018). Sustaining Musical Ecosystems of the Pacific: Reframing the Climate Change Dilemma. In M. Cain, & A. Power (Eds.), Many Voices, One Horizon: Community Music in Ocean. University of Hawaii.

Suominen, A., Guttorm, H., Hast, S., Lehtonen, J., Marques, I., Martin, R., . . . Sarivaara, E. K. (2018). Hope emerging. In Critical Articulations of Hope from the Margins of Arts Education: International Perspectives and Practices (pp. 154-161). doi:10.4324/9781351111195

Rakena, T. P. (2016). Forging genuine partnerships in the music studio context: Reviving the master-apprentice model for post-colonial times. In L. Ashley, & D. Lines (Eds.), Intersecting cultures in music and dance education: An Oceanic perspective (Vol. 19, pp. 119-133). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Rakena, T. P. (2015). Sustaining indigenous performing arts: The potential decolonizing role of arts-based service learning. In B. L. Bartleet, D. Bennett, A. Power, & N. Sunderland (Eds.), Engaging first peoples in arts-based service learning : Towards respectful and mutually beneficial educational practices (Vol. 18, pp. 119-131). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-22153-3_8

Harvey, M., & Rakena, T. O. (2013). Kaitūa o te moana: Transient workers of the water. In A. Gardner (Ed.), Mapping South: Journeys in south-south cultural relations (pp. 339-348). Melbourne, Australia: The South Project Inc.

Rakena, T. O., Airini., & Brown, D. (2016). Success for all: Eroding the culture of power in the one-to-one teaching and learning context. International Journal of Music Education, 34(3), 285-298. doi:10.1177/0255761415590365

Teaching | Current

• Studio pedagogy
• Applied Voice
• Collaborative performance research
• Diction for singers: International Phonetic Alphabet
• Vocal Anatomy
• Community Music Research

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhD Supervisions:

• Voice Characteristics in Undergraduate Cisgender Females
• Voices in harmony: How can music therapists work collaboratively with communities to maximise the benefits of community singing for people with communication difficulties related to a neurological condition

Distinctions/Honours

• 2021 National Teritary Excellence Award Winner for Sustained Teaching in Kauapa Måori Context and Excellence in Supporting Pacific Learners Endorsement
• NZARE Group Award for Success for All, 2012
• University of Auckland Excellence in Teaching (Innovation) 2010
•  University of Auckland Research Excellence Awards, 2010
• 2008 University of Auckland Excellence in Equity Award

Responsibilities

Director of External Relations, School of Music

Coordinator of Vocal Studies (Classical)

Past Roles

Associate-Dean Equity (Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries)

Associate-Dean Māori and Pacific ((Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries)

Areas of expertise

Voice Performance

Vocal Pedagogy

Non-Western research methodologies

Community Music Practice

Committees/Professional groups/Services

• Co-Chair of the e Community Music Activities (CMA) a research commission of ISME.
• Indigenous Steering Committee, Decolonising and Indigenising Music Education (DIME) a Special Interest Group (SIG) of ISME.
• Member of the International Society of Music Educators (ISME) member
• Member of the Asia Pacific Community Music Network (APCMN)
• Member of New Zealand Association of Teachers of Singing (NEWZATS)