Pūoro Jerome
Mokai Patea, Maniapoto, Ngāti Kahungunu
Grammy award-winning featured solo artist and internationally renowned Māori Taonga Puoro practitioner Jerome Kavanagh began his musical journey through his upbringing in rural Aotearoa. Through the teachings of his kuia and whānau, he was first introduced to a kōauau at 14-years-old. He developed his own unique playing style by spending time in the Ruahine Ranges listening and mimicking native bird calls with his voice.
After battling depression and suicide attempts as a youth living in the city, his whānau guided him back in to nature. It was here that he began his healing journey through the power of Taonga Puoro. For the past 21 years, he has dedicated his life to the practice of making, playing and sharing the healing ancestral musical artform by starting in his own tribal area touring kohanga, kura, marae and rural communities.
As a young 20-year-old he traveled to South America, living in Argentina and Brazil, and spending time with indigenous communities, sharing Māori music abroad.
He then crossed the globe to reside in the UK and became the resident Taonga Puoro practitioner for Ngāti Rānana. This led to working alongside The British Museum, playing and recording the entire Taonga Puoro collection held in the storehouses of East London.
In 2005 he joined the band Moana and the Tribe and they toured Europe and Russia and in 2009, he met London producers Ben and John Mullon forming ‘Hui-a’. They released their first EP, mixing Taonga Puoro with Electronic, Soul and Hip Hop, alongside Kevin Mark Trail (The Streets). While in London, he also collaborated with Hayley Westenra, Daniel Beddingfield and Ria Hall. One of his greatest achievements in the UK was collaborating with composer Chris Tin as a featured solo artist and lyricist on the two-time Grammy award-winning album “Calling All Dawns” (2009) on the track “Kia Hora te Marino”, which was recorded at Abbey Road studios, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He also starred in the German movie “Das Gluck am anderen Ende der Welt”, which was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa.
Returning to Aotearoa with a wealth of experience, he moved back to his hometown of Taihape, coming home to his people and life on the marae. His focus again turned to sharing Taonga Puoro with the next generation, touring schools and creating the show “Power to the Puoro” by mixing an ancient sound with modern technology. Ten years on, he has become the most prolific Taonga Puoro workshop provider for tamariki in Aotearoa and has visited thousands of kura throughout the motu. His consistency and innovation in the education sector is a continuation of the pathway forged by the late Dr Hirini Melbourne and the Haumanu collective.
In the past 10 years, he has also toured extensively all over the world, taking Māori music abroad and representing Aoteaora at some of the world’s most prestigious music venues. This includes Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Roundhouse in London, the Sydney Opera House in Australia and Legacy in Taiwan. He was an official art delegate member of the Aotearoa team at the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts, Solomon Islands, and has more recently toured Europe, Australia and Asia, with the indigenous international band Small Island Big Song, playing at mega festivals throughout Spain, Germany and the Czech Republic. His latest travels saw him represent Māori at The Tribal Gathering in Panama, alongside 60 other indigenous tribes, the biggest of its kind in the world.
He has now stepped into film score composition, co-composing alongside Lachlan Anderson on the 2020 series of “The Dead Lands” (Shudder-USA/TVNZ), weaving Taonga Puoro into mainstream and international film audiences.
He also featured on the highly successful Waiata Anthems (2021) alongside international Wellington-based band Drax Project, recording on Tukituki Te Manawa. He toured with the Drax boys for Six60 Saturdays at Sky Arena in Wellington and Eden Park, Auckland.
In the past seven years, he and his family of Taonga Puoro, named Te Haa o Pohokura, have created the Oro Atua Puoro Māori sound healing journey. This vehicle utilises and revives the ancestral practice of indigenous sound therapy in a modern time. He has shared the Oro Atua extensively in Aotearoa throughout marae, communities, wānanga and online events and has recently entered into the mainstream health sector. He has toured the Oro Atua throughout Australia, Europe, UK and the US.
In early 2022, he was awarded a research grant through the Health Research Council of New Zealand to hold wānanga and gather research on the positive effects of Taonga Puoro for our people as Rongoā Māori.
He was also selected as NZ School of Music’s composer-in-residence at Victoria University of Wellington, with support from Creative NZ and The Lilburn Trust.
