him at the Otaki State School and it was from her that he received his first music lessons. He remembers that the song he sang was “Margie” and that when the audience acclaimed him he was very mystified and did not know what to do next. His teacher told him to return to the stage and take a how, but he was still not sure about what was expected of him, so he sang “Margie” again. Again the clapping came and with a quick look at the pianist he started up and again sang “Margie”. It was here that he began to understand the meaning of being an artist and he began to enjoy it immensely. He had to be carried off the stage before he was tempted to again sing “Margie”. At the age of 13 ½ his voice broke and almost overnight he became a bass-baritone. When this happened he joined his cousins quartette which included Wi Nicholls, Henry Tahiwi, and Dan Rikihana. All these people were adults except the young Te Wiata. Another person who took an interest in him during those early years was the late Mrs Newton Taylor (Mihi), a member of the Rikihana family. She trained Te Wiata and his cousin to sing duets together; insisting on a high standard of performance despite the protests of the lads who were more interested in being boys not singers. Inia remembers Mrs Taylor with gratitude and affection for this early training she instilled in him at this time. He has discovered that it is this extra effort and concentration which she tried to teach them which is the making of a great artist. There is no halfway for the professional. These duets which included La Paloma were sung at Concerts and smoke concerts and other social occasions and he often sang on his own throughout his teen years. While he was at Ngaruawahia, he continued public singing. He was a very active member of the Waiata Maori Choir. This Choir, which was organised by the Superintendent of the Methodist Maori Mission, Rev. J. J. Seamer, toured all over New Zealand and also visited Australia and Great Britain. At this time Inia Te Wiata was busy on the carving of the King's house so he could not leave the country. While the choir had a successful 14 months tour of Britain, he stayed in Ngaruawahia. From time to time he sang for the radio station 1ZB, specializing in Maori songs with his own guitar accompaniments. Later on he met Mr Grant of Hamilton who had had close contact with the famous contralto Clara Butt. In Inia he saw the makings of a great artist and hoped that his experience in management would help the young singer on his way to success. They arranged concerts in different parts of the country and eventually caught the interest of the Mayor of Hamilton, Mr H. D. Caro. Through this contact a group of well-known people became interested in furthering Inia's studies. Among these was Dame H. Ida Ross, Sir Joseph Hannan, Stewart Garland and the conductor Anderson Tyrer. A professional opinion of Inia's voice was acquired from the famous Australian singer Peter Dawson. This was very favourable and Anderson Tyrer was put in charge of the arrangements for study overseas. A fund was raised to which both Maori and European friends subscribed. Through the late Mr Peter Fraser, and the Hon H. G. R. Mason, a Government grant was added to this. Enough was collected to send him to England for the three years which were necessary for success as a singer.

MUSICAL APPRENTICESHIP Te Wiata had always dreamed of studying under Garcia, who was the teacher of that other great New Zealand bass Oscar Natzke. This dream was not to be fulfilled as Garcia died just before Inia reached England. Upon reaching England he enrolled as a student at the Trinity College of Music and took private lessons from James Kennedy Scott. As well he took daily lessons at the Berlitz School of Languages, studying German, Italian and French. He remembers this period as the most difficult period of his life. Each day he took a separate language which meant that he became so mixed up that he could not absorb any of them. Eventually he decided to concentrate on German, until he had mastered it a little and attempted Italian later. He gave up French altogether, largely because his voice was not really suited to the French type of song. At Trinity College he took counterpoint and theory and so forth but was disappointed to find that his great interest in opera was not catered for. There was no opera class. Some of the students worked together by themselves on operas but he felt that this was not a good grounding for the real thing. He also sensed that the voice production which he received from his teacher was not improving his voice, in fact it was going back. So he decided to put his cards on the table and ask the advice of his teacher. He was received very sympathetically by Kennedy Scott and they parted the best of friends. He then joined the Opera Company run by the great English soprano Joan Cross. The students paid about £80 a term in fees and operas were performed in the provinces by the students themselves and produced by Joan Cross. This was wonderful experience. It was in the Tothams Theatre in Devon that Te Wiata performed the part of Sir Astra from the Magic Flute. The Tothams Theatre had a romantic history as it was built by the son of the great writer Chekov. This performance was such a success that it was repeated nine times in Devon, and then in other towns. The end of the three year term sponsored by the N.Z. Government was near when Peter Fraser visited England. Te Wiata