Night Swimming

Poems by Kiri Piahana-Wong

Premiere: 22 November 2013
Baritone Te Oti Rakena
Piano David Kelly
The Committee presents… ‘Shorts and Suites’
Maclaurin Chapel, the University of Auckland

Programme Note

1.Listen
2.Night swimming
3.I miss you like
4.Whatipu

Night swimming was composed for a concert of vocal music presented by The Committee composer collective. I was looking for text to compose a song cycle and encountered Kiri’s poetry collection Night swimming at the home of her cousin, a close friend of mine. The title poem immediately caught my attention as it captured the magic my friends and I had experienced swimming in phosphorescence at Big Manly Beach in the small hours of New Year’s Day.