 Media release
23 July 2025 Pacific Music Awards Lifetime Achievement awarded to Opetaia Foa’i The Pacific Music Awards Trust is proud to announce the 2025 Ministry for Pacific Peoples Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to one of the South Pacific’s most influential cultural and musical ambassadors - Opetaia Foa’i. An artist whose passion for Pacific culture has shaped his music and inspired others, Opetaia Foa’i has spent over three decades championing the stories, languages, and rhythms of the Pacific. As the frontman and founder of the renowned Polynesian band Te Vaka, and a key songwriter for Disney’s Moana and Moana 2, Foa’i has brought the heartbeat of the Pacific to global audiences. Opetaia was born in a Tokelau settlement in a small village called Alamagoto in Samoa, to parents from Tokelau and Tuvalu. Growing up, he was surrounded by traditional rhythms, songs and dances which laid the foundation for his music today. From the outset of his career, Foa’i has been sharing his culture and stories with the world. Over his 30-year career, he hasn’t wavered - consistently writing music in the languages of Tokelau, Tuvalu and Samoa with topics highlighting stories and concerns from his parts of the world. In 1995, Te Vaka was formed by Opetaia Foa’i and quickly gained international acclaim, performing at major festivals across Europe, the US, and the Pacific. Singing in in Tokelauan, Tuvaluan, and Samoan, the band resonated deeply with audiences, celebrating Pacific identity while addressing pressing issues such as climate change, human rights, and cultural preservation. Foa’i’s songwriting brilliance caught the attention of Walt Disney Animation Studios, leading to his collaboration on the Moana soundtrack alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina. His contributions, including the iconic “We Know the Way,” marked a historic moment bringing Pacific languages to the Billboard charts and into the hearts of millions worldwide. Rev Mua, spokesperson for the Pacific Music Awards Trust, says: "The Pacific Music Awards humbly announces Opetaia Foa'i, Tuvalu Tokelau Samoan global Pasifika Music pioneer as the 2025 Pacific Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Recipient”. “For over thirty years, Opetaia has Tautua served musically, locally, nationally and internationally. From, local to global, navigating Pacific languages, cultural identity development and Pasifika. Oceania Climate Change issues.” Throughout his career, Opetaia has received numerous accolades including multiple Pacific Music Awards, New Zealand Music Awards, and international honours including American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards. His music has not only entertained but has educated and empowered, giving voice to Pacific stories on the world stage. In 2023, he returned to the Disney scene to contribute to Moana 2, once again collaborating with Te Vaka musicians and vocalists to continue the legacy of Pacific storytelling through song. Opetaia shares “I’m grateful to be honoured with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award”. “It has been a long but fulfilling journey so far taking our Pacific music to the world. In my work I have found great strength in using our Pacific languages and it’s great to see the Pacific Music Awards continuing to uplift and encourage artists to use our languages in their music”. “I hope the younger generations continue to proudly carry the torch for our rich culture” says Opetaia. Now based in Sydney, Australia, with his wife and four children, Opetaia continues to create, inspire, and advocate, currently working on a new Te Vaka album. The Pacific Music Awards will take place at on Thursday 21st August 2025, at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau. To listen to all the nominees, here’s the official PMA 2025 Finalist Playlist. Tickets for the 2025 Pacific Music Awards are available for purchase through Eventfinda: https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2025/2025-pacific-music-awards/auckland/manukau-city The 2025 Pacific Music awards will be live streamed by Tagata Pasifika on TP+ (tpplus.co.nz). For more information: https://www.pacificmusicawards.org.nz/ ENDS Issued for the Pacific Music Awards by Pead Media Imagery can be found here. About the Pacific Music Awards In 2004 the Pacific Music Awards Committee (PMAC) was formed to realise a vision and the inaugural Pacific Music Awards debuted at Pasifika Festival in March 2005. Encouraged by the success of the awards the PMAC set about developing an annual event as a significant highlight of the New Zealand music industry calendar. The awards committee formed a Charitable Trust to organise and host the awards, and are driven by a simple core objective: to create and manage an event that acknowledges the success of Pacific artists, celebrates and promotes excellence in Pacific music and encourages young Pacific musicians to aspire to a higher level of achievement. Contact Adam Warin | 021 029 01388 | [email protected]
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 Media release
24 June 2025 Record finalist numbers as Pacific Music Awards celebrates 21 years of musical recognition Finalists for the 2025 Pacific Music Awards announced last night The finalists for the 2025 Pacific Music Awards were announced last night at a ceremony at the Mangere Arts Centre in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. This year’s celebration of Pacific music marks the 21st anniversary of the event. Following the highest number of entries to the awards so far, this year there are a record 34 finalists across 13 categories. Among the finalists are 15 first-time nominees - a testament to the incredible depth of talent and the vibrant growth within the Pacific music community, as a new wave of artists rise into the spotlight. Leading the pack with four nominations are SHANE WALKER and Aaradhna. Cook Island and Māori songwriter who began his career with his uncle Rahui "Brother Love" Vaka and Father Dion DHarp Paekau, SHANE WALKER has now built his own distinct sound. WALKER is up for NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist, 531pi Best Gospel Artist, Pacificast Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist, and APRA Best Pacific Song for ‘Believe’. Soul/R&B singer Aaradhna is also nominated for four awards including Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist, RNZ Best Pacific Soul/R&B Artist, and Recorded Music Te Tino Pukaemi Moana Nui a Kiwa o te Tau | Best Pacific Music Album for Sweet Surrender. She’s also nominated for NZ On Air Best Pacific Music Video for ‘Mango Tree’, directed by Prasenjit Das. Onehunga hip hop group SWIDT have received three nods at the 2025 Pacific Music Awards for FLAVA Best Pacific Group, ONErpm Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist, and Recorded Music Te Tino Pukaemi Moana Nui a Kiwa o te Tau | Best Pacific Music Album for Taking Care of Business. Jordyn Rapana - aka Jordyn with a Why - draws inspiration from her Māori and Samoan heritage in creating her bilingual, 1980s tinged music. This year, she is nominated for Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist, RNZ Best Pacific Soul/R&B Artist, and Recorded Music Te Tino Pukaemi Moana Nui a Kiwa o te Tau | Best Pacific Music Album for Hibiscus Moon, Love & Justice. Hailing from Auckland, New Zealand, with Maori/Cook Island roots, Lomez Brown blends reggae, old-school soul/RnB, and Polynesian grooves, creating music that resonates deeply with listeners. He’s nominated for Pacificast Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist and Recorded Music Te Tino Pukaemi Moana Nui a Kiwa o te Tau | Best Pacific Music Album for his album UNDER-RATED. Known for his introspective lyrics and genre-blending sound, prominent rapper, poet, and singer MELODOWNZ is nominated for NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist and ONErpm Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist. Other finalists this year include Kenzie from Welly (Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist, ONErpm Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist), A.R.T (FLAVA Best Pacific Group, Pacific Media Network Best Pacific Language), Sam V (NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist, RNZ Best Pacific Soul/R&B Artist), Tree (Pacific Media Network Best Pacific Language, APRA Best Pacific Song), Adeaze (FLAVA Best Pacific Group), Village 90 (FLAVA Best Pacific Group), Diggy Dupé (NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist), Myshaan (NZ Music Commission Best Pacific Male Artist), Junior Soqeta (Pacific Media Network Best Pacific Language), Opetaia Foa'i & Moana 2 Artists (Pacific Media Network Best Pacific Language), Wayno (Pacific Media Network Best Pacific Language), David Dallas (ONErpm Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist), Brotherhood Musiq (531pi Best Gospel Artist), Saia Frank Sola (531pi Best Gospel Artist), Sire (531pi Best Gospel Artist), Rubi Du (Pacificast Best Pacific Roots/Reggae Artist), Fejoint, Lomez Brown and Switch.E (APRA Best Pacific Song), T’NAY (APRA Best Pacific Song), Jaro Local (NIU FM Best International Pacific Artist), KUKI (NIU FM Best International Pacific Artist), Paradise Rootz (NIU FM Best International Pacific Artist), Seven Suns (NIU FM Best International Pacific Artist), and The 046 (NIU FM Best International Pacific Artist ). There are also four nominees for MPGNZ/SAE Creative Media Institute Best Producer including Astro and EDY (90's Fine’, ‘Rolling Your Eyes’, Sam V), Canaan Ene (‘The Way It Is’, ‘Handyman’, ‘You've Got A Friend’, ‘Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You, ‘Selfish’, ‘Lately’, Canaan Ene and various artists), Feagaigafou Tupa'i, Logovi’i Tupa'i, Astro, EDY (‘Forever I Am Yours’, Adeaze) and Ikon Music (‘When He Was Mine (Pele Fo'i Mai)’, ‘Easy’, A.R.T). Finally, the finalists for NZ On Air Best Pacific Music Video are Haanz Fa'avae-Jackson (‘Mayehe’,directed by Mario Faumui & Ben Mikha), Shepherds Reign (‘Ala Mai’, directed by Bahanor Borhani), Tha Movement (‘The Lecture’, directed by Samson Rambo), and TheWesternGuide (‘Bottom of the Bed’, directed by Esther Mauga). Matai continues to support the awards and will provide timepieces which will be gifted to all the winners at the awards ceremony, alongside the beautiful trophies. Pacific Music Awards Trust spokesperson Rev Mua Strickson-Pua said: “Aotearoa is celebrating Matariki, the Māori New Year, with the 2025 theme ‘Matariki mā Puanga’, highlighting inclusion and unity. The Pacific Music Awards honours Matariki as a treasured cultural celebration across Pacific languages and traditions. “This year marks the 21st anniversary of the Pacific Music Awards. Inspired by the wisdom of Matariki, we celebrate a record-breaking year with the highest number of entries, finalists, and Pacific languages represented - especially in our International category. “To all 2025 finalists: thank you. As always, our Finalist Announcement event is a celebration for families, communities, and the wider music industry—where everyone is a winner. Guided by our ancestors, we honour the past, celebrate the present, and look forward to a bright future.” Trustee and Event Producer, Petrina Togi-Sa’ena says: “It feels like we are entering a new era for the Pacific Music Awards as we celebrate our 21st year. The year looked very daunting with the challenging environment for funding and events. Then we opened for entries and the wave of nominations came through. We received a record number of entries, which has flowed on to more finalists and more first-time finalists than ever before. All strong signals of this new wave and the strength of Pacific music right now. “The music of the finalists has allowed us to celebrate all our artists from the incredible Pacific music community here in Aotearoa, to recognise so many genres, to honour our Pacific languages through music and to reach across the moana to connect with artists living overseas. I am really proud of this year’s finalists and so happy for everyone being acknowledged.” The SunPix People’s Choice Award voting opens Tuesday 1st July, and all artists nominated for the 2025 Pacific Music Awards are eligible. The winner will be decided entirely by public vote, which can be cast through the voting poll on the PMA website. Voting will close on Friday 1st August 2025. To listen to all the nominees, here’s the official PMA 2025 Finalist Playlist. This year’s Pacific Music Award winners will be celebrated on Thursday 21st August 2025, at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau. 2025 Pacific Music Awards finalists: Auckland Council Best Pacific Female Artist
ENDS Issued for the Pacific Music Awards by Pead About the Pacific Music Awards In 2004 the Pacific Music Awards Committee (PMAC) was formed to realise a vision and the inaugural Pacific Music Awards debuted at Pasifika Festival in March 2005. Encouraged by the success of the awards the PMAC set about developing an annual event as a significant highlight of the New Zealand music industry calendar. The awards committee formed a Charitable Trust to organise and host the awards, and are driven by a simple core objective: to create and manage an event that acknowledges the success of Pacific artists, celebrates and promotes excellence in Pacific music and encourages young Pacific musicians to aspire to a higher level of achievement. Contact Adam Warin | 021 029 01388 | [email protected]  Media release: 12 March 2025
The Pacific Music Awards Trust is dedicated to celebrating Pacific music and honouring our Pacific artists, with the annual Pacific Music Awards. The Pacific Music Awards Trust are proud to have reached the 21st anniversary and look forward to this year’s celebration and awards ceremony, which will be held on Thursday 21 August, at the Due Drop Events Centre, Manukau, Auckland. Entries for the 2025 Pacific Music Awards are now open and our Trust is encouraging all our Pacific artists who released music in 2024, to submit nominations. All entries need to be submitted online through the official entry system, with the deadline for entries being Tuesday 15 April 2025. Local Pacific artists, i.e. New Zealand citizens/residents, can be nominated for all the entered award categories except for the Best International Pacific Artist Award, which is open to Pacific artists from overseas. The recordings eligible for entry, can be singles, EPs or albums that have been released during the 2024 calendar year, i.e. between 1 January – 31 December 2024. For all the information about nominations for the 2025 Pacific Music Awards, including the 2025 PMA Terms & Conditions of Entry, please go to the Entries page on the awards website. The entered categories for the 2025 Pacific Music Awards are confirmed as follows: Best Pacific Female Artist, Best Pacific Male Artist, Best Pacific Group, Best Pacific Gospel Artist. Best Pacific Hip Hop Artist, Best Pacific Soul/RnB Artist, Best Pacific Roots/ Reggae Artist, Best Pacific Language, Best Pacific Song, Best Pacific Music Video, Best Producer, Best International Pacific Artist and Best Pacific Music Album (Aotearoa Music Award). We are grateful for the opportunities and connections music provides us all. We are looking forward to the time ahead as we prepare for the upcoming awards. We hope you can share the collective celebration of Pacific music at the 2025 Pacific Music Awards, on Thursday 21 August. For any questions about the Pacific Music Awards or the nomination process for entries, please contact the Trust on: [email protected] and for more information go to: www.pacificmusicawards.org.nz Issued by the Pacific Music Awards Trust https://www.pacificmusicawards.org.nz/ https://www.facebook.com/pacificmusicawards https://www.instagram.com/pacificmusicawardsnz/ HIVA FOLAU VAKA – Calling for Expressions of Interest from Pasifika Artists As part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the Pacific Music Awards, the Pacific Music Awards Trust announced their significant legacy project, nurturing the creation of new songs in Pacific languages, Hiva Folau Vaka - Vaka Carrying Music. With this project the Trust wants to positively contribute to Pacific communities and the revitalisation of Pacific languages through music. This project will utilise a workshop format and will embed a Fonofale Village framework, a facilitated, collaborative approach that incorporates peer support and a mentored experience for artists to write and record new songs in Pacific language. The workshop gatherings will be held at a recording studio, to facilitate the writing and recording process; and creative and professional support will be provided by language experts, cultural consultants and the support team. For the first phase of the project the Trust are looking to engage Pasifika artists who would like to create songs in the languages of Vagahau Niue, Te Gagana Tokelau and Te Reo Maori Kuki Airani. The project is open to Pasifika artists of all genres and experience, with the outcome to have competed recordings ready for release. Each gathering will involve 5-10 artists, held over 3 days and are currently planned for the following dates and locations: Early December 2024 – Big Fan, Auckland Late February 2025 – Wellington Mid- May 2025 – Auckland Expressions of Interest: As places and time is limited for this project, we are calling for Expressions of Interest for Pasifika artists to take part in this project. Please email The Trust on: [email protected] to confirm your interest and the Trust will send you the application details, which will need to be submitted by Friday 15 November. Within the application artists will be asked to share information about themselves, the details for the song they wish to create, which language(s) they will include; what support they require; and their release and promotion plan. The Trust will then confirm the successful participants that will take part in the project. The Trust are initially looking for participants for December, but we are also open to receiving details from anyone that would like to participate in the project next year as well. The response from artists will also help us develop the project and tailor each gathering. Hiva Vaka Folau has been made possible due to the support of NZ On Air and the partnership with the Centre for Pacific Languages. The Trust also acknowledges support from Big Fan in Auckland, where we will host our first gathering in December. Revitalising languages is a collective responsibility and requires a collective approach. We acknowledge all the existing work that individuals and organisations are doing across Aotearoa, to support the development of Pacific languages. We are aiming to compliment and contribute to the movement, with Hiva Vaka Folau. Pacific Music Awards Trust  |
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