Born in Papua New Guinea, Ngaiire spent her first few years in NZ in an almost exclusively Maori primary school, exposed to as much ballet and opera as her parents could get her to.

Growing up listening to the reggae, Australian Top 40, and her Mum’s Mariah Carey and Cliff Richard albums, it wasn’t until Ngaiire’s family moved to Australia that her musical outlook went wide lens. She heard Ani DiFranco, Jeff Buckley, Tool, Sarah Vaughan, Debussy and Gershwin for the first time.

Joining bands and studying for her Bachelor of Jazz Studies at the Conservatorium of Music, Ngaiire somehow ended up on Australian Idol -­‐ hint: it was her incredible voice that did it. The more illuminating experiences, though, were touring extensively throughout the UK, Japan, Europe and Canada as a backing singer with Blue King Brown, and commencing an enduring collaborative friendship with electronic music don Paul Mac.

Releasing her future-­‐soul debut Lamentations in 2013 to some acclaim, leading to her first ever slot at Glastonbury and shows with Alicia Keys and John Legend, Ngaiire has left no genre unturned in her search for herself. While she’s spent time writing music for dance companies, creating crazy sound installations for David Walsh’s MONA FOMA and collaborating with fashion designers, the biggest project for this powerhouse performer has been new record Blastoma.

Contributions

Performance

Dirty Hercules / Diggin | Ngaiire

Ngaiire performs Dirty Hercules and Diggin at TEDxSydney 2017 Born in Papua New Guinea, Ngaiire spent her first few years in NZ in an almost exclusively Maori primary school, exposed...

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