Features

The Prayer of St Francis is a lovely peace prayer that came to be attributed to the saint around 1920, when somebody had it printed on the back of card with St Francis’s picture on it. When South African songwriter Sebastian Temple adapted the words of the prayer and set them to music by in the 1960s, he kept the St Francis attribution along with his own title: Make me a channel of your peace. Audio

Chris Faiumu, founder of one of Aotearoa's most successful bands, died unexpectedly this week. He leaves a rich musical legacy as a DJ, producer, and founding member of the Roots Foundation and Fat Freddy's Drop.

Singer and composer Geneva AM and arranger and double bass player Eric Scholes talk about turning an electro-waiata into a striking piece of classical chamber music. Video, Audio

Ahead of this year's National Concert Band Festival, its coordinator James Bevin talks with RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump. Video, Audio

Abhinath Berry didn't start having regular piano lessons until his mid/late teens. Now he's on the cusp of a professional career.  Video, Audio

Distinguished Spanish pianist Javier Perianes makes a welcome return to our shores this month to play with the NZSO and the Auckland Philharmonia. He talks about the music he will perform for New Zealand audiences. Video, Audio

The Uganda-based musician is back in Aotearoa touring an all-French recital for Chamber Music New Zealand.

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square was founded over a century ago in Utah, USA, and has over 300 members. In this week's programme, you can hear this impressive choir sing the spiritual Who'll be a witness for my Lord, and Emma Lou Thayne's hymn Where can I turn for peace. Audio

Nick Tipping checks out jazz tunes which describe evoke cities and streets, including Jonathan Crayford's 'Skyscraper Scaffold', Duke Ellington's 'Sidewalks of New York', and Myele Manzanza's 'Brixton Blues'. Audio

Punjabi pop and hip hop are gaining momentum in New Zealand, with a new generation of artists fusing high-energy beats, bilingual lyrics and references to cities, cars and designer labels with South Asian heritage to connect with increasingly diverse audiences.

It's all about the flute in Hamilton this weekend. RNZ Concert's Andrew Clark speaks with the festival's founder, Kathryn Orbell. Video, Audio

DJ Algoodie remembers the time he played at a rugby league game and thousands of voices joined in to sing.

Award-winning English composer Howard Goodall is responsible for the music to many well-known TV series, including Mr Bean, The Vicar of Dibley and Blackadder. In this week's programme, you can hear his setting of Charles Wesley’s hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.  Audio

Wellington saxophonist Jake Baxendale's new album evokes soft rain, vibrant new growth, and the wonderment of contemplating nature. Audio

The Tahitians have opened a wider gap between themselves and the rest of the pack on the medal table at the Pacific Mini Games. They sit at the top of the medal tally with 33 gold medals, 17 silver and six bronze medals.

Team Niue is not competing at the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau. Both the Niue Island Sports and Commonwealth Games Association and the Pacific Games Council confirmed to RNZ Pacific on Wednesday that Niue pulled out of the event in May.

All baseball competition matches at the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau in the last two days have been put on hold because the Nippon Baseball Stadium field has been "washed out".

The 2025 Pacific Mini Games kicked off on Monday, with baseball, softball, swimming, va'a, volleyball and wrestling first off the blocks.

Tahiti's Teimoana Taputu claimed the first gold medal at the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau, taking out the V1 500 metres open men's final in va'a (outrigger) racing. Audio

Canterbury-raised tenor Oliver Sewell returns to Aotearoa to sing in Auckland Philharmonia's Opera in Concert performance of Verdi's La Traviata. Audio

Canadian conductor Adam Johnson is in New Zealand to conduct this year's NZSO National Youth Orchestra. Audio

It’s the middle of winter, and we’re celebrating the season in this week’s programme with some carols of the snowy variety: it’s the perfect time of year to sing In the Bleak Midwinter! Audio

Ahead of the debut broadcast in Aotearoa, Tim Finn talks to RNZ Concert about his opera "Ihitai Avei’a - Star Navigator": the story of the Tahitian navigator Tupaia, who guided Cook to Aotearoa. Audio

Webb's music explores the connections between music and science by weaving improvised jazz with the structure of the universe. New compositions see Matariki star cluster data converted into music, and a musical interpretation of Einstein's wave-particle duality. Audio