Music Industry News

SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music | Toi te Arapūoru is thrilled to announce Aotearoa New Zealand born Sāmoan sonic artist and composer Joshua Pearson as the recipient of the 2025 SOUNZ Tarling Trust Orchestral Commission. A joint venture between the Auckland Philharmonia, Orchestra Wellington, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, the Nicholas Tarling Charitable Trust, and SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music, Joshua’s work Digital Fenua: Fakatili Te Kiloga Fou looks at the very real effects of climate change on Tuvalu as they look towards becoming the world’s first digital nation.

Fakatili Te Kiloga Fou means ‘Navigating the Changing Environment’ in the Tuvaluan Language. Joshua’s work will engage on the urgent issues of climate change that Tuvalu faces everyday, including rising sea levels, coastal erosion, drinking water shortages, and extreme weather patterns. The work will use a combination of traditional and graphic notation, and will include the use of water in the percussion section and from other musicians to symbolise the rising sea level threatening Tuvalu. The work aims to express solidarity with the people of Tuvalu.

On being awarded this opportunity, composer Joshua Pearson says: “I’m still in complete awe from when I first heard the news. I’m incredibly honored and humbled to be selected as the recipient of the SOUNZ Tarling Trust Orchestral Commission. This opportunity means so much to me as an early-career Moana Pacific composer, it not only allows me to gain invaluable experience, but also helps me create networks, develop new skills, and to build my confidence as a creative.”

“In my proposal for the orchestral commission, I’ve been really drawn to exploring the important issues in the Pacific, especially the atoll islands of Tuvalu. I was inspired by how their cultural identity and homeland is transforming into a digital nation in response to rising sea levels. I’ll be looking forward to bringing these ideas to life through my music as a way to amplify the voices of Tuvalu and raising awareness of their struggle.”

The collaboration between the four orchestras is a first, and highlights their commitment to working together to commission new work by early-career New Zealand composers. A panel with representatives from each of the orchestras worked together to select Joshua’s work from an impressive pool of proposals from 42 early-career and emerging composers. The selection panel included cellist Ashley Brown (for Auckland Philharmonia), conductors Marc Taddei (Orchestra Wellington), and Benjamin Northey (Christchurch Symphony Orchestra), composer Maddy Parkins-Craig (Dunedin Symphony Orchestra), and composer David Chisholm.

Panel member Maddy Parkins-Craig noted:

“It was a pleasure to look through so many strong applications for this commission and be reassured that the compositional strength of Aotearoa is still growing. While there was a particularly strong shortlist agreed upon, Joshua’s application stood out to the entire panel with its clear vision and pressing subject matter. The proposed piece promises to offer an exciting creative work that demonstrates music’s ability to not only foster community, but contribute to conversations on wider social and political issues, in this case the pressing climate crisis. This, combined with Joshua’s strong portfolio of existing works, will no doubt result in a provocative and engaging work for the orchestras and audiences involved.”

Joshua Pearson’s Digital Fenua: Fakatili Te Kiloga Fou will be premiered across the country in 2026 and 2027.

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