Opetaia Foaʻi is a Samoan-born composer, musician, and singer who grew up in New Zealand and now lives in Australia. He is best known as the founder of the Polynesian band Te Vaka, and for his collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda on music for the Disney film Moana.

Biography

He was born in Western Samoa in 1956. He's the founder of the band Te Vaka, which consists of himself and his two children and other musicians. He is married and has 4 children in total.[1] He composed the Samoan and Tokelauan language songs Logo te Pate, An Innocent Warrior and We Know the Way (English Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda) for the Disney film Moana.[2][3][4] He currently lives in Australia. He was the Arts Pasifika Award winner of the Senior Pacific Artist Award in 2005. He was the second place winner of the 2004 International Songwriting Competition in the World Music category and the 2008 first place winner for the song Tamahana.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ "Opetaia Biography". Opetaia Foa'i. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  2. ↑ McDonald, As told to Dani (2018-05-03). "How We Made: Kiwi musician Opetaia Foa'i on how he wrote Moana's We Know The Way". Stuff. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  3. ↑ Newman, Melinda (2016-11-23). "Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Mancina & Opetaia Foa'i on Creating Disney's 'Moana' Music as 'Hamilton' Exploded". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  4. ↑ McKenzie, Pete (2023-09-15). "Moana vocalist in push to revive threatened Pacific languages through song". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  5. ↑ Room, World Music Central News (2009-04-29). "Opetaia Foa'I and Malcolm Smith Win International Songwriting Competition 2008 World Music Award". Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  6. ↑ "The Outlook Podcast Archive - Moana: the Polynesian family behind the smash hit songs - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-28.


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