PHOTO CREDIT: NICOLA SANFORD
New Zealand Pacific Studio (NZPS) is pleased to announce that Flying Nun artist Vera Ellen has been selected to be the inaugural Singer-Songwriter in Residence for 2023. Winner of “Best Alternative Artist” at the Aotearoa Music Awards and nominee for the 2022 Taite Prize, Vera Ellen has released two acclaimed solo records, alongside two US and NZ tours already under her belt - and she’s only getting started! Vera Ellen won the residency award over 20 other highly qualified applicants from Aotearoa, Australia, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Ukraine and USA.
PHOTO CREDIT: NICOLA SANFORD
NZPS Chair Madeleine Slavick says “the purpose of the residency is to give the artist a space and time to write new material, in a beautiful setting in which to refresh and find inspiration.”
The residency award includes accommodation, a stipend, and access to Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre. Vera will be hosted at the Fig Tree Cottage in the Wairarapa for two weeks in August, thanks to the generosity of hosts Janette and Niels Gedge, with financial support of the Cross Creek Blues Club, and the Trust House Foundation. Vera says “I am ready to embark on creating my fourth solo album… I can see some themes of love and community coming through to counter some of the darker themes of my previous record. During the residency I will be able to flesh out my song ideas, record basic demos, and conceptualize what the album might look and sound like. I will also be able to try out some of this material with a small audience!”
Vera will do just that, playing an intimate solo show at “Up Close & Personal” on :
Sunday 27 August at 4pm, @ Studio 73, Greytown
Limited Capacity / Tickets $25, $10 for students / Purchased through Eventfinda or Cash on the door
Vera Ellen will be available for signings after the show, with limited merch for sale.
Proceeds of the event will be split between the artist and NZPS’s next Singer-Songwriter Residency. NZPS is excited that this residency lays the groundwork for an ongoing relationship between the artist and the Wairarapa. Vera will be returning on 30 September for “Inside the Song” at Carterton Events Centre, a production of the Wairarapa Word literary series. NZPS is an award-winning residency programme based in Wairarapa, and has hosted hundreds of artists of all kinds since its founding in 2001. Visit www.artistresidency.org.nz for more info.