Sunania was joined by David Tahere to talk about Mate Ururoa, a new chamber opera by Dame Gillian Whitehead that brings to life the extraordinary story of Captain Roger Ingram Te Kepa Dansey.

Born in Rotorua, Dansey was an engineer and Māori All Black who enlisted in 1914 with the 500-strong “Native Contingent.”

The opera traces his journey from the early days at Gallipoli, where Māori soldiers were sidelined as entertainers or trench-diggers, to his moment of defiance when he refused an order that would endanger his men. Branded a deserter and sent home in disgrace, he eventually returned with the Pioneer Battalion and rose to Major.

In-studio was Māori-American baritone David Tahere, who is portraying Captain Dansey in Mate Ururoa.