Singer on a roll for Maori Language Week

Maori music and language are having a renaissance and singer-songwriter Rob Ruha is part of the movement.

Ruha performs a one-off show tonight leading The Pūtawa Collective at The Piano during the Christchurch Arts Festival.

Rob Ruha is performing during the Christchurch Arts Festival.

The concert is part of an action-packed Māori Language Week (Te Wiki o te Reo Māori) for Ruha, who attended the Auckland premiere of Disney's te reo version of the hit movie Moana on Monday. On Friday he will be in Hastings for the Waiata Māori Music Awards.

The award-winning Māori musician was musical director for the new translation of Moana and travelled to Disney Studios in Los Angeles to be part of mixing the new soundtrack. It was an "awesome" project to be involved with, he says.

"The Auckland premiere release was overwhelming, to see the response of the kids cheering, and laughing and clapping all on cue, it's a reflection of the new generation of young tamariki and rangatahi that are being brought up with Māori as their first language."

He was responsible for translating all 11 songs in the movie from English to te reo Māori, arranging the choir parts and teaching them to the cast, and then helping them through the recording process.

He performs in te reo himself and his music crosses musical genres of roots, reggae, blues and jazz fusion, underpinned by traditional tribal rhythms. He has performed extensively internationally, particularly in the United States, and says it is always to capacity crowds. "New Zealand has a reputation for good music and Māori music included."

Ruha leads The Pūtawa Collective featuring Tyna Keelan (The Nok) and Mike Barker (Swamp Thing) tonight, and he says it will be a special show.

The te reo version of Moana goes on general release on Saturday, 16 September.