Music: Down-Under Robeson

The Maoris of New Zealand have produced great singing, but never a great singer. Their ancient love songs are still sung at tribal gatherings. Their traditional war dance (haka) is now used by New Zealand Rugby teams—and modern Maoris sometimes play it for laughs (see cut).

Last week came word from New Zealand that Maori musicality has at last produced a likely concert singer. Ini Te Wiata, 34, a logger with a resonant bass, has made such a hit with his countrymen (and with thousands of U.S. Marines in wartime New Zealand) that New Zealand’s Labor government decided to do something for him. This week he will board ship for three years at London’s Trinity College of Music, a $10,000 musical education at Government expense. New Zealanders, who suspect they have found a native Paul Robeson, do not intend to let his sweetness be wasted on the native bush.