Hamilton family. Photo supplied.‘Flautist flouts her talents’ was the sub-headline of an Ashburton Guardian article written about Nicola West when she was selected as a flute player for the New Zealand Youth Orchestra in 1999. I found the article (or at least part of it) while going through some archived College material and although that headline was a bit banal, it reminded me how very talented a musical pupil Nicola had been throughout her College years and beyond.

I recently tracked Nicola to Waipukurau where she is living, working and raising a family with her husband Angus on a 4 acre rural lifestyle block.

After leaving College at the end of 1997, Nicola began studying at Victoria University and graduated after four years with a Bachelor of Music majoring in Performance Flute, and a BA honours in Musicology. Her original plan was to become a professional orchestral musician but she soon realised that she wasn’t interested in the very intense, competitive environment that would come with that choice of lifestyle. She therefore decided to go Teachers College and train to become a Secondary School Music teacher.

Nicola graduated from Teachers College and went straight into the role of Head of Music at Central Hawkes Bay College in Waipukurau at the tender age of 23. She stayed there for 14 years, taking time out in 2007 when daughter Erica was born and then again in 2009 when son Cameron arrived. Nicola’s interest in Special Education grew when Cameron was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and she moved into this field of education in 2017. Since then, Nicola taught at Kowhai Special School in Hastings and a special needs unit at Havelock North College. During this time music has been integral to her teaching. She had several non-verbal students in her class and music was the most effective way they could communicate their emotions. She found this work extremely rewarding and music is also an important tool in regulating Cameron’s behaviour. Nicola is currently employed as a Learning Support Coordinator servicing a number of schools in Central Hawkes Bay.

She was recently recognised for the hefty contributions she has made to her local musical community by being made a life member of the Waipawa Music and Dramatic Society. She counts this as “a real honour”. She has taken choirs, chamber music groups, concert bands etc and is generally found in the orchestra’s pit, though she did debut on stage in the role of Maria in the ‘Sound of Music’ in 2017, a role which she called “an amazing experience”. She also continues to play the flute or the piano for community concerts.

When asked how she thinks her College years helped shape the person she has become, she expressed her true appreciation for the many diverse experiences during her five years there. Nicola considers those years as “possibly the most productive and successful years” of her life so far. She was “able to develop her passion for music” and when she talks about her childhood with her kids to make them understand the meaning of hard work, she is surprised that “rather than considering me an old fossil, my daughter is actually inspired by my stories!”

Nicola was herself inspired by her music teacher of four years, Robert Aburn. She was a member of the Phoenix Chorus for four years under Robert’s direction and he accompanied Nicola for her flute exams and recitals and in her final year at College, was also her piano teacher. Two Phoenix Choir tours to Australia were regarded by Nicola as major musical highlights. Ken Pow was also an important influence as he sparked Nicola’s interest in the German language and towards the end of 1997 she travelled to Germany along with Mr Pow and others from the College in a German exchange programme. She continued to take German through to University level.

Nicola, though very busy with family and work, enjoys runs with the family’s dog Lexi, their Golden Retriever, supporting her kids in their endeavours and going on family bike rides. 

Music certainly does transcend all and Nicola has experienced that major therapeutic role in her life, not only for herself but for her family and the wider community.

Bt Shirley Falloon © AshColl Alumni - June 2020

Annelise Diamond and her partner James Conti want justice for Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others who have died at the hands of police in America. Photo supplied.Escalating protests may well strike fear into the hearts of Americans, but that fear is no different to what many feel on a daily basis.

So says Annelise Diamond of Ashburton, who is currently living in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States.

African Americans were used to being scared of being unfairly detained and ill-treated, and the recent killing of George Floyd was a case in point.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Diamond and her partner James Conti have penned onto a billboard, along with “Justice for Bre”.

The first is a quote from Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter From The Birmingham Jail, written after the civil rights activist was imprisoned following a peaceful protest in 1963.

The second refers to the Louisville shooting of emergency medical care worker Breonna Taylor in March as police executed a search warrant.

Diamond said she was proud to display the signs in her vehicle as she drove around Louisville, and believed it was important to support the protests.

“We are definitely not keeping silent,” she said.

Diamond said the couple were soon to be back in New Zealand, and she was proud of the fact protests had been held throughout her home country in support of the cause on Monday.

“I think the American justice system is broken, and it needs to be rebuilt,” she said.

The situation in Louisville had already been tense following Taylor’s death, and the death of Floyd had only made things worse.

Yesterday the situation was continuing to escalate, and she saw a military vehicle driving down the road and heard helicopters overhead.

And news had just come through of the Louisville Metro Police Chief being relieved of duty after it was revealed officers involved in a fatal shooting at protests on Monday had not activated their body cameras.

She believed protestors had mainly been peaceful, and were abiding by a 9pm curfew, however, police had been inflammatory.

“It’s not a ‘please go back home’, it’s like ‘I’m going to throw tear gas in your face until you turn the corner’.

“They are being quite violent towards the general public.”

Diamond said she had been talking to her American friends and they had remarked on how the things they were seeing around them was just like episodes from their history text books at high school, particularly the hard-line reaction to the Birmingham peaceful protests in 1963 led by King.

By Susan Sandys © The Ashburton Guardian - 3 June 2020

Nikita Christensen-Hyde and her husband, Simon Christensen, performing as ToPeace. Photo supplied.Music first wove its melodic way into Nikita Hyde-Christensen’s life when she was at primary school, and it has remained firmly there ever since.

“I started singing lessons when I was seven and did my first public performance at nine, after that I was hooked,” she said.

Early on it looked like the talented singer and guitar player was going to head down the country genre road, but she said after competing in numerous country music competitions she felt that pitting one artist against another was not for her.

“I am a lover of music and believe it should be enjoyable for everybody and not about I am better than you, so I stepped away from country music.”

At 17, Christensen formed a duo band with Ashburton’s Les Donaldson, but after a year the death of her father derailed her musical confidence and she found herself struggling with anxiety levels which made it impossible for her to perform in front of an audience in the same manner she always had.

“It all got too hard.

“I stopped singing and even put down my guitar.”

However, taking a complete break from music during this tough time was not something Christensen was up for, so she opted to be someone else instead.

“I got involved with the Variety Theatre Ashburton.

“I found I could go on stage as someone else.

“I played Sandy in Grease, but I couldn’t go on as Nikita anymore as I had too much anxiety for that.”

As the saying goes time is a great healer, and for Christensen that was true in part, but the confidence to pick up her guitar and microphone really came when she meet local band members Thomas Klever, Jonny Young, Daniel Wilson and drummer Simon Christensen, who asked her to join their covers band, Wishlist – and it turned out to offer her so much more than just music.

“When I first joined up with them, I remember thinking the drummer seemed pretty cool”.

Thankfully, that very same drummer thought Nikita was pretty cool too, and over time their friendship developed into something more, and just before the lockdown this year they tied the knot.

“Simon was an amazing help in getting me back performing.

“He told me that if I didn’t pick up my guitar and sing again, I would regret it and I am really grateful to him for that.”

Christensen said she remembers all the boys being really supportive and encouraging at her first rehearsal.

“They understood how hard it was for me.

“I knew this is what Dad would want me to be doing, and even now I sing songs that remind me of him.”

Thanks to Simon, Wishlist and Christensen’s own determination, her confidence bump was flattened out and life in the music world picked up its pace again.

A couple of years ago the couple made the hard decision to move to Christchurch to further their musical careers.

“We would love to be still living in Ashburton as we miss our families and friends, but at the moment it is just not possible.”

The pair play together in their duo band, ToPeace, with Christensen on guitar and vocals and her husband accompanying her on drums.

Wishlist is still going strong, with Thomas Klever and Jonny Young being swapped out for Daniel Hitchens and Ben Crosson.

Either as a duo, or as a part of the band, Christensen can be found playing a mixture of private gigs and public ones in popular nightspots in Christchurch, like The Carlton, The Bog and Boo Radleys.

Playing together might sound fun for a husband and wife duo, but it doesn’t come without its moments, Christensen said with other band members known to roll their eyes when the pair bicker in a manner in which only a married couple can.

“On the flipside, we know each other really well, and can read each other musically and that makes for a great sound.”

In recent time, family commitments have meant Simon cannot always play mid-week, so Christensen has put her hand up to form a duo with Christchurch muso Jimmy McLaughlin – adding to any already busy schedule.

A couple of standout career moments come to mind for Christensen.

First is being part of Ashburton’s Christmas in the Park and playing front of such a huge crowd and also her involvement with musical theatre.

“Sandy in Grease was my favourite role, I enjoyed getting to character and pretending to be someone I’m not.”

Due to Covid-19 restrictions the immediate future for live music is a bit up in the air.

There are plenty of bookings for next wedding season and her duo combinations have some bookings coming in but it all depends on when things get back to normal.

“We can’t do anything about it, just wait it out and see what happens.”

Christensen while she enjoyed the slower pace of lockdown and how it provided more time spend with family, but she’s had enough downtime now.

“I just want to get back out there and play.”

All the bands Christensen is involved with are covers bands, she has however been dabbling in writing her own music as well.

Currently she has around 14 of her own songs that she is not sure what she will do with.

“Covers make money and originals cost money, so I’ll wait and see what the economy does first.”

“At our wedding I sang one of my own songs, Rainbow, for my dad. I thought it was a fitting I sing it in my wedding dress, as I wasn’t able to do a father-daughter dance with him.”

By Heather Mackenzie © The Ashburton Guardian - 3 June 2020