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Sharing the gift of music

Tuesday 13 December 2022 | Written by Melina Etches | Published in Culture, Entertainment, Features, Local, National

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Sharing the gift of music

Motivated to leave a legacy behind, the ambitious, vivacious and talented recording artist, Cook Islander Vaniva Tixier has released six albums of CD’s all in one hit.

In just three months, while stuck in the Covid-19 lockdown in Melbourne, Tixier produced and recorded the albums in her own “Tixier Studios”.

“I have been super laser focused completely on this mission and I thought now is the time for me to do it,” said Tixier, who would complete between three to four songs a night. Apart from singing and producing the music, she would also design and photograph the covers as well as work on the artwork and logo.

The albums feature a combination of family compositions, originals and classics, reaching across traditional and modern sounds.

Vaniva Tixier (right), her mother Anna and sister Viani perform at the launch of her six albums. Picture: CREATORS HYPE/22111104
Vaniva Tixier (right), her mother Anna and sister Viani perform at the launch of her six albums. Picture: CREATORS HYPE/22111104

Tixier used a genre of music styles like zouk, jazz and opera to complement Cook Islands Maori sounds to produce a blend of Cook Islands, Tahitian, Gospel, Christmas and English songs.

Blessed to be born into a musically gifted family, the 32-year-old is the youngest of three siblings to parents who were both teachers – the late composer/singer Tom Tixier, and Anna.

Raised in an English-speaking home, she was always eager to learn Maori “because it’s part of our identity and our culture”.

The popular island song Kua iti te marama composed by her father and the late Turepu in the 1970s, features in one of her albums. She sang the song in her own musical style.

“Music has always been dear to our family, and I don’t want to take my gifts and talents for granted,” said Tixier.

Encouraged by her mother Anna, Tixier included Gospel songs in her albums.

“There is a high demand for Gospel music and already it is the number one seller and I feel encouraged to one day contribute more to the Gospel scene,” said Tixier.

“There’s more than enough for people to enjoy, I specifically created the albums to reach across the generations and to inspire future generations to never give up on their language.”

Producing the albums from scratch while working in real estate as a property manager “has definitely been a fun journey”, said Tixier.

“This is one way for me to contribute to our culture, and its lovely to tick this off.”

Tixier created all her own beats with the exception of her nine-year-old son Tom who plays the ukulele on the tracks.

“Every sound you hear I have designed and it’s exactly what I wanted it to be, down to every guitar lick you hear to the key board.

“And the warrior like chanting sounds where people may get overwhelmed, the chants, the opera style is all me.”

Always buzzing with ideas, when she is not listening to her own music, Tixier listens to Arabian fusion, Spanish, zouk, afro house and reggae.

The demand for her albums has been quite overwhelming and she is very grateful and thankful to everyone for their support.

Tixier launched her albums on Rarotonga last month and is grateful to the support and sponsorship from Trish Barton, Mo Newport, Ra Tangaroa and Max Cummings, Terai Joseph and photographer Jaiah Arai of Creative Hype.

She also travelled to Tahiti with her mother and sister Viani and family to launch her albums performing in Moorea, Bora Bora and Raiatea.

Settling in again back home after the tour, she will be performing at the Rotaract Christmas in the Park event tomorrow at the National Auditorium.

Tixier has more music including originals coming out in the new year.

“Anything is possible if you care enough.”

Vaniva Tixier Albums are now available for purchase on all (over 20+) online platforms including iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, etc.

The beautiful limited edition CDs are also available for purchase for the special price of $100 for the complete set of six or $20 for one album. Next year the prices will permanently retail at $150 for all six albums and $30 for each. For more information contact 74842.