JEROME KAVANAGH POUTAMA

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Puoro Jerome

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Ngāti Maniapoto -  Matakore

Mōkai Pātea 

Ngāti Rangi - Awa Whanganui

Ngāti Tūwharetoa

Ngāti Kahungunu iwi (Māori)

Caomhánach (Irish)

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Grammy award winning Taonga Puoro Māori practitioner/composer/artist Jerome Kavanagh Poutama (Puoro Jerome) hails from the iwi of Ngāti Maniapoto - Matakore, Mōkai Pātea, Kahungunu, Ngāti Rangi - Awa Whanganui, Tūwharetoa (Māori) as well as Caomhanach (Irish) clan.

Through the teachings of his whānau and hapū, he was first introduced to Taonga Puoro by his Kuia who showed him a Pupurangi as a young child. As a 14-year-old his Aunty showed him a Kōauau which he naturally learnt to play. He developed his own unique playing style by walking his whenua close to the Ruahine Ranges, spending time listening and mimicking native bird calls with his voice.

After relocating from his rural tribal area to the city as a youth, Jerome battled with depression and several suicide attempts. To aid him in his recovery Jerome’s whānau guided him back home again to nature. It was here that he began his healing journey through the power of Taonga Puoro.

“The sound of the Koauau drew me out of the darkness and back into the light again.”

Over the past 21-years Jerome has become a full-time, independent Taonga Puoro practitioner and has come to be one of the most prolific providers of Puoro in Aotearoa with his show POWER TO THE PUORO. Jerome’s consistency and innovation in weaving Taonga Puoro back into the fabric of society is a continuation of the pathway forged by the late Dr. Hirini Melbourne and the Haumanu Collective. 

Jerome is a featured artist, co-writer and lyricist on the two-time Grammy award-winning album Calling All Dawns for his track "Kia Hora te Marino" recorded at Abbey Road studios, with the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Some of his collaborations include Christopher Tin, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Stan Walker, Moana and the Tribe, Daniel Beddingfeild, Hayley Westenra, Joler Gaan (Bangladesh), Kevin Mark Trail (The Streets) UK, Small Island Big Song, Lachlan Anderson, Drax Project, Louis Baker, Ria Hall, Neil MacLeod, Salina Fisher & Auckland Philharmonic and NZ Symphony Orchestra.

Jerome is an established Composer of Taonga Puoro music for film, television series and commercial campaigns both in Aotearoa and internationally. Most recently Jerome has taken on his first role as main composer for "I am the River The River is Me'' (2024) a Dutch/Norwegian production which partnered with the Iwi of Awa Whanganui to celebrate and highlight the first river in the world to gain human status. This is the first ever feature film in history to have exclusively Taonga Pūoro as the score. He was co-composer for The Dead Lands Series (2020) [Shudder USA/TVNZ] and Rūrangi [Hulu/USA] which received an International Emmy Award in New York for Best Short-Form Series (2022).

His albums include ORO ATUA - Tangaroa a Roto (2023) and ORO ATUA Puoro Māori (2017). In early 2022 he released ORO ATUA KI TE AO a podcast on the healing practices of Taonga Puoro in modern times.

Jerome has taken Taonga Puoro to the world representing Aotearoa at some of the world's most prestigious music venues. He has performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House and the British Museum. He has toured with Small Island Big Song playing at mega festivals throughout Spain, Germany and the Czech Republic and was a selected member of the New Zealand Art Delegation at the 11th Festival of Pacific Arts in the Solomon Islands.

Over the past decade, he and his whānau of Taonga Puoro, named Te Tini aa Haa have  developed and brought innovation to the world of Taonga Puoro as the creator of the ORO ATUA. This utilizes and revives the Rongoā Māori ancestral practice of sound therapy in response to generational trauma for his people in a modern time. He has shared the ORO ATUA extensively around Aotearoa in marae, wānanga, schools, universities and for team building/hauora events within businesses. Jerome has also toured the ORO ATUA throughout Australia, Europe, UK, Indonesia and the USA. 

In 2022 Jerome was awarded a research grant through the Health Research Council of New Zealand to hold wānanga and gather research on the positive effects of Taonga Puoro for our people as Rongoā Māori. 

Jerome was appointed as the 2022 Composer-in-Residence at New Zealand School of Music Te Koki, Victoria University with support from Creative New Zealand and The Lilburn Trust.  He received a prestigious Kawenata Award and was recognised by his Iwi Te Nehenehenui ngā hapū maha o Ngāti Maniapoto for Māoritanga Creative Artist of the Year.

At present he and his partner Ruiha Turner deliver their ORO ATUA Rongoa Puoro Wānanga throughout their Tūpuna rohe, under commission with Hauora Maori Te Whatu Ora, Health NZ. Alongside this, they are engaged in what will become the largest body of research for Taonga Puoro as Rongoā to date. Additionally, they bring their expertise and energy to the "Power to the Puoro Show", a live an interactive experience that shares the power of Taonga Puoro with communities far and wide.

The duo work in balance as taha wahine and taha tane, reviving the balanced practices of our Tūpuna.