Atmospheric Songs by the Sea at Duncan Pavilion on Saturday

Elizabeth de Vegt (pictured) and Elise Goodge team up for Songs by the Sea on Saturday evening. Photos / Supplied

Two unique talents combine on Saturday when Elise Goodge and Elizabeth de Vegt share their musical gifts in Songs by the Sea, in association with the Whanganui Winter Wonderfest 2022.

With voices, piano, guitar and taonga puoro, the duet will sing, play and harmonise their way through an evening's entertainment at the Duncan Pavilion.
Music, refreshments and good company, all set against the backdrop of and accompanied by the ocean. It is guaranteed to be an atmospheric event.

Elizabeth and Elise have been supporting Winter Wonderfest, the Whanganui Women's Network-facilitated midwinter celebration, for several years now, adding unique concerts to the festival itinerary and using non-traditional concert locations to make each event extra special and unique.

"We had such a wonderful response to our Rakaunui - Full Moon Duets concert during the last Winter Wonderfest that I was quite keen to do something again. What can we do that's different? That's when we settled on the seaside location and theme," says Elizabeth.

The concert's ocean backdrop inspired the song choices for the evening, including originals, covers and traditional moteatea.

Elise Goodge (pictured) and Elizabeth de Vegt team up for Songs by the Sea on Saturday evening. Photos / Supplied

"An eclectic set," says Elise. One of the songs, originally written in the Gaelic language, Elise has translated into te reo Maori and will perform the song in both languages. "My ancestors were islanders, a deep connection to the ocean is part of my DNA, it seemed fitting to perform a song in my ancestral tongue and the language of my adopted homeland," she says.

"There will be some of our repertoire we've played together quite a bit," says Elizabeth, "Originals we've worked on together, Elise's originals, my originals, and some songs we've worked together with our other band.

"The music we make together is greater than the sum of its individual parts."

She says they've snuck in a song or two from the recent album release Flow - Beautrais x de Vegt, that features compositions using lyrics from Airini Beautrais' collection Flow - Whanganui River Poems. The album will also be available to purchase at the concert.
"Winter is a time of year when it is easy to self-isolate, it's cold, and hard to go out and drag yourself away from the fire; but actually, it's a time of year when it is more important than ever that people come together," says Elise.

"It's also good to be able to support Carla, because she's always so encouraging," says Elizabeth. "She creates such wonderful events for our community that help us stay connected."

The Details
What: Songs by the Sea
When: Saturday, August 13, 7.30pm - doors open at 7pm.
Where: Duncan Pavilion - Rangiora St, Whanganui
Tickets: $15 plus booking fee through Under the radar, or $20 on the door. Refreshments included.