Coming together for music therapy

Media release                                                                                            

24 November 2009

Coming together for music therapy

It’s 40 years since John Lennon penned Come Together.

Now the song is connecting two of the country’s top musicians in a charity single recorded for the benefit of the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre.

Boh Runga and Che Fu have recorded the Beatles song in Auckland’s York Street Studios and it is due to be released by Sony Music on 30 November.

The single will be available at JB HiFi, Marbecks, Real Groovy and The Warehouse as well as digitally through digiRAMA, Telecom and Vodafone. Funds raised from its sale go to support the work of the Auckland-based Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre which delivers music therapy to children with special needs.

The song was originally written by John Lennon to support American psychologist Timothy Leary’s presidential campaign[1] It became a Beatles classic and was the opening track on the famous group’s Abbey Road album.

Boh, a patron of the charity, says it’s a great song that’s fun to sing.

"I've always liked the song Come Together, the strange, percussive lyrics and the great sing-a-long chorus” Boh says. “So when it was suggested as the charity single I was totally up for it. Che is an amazing talent who I have long wanted to perform with and finally I have the chance to sing with him for a cause that is dear to me."

Che says he is thrilled to be involved.

"I got to spend an afternoon at the RMTC with Boh, and what the staff do there for our young peeps is just magical. I'm stoked to be involved and am glad to be able to rock out a classic tune with Boh at the same time."

Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust chair Campbell Smith says the song was chosen by Supergroove vocalist and keyboard player Karl Steven who produced the single.

“We were looking for a song that had a good groove and which Boh and Che’s voices would suit and Come Together was one of Karl's suggestions,” Campbell says.

“The entire project has been one of fantastic cooperation between performers, musicians and the music industry. We’re extremely grateful for their help in not only giving of their time and funding but also helping to raise the profile of the work done by the centre.”

The single goes on sale on 30 November for $4.99 in physical format and $1.79 as a digital download. Sony and the music retailers are foregoing margins to ensure as much of the purchase price as possible goes to the benefit of the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre.

Boh has returned to L.A. but comes back to New Zealand in February to perform with Che on the More FM Winery Tour. The tour runs through 16 wineries and estates throughout New Zealand between 5 February and 6 March 2010.

About The Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre

The Centre provides music therapy for children of school age and younger. It is New Zealand’s first music therapy centre.

The idea grew from a Kiwi family’s experience of music therapy in the UK and, subsequently, the realisation there was a need to provide a similar service here.

Singer and songwriter Hinewehi Mohi, her husband George and daughter Hineraukatauri spent time at the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Centre in London in 1999.

Hineraukatauri has severe cerebral palsy. It was soon evident that therapy through music struck a chord for her. For the first time in her life, she had an opportunity to participate in and control an activity and to actually create something. Most important for Hineraukatauri, music became a means to communicate.

Upon their return to New Zealand, the family was determined to establish a music therapy centre here. The dream was realised with the opening in early 2004 of the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre in Auckland.

Currently there are four registered music therapists, a director and a centre administrator.  The work at the centre focuses primarily on children with special needs.
[1] http://www.beatleslyrics.eu/come-together.php

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