The 2026 APRA Silver Scroll Awards ceremony was a night to remember in more ways than one; an epic, swinging 100th birthday celebration for APRA NZ and a celebration of the cultural diversity that makes NZ music special. Attendees enjoyed ensemble performances of epic proportions from a diverse array of musicians. 

Curtains rise on the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, evocatively lit in red as they give a stirring pōwhiri welcome. They step back as Majic Paora comes on stage to deliver a soulful rendition of her waiata Taku Mana.

As she exits, the deep tones of Ngulmiya Nundhirribala’s didgeridoo resonate, followed by a traditional Aboriginal song sung in his fragile yet powerful voice. Torres Strait singer Zipporah Corser-Anu then takes centre stage, backed by Dimple Bhani on a traditional Torres Strait Island drum. Closing off the international-flavoured opening, Island Vibes sing joyfully in Tongan. 

The 61st Silver Scroll awards are underway at Auckland’s Kiri Te Kanawa theatre, which provides an ideal formal setting for this multicultural evening. 

Though all call Aotearoa home, the finalists for the 2026 Silver Scroll also represented a diversity of ethnic backgrounds including Samoan group LEAO and Hawaiian-born R&B artist Deva Mahal.

LEAO won the night’s main award for Lalelei, a feel good slice of upbeat neo-psychedelia laced with dreamy pedal steel and sung in Samoan – a first in the celebrated trophy’s history. The song title translates as ‘beautiful’, and the poetic lyrics are a love letter to Samoa. 

“I never thought that music that we make would be recognised on that level,” said David Fauei-Afaese, the lead singer of Leao, who was very emotional upon receiving the award. “It’s such a privilege to be able to push the boat out for our younger Pasifika musicians who might have always wanted to play in a band, or make music that’s a bit different to the norm.” 

The audience were very enthusiastic about Lalelei, the cheer that rose up when Neil Finn announced the winner was momentous. Earlier in the ceremony each of the five Silver Scroll award finalists got a moment to shine with stellar cover versions performed by an ensemble of top-tier musicianship. A.R.T had given a stunning rendition highlighted by beautifully warm three-part harmonies, receiving the loudest applause of any of the finalist songs’ cover version performances. 

Fauei-Afaese was very impressed. “I think A.R.T. performed that song better than we did!” he said. “I just had the biggest grin on my face. Beyond just the privilege of having our song covered, seeing our own people on stage was such a privilege.”

Māori/Samoan R&B /soul artist Jordyn with a Why delivered Troy Kingi and MĀ’s song Afters with plenty of swagger. Indie pop/rock four-piece Borderline transformed Aldous Harding’s One Stop from a moody pop song into an epic rock anthem, with strong vocals from frontman Ben Glanfield giving the song a fresh twist. Fazed on a Pony’s Wrong Party was dressed up in sweet harmonies in an energetic performance by Voom.

Stunningly sung by Lisa Tomlins, Deva Mahal’s soulful power ballad, Someone’s Daughter, is a tearjerking tribute to Breonna Taylor. Mahal was touched by the Silver Scroll finalist recognition, but pointed out that awards sit well outside of the creative process.

“As a black artist here in Aotearoa, there’s not a lot of us, so to write a song about a black female who was murdered in the US is an interesting place to be. But I live here. I’m a black artist in Aotearoa, and these are things that affect my daily life.

“When I wrote this song I didn’t really care if anybody liked it. When I finished the song, I said, ‘If nobody listens to it, I don’t care,’ because that’s not what it was for. This song was meant for something bigger than an award. But now that people have got behind it, it makes me feel proud, like I did something good.”

A new addition to the other annual awards celebrated was the new Kapa Haka award, Rob Ruha becoming the first winner for his performance waiata Te Tapuni. The 2022 APRA Silver Scroll and three-time Maioha award winner said he found this win extra special.

“I do commercial music for a living and I love it, but I’ve been doing kapa haka all my life, with my family, with my closest friends… it’s a life passion of mine.”

Husband-wife duo Aro won the Maioha award for their playfully upbeat tune Puna Ora. Emily Looker talks passionately about the song.

“It’s my favourite track off of our new album because it captures the essence of the album very beautifully. It’s a celebration of where this album writing started from, which is following our kids’ lead.”

“This song is a good representation of where we’d like to go as a tiriti couple,” adds her husband Charles Looker. “Like, how do we pay homage to both our whakapapa while still being modern and contemporary. I think Puna Ora captures some of our initial experiment.”

He is especially proud to have his name on the trophy alongside Ruia Aperahama. “He came to our school when I was still in high school, and did some workshops and encouraged me with my voice. To see my name on the same plate that his name is written is pretty cool!”

Alongside celebrating the finalist and winners, the evening was celebrating the incredible milestone of 100 years of APRA. The audience enjoyed touching videos throughout the evening featuring past Silver Scroll footage, and birthday wishes to APRA from prominent members. The centenary added an additional consideration to the task of pulling the annual show together. 

“Because it was 100 years, we leaned on the ethos of ‘standing on the shoulders of giants,’” explained the show’s musical director Godfrey de Grut (a Silver Scroll Award winner himself in 2002 along with Che Fu for Misty Frequencies).

“We are the sum of all our listening and music experiences; older generations mentored us and, in turn, we are mentoring the youth. We always aim to represent as many facets of Aotearoa music as possible, a wide variety of genres and artists that span different generations at different stages of their careers. It’s best if those in the APRA audience can see something of themselves on stage, I believe.”

The In-Memoriam performance, commemorating APRA and music industry members who have past, provided another standout. Featuring the soulful vocals of Nikau Grace, Manjit Singh on tabla, Lun Zheng on guzheng (a traditional Chinese harp) and a string quintet, the ensemble delivered an unusual and sureally meditative rendition of The Relaxomatic Project’s track At the Onset.

de Grut said that this ensemble felt like the biggest risk when he put it together. “I’m a fan of bands, and drums especially, so presenting the In Memoriam without drums and only having tabla as the percussion element was a bit scary and exposed for me, but you have to embrace new challenges!”

Embracing new challenges was a definite theme of the evening – be that challenging arrangements of familiar songs, the honouring of our country’s many cultural facets, groundbreaking firsts, or the colossal task of putting together such an award show. In every case,those challenges were risen to and overcome triumphantly.