Chronology of achievements

2017 June - Opetaia Foa'i is awarded the "Special Recognition award for Outstanding Achievement" at the Pacific Music Awards

2017 June - Olivia Foa'i wins "Best Pacific Language song" at the Pacific Music Awards

2017 May - Julie Foai wins the "International Achievement" Award at the MMF Music Managers awards in Auckland

2017 January - "Moana" is nominated for 2 Oscars.

2016 December - New Zealand Premiere of "Moana".

2016 November - Te Vaka attends the World Premiere of "Moana" in Hollywood and surprises the star-studded audience with a live performance of 3 songs from the movie at the "El Capitan theatre". Opetaia goes on to London to perform "We know the way" solo at the red carpert event.

2016 October - All past and present Te Vaka singers fly to LA to record vocals for "Moana".

2016 June - Amataga wins the "Best Pacific Music Album" award (the Tui) in the Recorded Music New Zealand awards and the APRA "Best Pacific Song" award in the Pacific Music Awards.

2016 April - Amataga is a finalist in 4 categories of the Pacific Music Awards

2016 March - Opetaia is a finalist in the ISC with a track from the Amataga Album

2015 October - Opetaia's Te Vaka tour to North America

2015 September - The 8th Te Vaka album Amataga is released

2015 August - Opetaia and Te Vaka perform at Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim, USA where it is announced to the world that Opetaia is on the songwriting team for "Moana"

2013 December - Opetaia Foai signs a contract with Walt Disney Pictures to write songs for the Disney animated feature film "Moana"together with Lin Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) and Mark Mancina (Lion King, Tarzan) 

2012 May - "Lovely World" from the "Havili" album wins second place in the world music category of the ISC awards

2012 April - "Havili" is a finalist in 2 categories for the Pacific Music Awards.

2011 October- "Havili" is No. 1 on the Canadian Worldbeat top 30 chart for October

2011 September - Te Vaka embarks on a 2 month tour of the USA

2011 August - "Havili" the 7th Te Vaka album is released

2011 February – Te Vaka wins Polynesian category of the Hawaiian Music awards for latest album “Haoloto”

2010 November - Te Vaka returns to New Caledonia for performances in Noumea and the Island of Lifou

2010 November – Te Vaka tours to the Solomon Islands for the first time

2010 July – Te Vaka embarks on a successful 6 week tour of North America

2010 May – Haoloto (the sixth Te Vaka CD) wins best Pacific Language Album

2010 May– Te Vaka wins Best Pacific Group Award in the Pacific Music Awards

2010 April – Haoloto is a finalst for 4 New Zealand music industry awards

2009 April – Te Vaka performs at the famous Byron Bay Blues and roots festival followed by a concert in the main Hall of the Sydney Opera House.

2009 December – the 6th Te Vaka album “Haoloto” is released to rave reviews

2009 June – Te Vaka flys to Europe for a short tour

2009 April - "Tamahana" written by Opetaia Foai and Malcolm Smith takes 1st place in the “World Music” category of the USA International Songwriting Competition (ISC)

2008 November – Te Vaka returns to New Caledonia for a performance at the Wela Papa Kiki Festival, in Noumea

2008 October – Te Vaka returns to Hawaii for a 2 week tour

2008 August - "Tamahana" written by Opetaia Foai and Malcolm Smith wins "International category" in the Australian Songwriters association Awards.

2008 August - Te Vaka wins " Best live performance of the night" at the Australian Songwriters Association Awards

2008 August – Te Vaka travels to China to represent the South Pacific with performances at The Olympic Games in Beijing

2008 July - Te Vaka performs at the Coronation of King George Tupou V in Tonga

2008 May 31st – Te Vaka wins a “Tui” for the latest Album “Olatia”

2008 May 31st – Te Vaka wins “ Best Pacific Band Award in the Pacific Music Awards

2008 March – Te Vaka tours to Asia performing in Hongkong, Macau and Taiwan

2007 December – Te Vaka headlines Australia’s largest folk festival – The Woodford folk festival

2007 October 13th and 14th - Te Vaka performs for the very prestigious Village
Rugbycolour stage in Paris representing New Zealand and the South Pacific musically at the Rugby World Cup in France

2007 October 4th - Te Vaka complete with new members Talaga Sale and Vasa Foai head to Europe

2007 September - ‘Olatia enters the European World music chart at No. 4

2007 July 3rd - The 5th Te Vaka album, Olatia is released.

2007 March 3rd - Opetaia and most of the band relocate to Australia

2006 October 20th - Te Vaka release their 2nd DVD to international acclaim

2006 June 10th - Te Vaka performs at the Suva stadium in Fiji

2006 March 20th - 26th - Te Vaka performs 4 times at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games

2006 March 17th - 19th - Sold out performances at the Brisbane Powerhouse in Australia

2005 November 25th - Te Vaka performs at the Waikiki Shell in Hawaii

2005 November 2nd - Opetaia Foai wins the "Senior Pacific Artist" award for his contribution to the Pacific arts.

2005 October & December - Te Vaka travels for the first time to French Polynesia for a show in Tahiti at the Toata Stadium and return again in December for a show in Bora Bora

2005 September 3 - 10th - Te Vaka return for a second show at Apia Park in Samoa. The promoters for the e

2005 August 24th - 27th - Te Vaka head to South Korea for 3 shows at the Peace festival beyond the DMZ.

2005 4th May – 15th May – Te Vaka tour to Hawaii. Performances in Maui, Honolulu and Hawaii (Big Island) sold out.

2005 March 31st - Opetaia Foa’i wins second place in the World Music category of the US International Songwriting competition (ISC) with his song “Samulai”

2005 Jan 13th Opetaia Foa’i is a finalist in the US International Songwriting competition with “Samulai” from the “Tutuki” Album and “Pate Pate” from the “Ki mua” album.

2004 September 18th -22nd - Te Vaka travels to Barcelona of 2 performance at the "International Forum of World Cultures"

2004 August 25th – The fourth Te Vaka album "Tutuki" wins “Best Pacific Music Album” in the New Zealand music industry awards

2004 July 6th - 13th - Te Vaka performs at the Rainforest Festival in Malaysia

2004 May - 4th Album Tutuki release date 27th May

2004 April - "Tamahana" video clip out

2003 June - August - Te Vaka complete their 6th successful tour of Europe and the UK

2003 - April 8th The Te Vaka Nukukehe album is a finalist for “Best roots Album” in the New Zealand music Industry awards - “The Tui’s”

2003 - January 22nd Te Vaka is nominated in the prestigious "Audience Award" Category of the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards making them one of the top four World Music groups in the world as voted by the people.

2002 - October 27th Te Vaka is nominated for a BBC Radio 3 World Music Award. The Awards Ceremony is a starstudded event held in London next March

2002 - August Te Vaka perform to an audience of more than 20,000 people at Apia Park in Western Samoa and return to Fiji for a sellour concert in Nadi. In most of the Pacific Te Vaka is the No.1 group.

2002 - May 31st "Nukukehe" the much awaited third Te Vaka album is
released.

2002 - May Tour to Hawaii - Te Vaka performs to full houses in Honolulu, Hilo and Maui. Maui News describes Te Vaka as...
"Adrenaline-powered, bare-midriffed, percussion-pulsed, infectiously happy, beautiful people
bringing ancient traditions into the modern world"

2002 - February/March Band leader Opetaia Foa'i goes
to Tuvalu to record some children's voices and to see for himself the
result of Global Warming on Tuvalu

2002 - February The third Te Vaka music video clip - the
'Pate Pate' radio remix goes to air.

2001 July- September Te Vaka arrives in Detroit for the Concert of Colors which is held every year at the famous Chene Park in Detroit. Te Vaka was the media icon group for the festival this year and was a favorite with the capacity crowds at the festival. They then headed off for Europe and the UK for the fifth year in a row and performed to sell out audiences in Germany, France, Italy and England before flying to Singapore for the very successful WOMAD festival. The Hawaiian tour planed for mid September had to be postponed until next year due to the terrorist actions in the USA. Te Vaka has to date performed in 25 countries worldwide.

2001 July 3rd Opetaia Foa'i gives an hour long Keynote speech at the TAONGA of the ASIA PACIFIC RIM International conference for music
educators and receives a standing ovation from the audience.

2001 - March Te Vaka performs in Tasmainia for the 10 days on an Island festival.

2000 November - Te Vaka is flown to The Hague by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Worldwide fund for nature for COP6 the United Nations conference on Global Warming and Climate change. The presence of the band in the Hague puts a face to the Islands of the South Seas that will be non -existent within the next 20 years if nothing is done about the toxic emissions from the bigger countries such as Europe and the USA. Te Vaka members are invited to be present during the talks in the Hague and take part in various demonstrations by Green Peace and the Worldwide fund for nature as well as performing several concerts for the people who are at the Hague from all over Europe for the conference.

2000 September - Te Vaka returns to New Zealand to start work on the third album

2000 July - Te Vaka performs at the WOMAD Festival in Seattle, winning many fans in the USA and many invitations to return

2000 May - August Te Vaka embarks on their fourth successful 12 week tour. Beginning in May with a sell out tour of Fiji, where Te Vaka has been at the top of the charts for some time, they continued on to Europe UK and America delighting and exciting audiences everywhere. New band member Karika Turua adds some powerful bass guitar while Sulata Foa'i Amiatu has rejoined the band to double the vocal power for this tour. Te Vaka has now performed in a total of 22 countries to date.

2000 7th - 12th May Te Vaka Fiji tour. Te Vaka performed to capacity audiences at Suva's national gym and the Morecambo in Fiji.
Tickets sold out well in advance and a third show had to be arranged at short notice in Suva as many people were unhappy they had been unable to get tickets and hundreds had been turned away.

2000 March - Te Vaka performs at the "New Zealand Festival 2000" in Wellington ans is one of the highlights of this Internationally acclaimed festival

2000 1st January -Te Vaka brings in the New Millennium for Auckland city with a 60 minute concert at Okahu Bay in Auckland

1999 December -"Ki mua" album on top 10 charts around the world with 'Pate Pate' getting airplay worldwide and coming in at number 3 on the top 99 of 1999 in Fiji.

1999 September -Te Vaka entertains the world leaders at the APEC ministerial dinner in Auckland on the 9th of September. The secretary of State Madeleine Albright could not resist the infectiousness of the music and was seen dancing the Siva and singing along to" Ika Ika" at the Ministerial dinner.

1999 June - September Te Vaka return to the UK and Europe for a highly successful 12 week tour to promote their second album resulting in many invitations and advanced bookings for 2000. The reputation of Te Vaka is spreading far and wide people from Estonia and Poland to Scotland and Wales are turning on and tuning in to the sound of the Pacific. Te Vaka has now performed in more than 20 countries around the world.

1999 - May "Ki mua" the second Te Vaka CD is released. Receiving stellar reviews and demands for the CD from all over the world.

1999 - April Second Te Vaka music video clip is made. Receiving good airplay on New Zealand Television and as far a field as Poland 1999 February - Te Vaka visit Australia for the first time performing at WOMADELAIDE. Described as ..."a superb band from New Zealand" they enchanted the crowd with a new and very exciting show.

1998 - October Te Vaka do their first performance in a Pacific Island at the Pacific Tempo festival in New Caledonia.

1998 September - Te Vaka open for Ringo Starr and the All Stars at a charity Pop concert in Surrey, England delighting the audience with a taste of the Pacific. The all stars included Peter Frampton, Gary Brooker(Procol Harum), Jack Bruce (Cream) And some of the other performers on the day were - Sir Bob Geldof, Mike and the Mechanics and Roger Taylor from Queen

1998 - May -September Te Vaka embarked on a 20 week tour of Europe and UK. After the first performance of the tour, at the WOMAD Festival in Caceres, Spain, to ecstatic audiences, Te Vaka was invited to record at Real World Studios for a release on the WOMAD Select label. The rest of the tour was overwhelmingly successful with many invitations to return.

1998 - March Show cased at the SXSW music/ media conference in Austin Texas resulting in many offers to return to America. Massive media interest - Te Vaka was singled out from 800 bands for Television, a one hour show on the radio plus a mention in the New York Times.

1997 - 1998 Tour of North and South Island of New Zealand - extremely successful, confirmed by the music industry throughout the South Pacific that Te Vaka is the most exciting original group to come out of the Pacific area. Demands for Te Vaka coming in from all over the world.

1997 - June - September The band embarked on their first 12 week tour of the UK and Europe stunning and exciting audiences everywhere. They were named the "stars" of the WOMAD festival in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, UK. The band now a 10 piece for touring - Opetaia, Sulata, Luavasa, Alana, Manase, Daniel, Andrew, Neil, Simon and Edwin as the permanent members of the band.

1997 - May First Te Vaka album entitled "Te Vaka" released in over 80 countries to worldwide acclaim making the top 10 on several worldmusic charts , receiving rave reviews from the USA , UK , Europe and New Zealand and becoming one of ARC music's all time best selling albums.

1997 - March Te Vaka performed at the first WOMAD festival in New Zealand with 14 piece band. Made a major impact on the public and music industry and received many offers to perform in New Zealand as well as internationally . 1997 "Papa e" video clip was made - receiving good airplay on NZ television.

1996 - 1997 Dancers Etueni Pita, Simona Hope, Triana Ama and David Hope joined along with Keyboardist/ producer Malcolm Smith and Lutila Kololo on backing vocals. The first Te Vaka album was completed and signed to ARC Music for worldwide distribution. Te Vaka continued to tour New Zealand. The group became acknowledged as the only band in New Zealand who could lay claim to "Original, Contemporary, Pacific Music".

1995 - 1996 Band members Manase, Foa'i, Daniel Foa'i, Alana Foa'i and Andrew Dukeson joined the group. Te Vaka toured New Zealand performing "Original, Contemporary Pacific Music" and dance to delighted and inspired audiences.

1994 The beginnings of Te Vaka. Core band members - Opetaia Foa'i, Vasa Foa'i, Neil Forrest & Sulata Foa'i. "Ki te la" was recorded with an excellent response from the music industry - internationally as well as nationally - a demand for more.