Meet the 2025 Ockham Collective
We're thrilled to finally introduce you to the very talented bunch that are joining us on the Ockham Collective in 2025 (click on the links for more information).
Tom Knowles (Rongowhakaata) is an actor, musician and songwriter who has appeared as the titular ogre in Shrek: The Musical, as part of the Modern Māori Quartet, and in TV's The Brokenwood Mysteries. He couldn't make the launch last night as he was busy performing his new solo musical, ROADKILL: The Uber-cool Musical, in Dunedin. Written (by Tom) to be performed inside a van to only nine people a time, it recently won the Most Innovative Work award at the NZ Fringe Festival.
Hinekoia Tomlinson (Ngāti Hine, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Awa) is a singer, performer and the founder of Waiata Mai, which offers vocal coaching rooted in te ao Māori. Says Hinekoia, "Think vocal training fused with aroha, voice science and the transformative power of waiata." Hinekoia has an honours degree in music and holds a qualification in voice physiology as an Estill Master Trainer.
Bridget van der Zijpp comes to us hot off the heels of co-curating HamLit, a new literary festival as part of the Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora Ki Kirikiriroa. She's also the author of three novels and has served as both programmer and artistic curator for the Auckland Writers Festival. She's brimming with ideas of literary-related events to bring to the Nix.
Leea Lamatoa (Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa, Te Aupōuri) is a voice specialist and music educator. She's also the regional director of To The Front: Tāmaki Makaurau, a youth programme run by Girls Rock! Aotearoa which encourages participants to learn instruments, form bands, write original songs and perform live, all guided by musicians and industry professionals.
Virginia Frankovich is a theatre maker, community arts facilitator and creative arts therapist. She has already kicked off a series of creative wellbeing workshops at the Nix, as profiled here.
Tim Bern started out as a jazz musician and teacher before moving into band management, sync licensing and ultimately launching a music platform called DISCO in Los Angeles. DISCO has become the international standard, transforming music catalogue management and creative workflows for industry professionals. He also runs Familiar Strangers, a rotating collective of creative types with a similar kaupapa to ours.
Rachel Fuller is no stranger to the Ockham Collective having already brought several events to the Nix under the banner of the NZ Voice Programme (of which she's the co-director, alongside her wife and 2024 OC creative Catrin Johnsson). Rachel's an accomplished pianist and cellist who has played with the NZSO and Chamber Music NZ, and she has worked as an accompanist, répétiteur and vocal coach at various European opera houses. She currently teaches piano and chamber music at the University of Auckland.
Jamie Irvine may be familiar to you from the recent feel-good smash-hit Kiwi movie Tinā, but don't hold that against him. He's nowhere near as nasty as that in real life, or as dim as his recurring character in The Brokenwood Mysteries. Jamie has taught acting at South Seas Film and Television School and worked as programme manager at Script to Screen. He plans to spend his time on the Ockham Collective running classes for actors and directors.
During their year on the Ockham Collective, our creatives are provided with the use of beautiful spaces in which to write, plan, rehearse, teach, perform, run workshops and host events.
Says Ockham Collective director Peter Dragicevich, "We're continuing to change and evolve the programme as we go along, and this year we've tightened the intake to eight great creatives. Music is well represented this year, with some actors and writers added to the mix to spice things up. There are plenty of new things coming our way, from acting classes to creative wellbeing workshops, to musical offerings targeted specifically to Māori and youth. It's promising to be another bumper year."
