There's too much going on. Fashion Week just finished and Rugby World Cup hasn't even kicked off yet. But even today, at 11am Mayor Len Brown opened the newly renovated Auckland Art Gallery to the public. Full of amazing new spaces and beautiful views over to Albert Park. It is definitely worth a visit as soon as possible. Especially today, as the Gallery is open until 10pm, and has a number of performances and activities.

Then at 3.30 over in Aotea Square, the All Blacks are officially receiving their World Cup caps. Get there early to see Hollie Smith performing!

A new CD arrived here at Auckland Libraries yesterday: Rucks, tries & choruses : the history of NZ rugby... in song. It includes a track by George Nepia, the All Blacks hero of the 1930s, and also a recording artist. Chris Bourke, who recently won the NZ Post Book Award for Blue Smoke, writes a great piece about him here.

So here are my favourite for Rugby World Cup anthems:

This is very exciting and very FREE. Check out the Press Release:

Independent Music New Zealand, the New Zealand Music Commission and the Music Managers’ Forum are thrilled to announce the Going Global Music Summit which is running in Auckland and Wellington as part of the REAL New Zealand Festival.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:
If you are looking to take your music overseas, come and hear from people who are working with both new and established artists on the global stage.

DELEGATES APPEARING:
Natalie Judge (UK) - Matador Records UK
Jen Long (UK) - BBC6 New Music DJ/Programmer
Paul Hanly (USA) - Frenchkiss Records USA
Dick Huey (USA) - Toolshed
Adam Lewis (USA) - The Planetary Group, Boston
Graham Ashton (AUS) - Footstomp /BigSound
Will Larnach-Jones (AUS) - Parallel Management

THE EVENTS:
Auckland: Monday 12th September - Free Entry
Seminars, Noon - 5pm: VIP Room, The Cloud, Queens Wharf
Live Music Showcase, 6pm-10:30pm: Shed10, Queens Wharf Featuring: Collapsing Cities / The Sami Sisters / Zowie / The Vietnam War / Ghost Wave / Bang Bang Eche! / The Stereo Bus / Seth Haapu / The Transistors / Computers Want Me Dead

Wellington: Wednesday 14th September - Free Entry Seminars, Noon - 5pm: : Wharewaka, Wellington Waterfront Live Music Showcase, 6pm-10:30pm: San Francisco Bath House featuring: Beastwars / Cairo Knife Fight / Glass Vaults / Iva Lamkum / The Eversons / Family Cactus

Read more: http://www.undertheradar.co.nz/utr/more/NID/3910/Going-Global-Music-Summit-Announced.utr#ixzz1VnMGT8jv

Have you recorded music that you would like to share with others? Here is a brief overview of some of the many websites enabling musicians to make their recordings available online for streaming, purchase, or download.

One of the best new sites of recent times is Bandcamp, which enables musicians/bands to make their music available for free download or (with options for the artist or fan to name a price). Bandcamp charge 10% of profits made by the artist, but the service they offer is more than worth it: all in all it is a great concept.

If a classic website is more what you’re after, Flavors.me is reputedly good for setting up a simple page for little cost, and 1st Domains NZ offers reasonable priced domain names which can 'host' any other site you wish to be your band's main landing page.

Consider setting up a musician/band 'page' on Facebook. While it offers little aesthetic charm or mystique, its attraction lies in its connectedness to almost every member of the public. While it requires having a personal account, you can interact solely as your musician/band name, proving useful for announcing shows or spreading news. BandPage allows you to stream music via Soundcloud on your Facebook page, and has a user-friendly function for adding any upcoming shows.

Blogging site Tumblr is great for posting music news in more detail, and gives room for creative license on the ‘look’ of the page. Some Tumblr layouts resemble websites rather than blogs, and can be customised to act as fixed, editable landing pages where the public can find out more about a musician/band. Embeddable players from Bandcamp or Soundcloud are compatible for streaming.

Amplifier.co.nz has supported New Zealand music for many years now and continues to provide an excellent service to both purchasers and local players of music. Check out their Artist Services information on uploading music and more to their site.

Another NZ business, Marbecks, have recently launched an online store, where artists can make their music available for purchase through their My Music portal.

Lastly, and in a somewhat more local and tangible context, we suggest Auckland musicians who have self-produced recordings (ie. not signed to a major record label) submit their music to the 'Made in Auckland' display, found beside the music section on the first floor of the Auckland Central library.

Check out our website here for more info on Made in Auckland.

Regarded by many as the father of NZ classical music, we were delighted to hear that the manuscript score of his Overture: Aotearoa was recently registered with UNESCO, for inclusion as part of New Zealand's 'Memory of the World'.

In his biography of the composer, Philip Norman describes the work as 'the first contemporary orchestral composition to enter the national psyche', perhaps because it so unconsciously reflects the rugged beauty and expansiveness of our country.

We've also recently received a new book to mark the 10th anniversary of his death. A search for tradition: & a search for a language, two talks in which Lilburn describes 'with astounding clarity the uncertainties and demands of a creative life,…worked out in the totally new context of these islands'.

If you'd like to find out more about Douglas Lilburn, you can visit:

Last weekend brought the tragic death of Amy Winehouse, one of the most talented performers of the last decade. Q magazine described her thus:

Billie Holiday crossed with ball-busting rapper Eve, Camden’s Amy Winehouse is easily the most entertaining product of the Sylvia Young stage school – admittedly she was expelled for not applying herself. Instead she immersed herself in jazz, hip hop and soul, and for her debut album comes out fighting like a vintage diva with an attitude problem.

It is tragic that her reputation for drug use almost outweighed her amazing talent. But listening to her albums makes you realise how important she was in bringing good soul/R&B back into mainstream popularity.

Read interviews & reviews in Rock's Backpages, through the Digital Library.

And check out her albums here.

Transport yourself to the glitz and glamour of Broadway, courtesy of Auckland Libraries!

We have a great range of musicals on DVD and CD to suit every taste, from the classics of Jerome Kern and Cole Porter (Showboat, High Society), ever-popular favourites by Andrew Lloyd-Webber (Cats, Phantom of the Opera), to the wit and realism of Stephen Sondheim- perfect entertainment for the long winter evenings.

Fancy singing along? Why not browse the vocal scores, great if you can't quite remember all the words!

If you're interested in exploring musical theatre in more depth, we also have a wide range of books and e-resources.

Some I'd recommend:

In the meantime, here's a little something to put you in the mood: