Charlotte Yates

Charlotte Yates is a Wellington-based singer-songwriter who has released five albums of solo material to date. Her songs have been heard on television programmes Shortland Street, Jackson's Wharf and The Strip. Yates has also composed music for children's shows What Now? and Giggles.

The single, Red Letter, from her 1991 debut album Queen Charlotte Sounds, was an APRA Silver Scroll finalist. Yates also spent time alongside Jackie Clarke and Robin Nathan in comic musical group When the Cat's Been Spayed. The group toured, released two albums, and appeared on television commercials for Lotto.

From 1993 to 1996, Yates was based in Melbourne, where she studied Contemporary Music Technology and Composition at La Trobe University. During this period she was also director of the Melbourne Fringe Arts Festival for two years running.

Before returning to New Zealand, Yates recorded her second album, The Desire and the Contempt. It won the Singer-Songwriter category at the 1997 Wellington Music Awards.

Thirty of her lyrics were published in the 1999 book, One Lady Driver, the same year Yates appeared in the short film Rolling, Rolling. Her lyrics also feature in How You Doing, an anthology of NZ Comic Verse. 

A year later Yates co-ordinated and produced Baxter, a compilation CD of James K Baxter's poetry, set to music by Kiwi recording artists. The roll call ran to 12, including Dave Dobbyn, Emma Paki, Sam Hunt and Yates herself. Live performances of Baxter featured in the NZ Festival 2000, followed by arts festivals in Taranaki, Christchurch and Hamilton.

Yates has also toured extensively with fellow singer/songwriter Mahinarangi Tocker. In 2002, a live album of their concerts, Touring, was released. The live profile Yates developed with Tocker also opened doors. Following a performance at the Christchurch Arts Centre in 2000, they were approached to apply for the Centre's Artist-in-Residence scheme. Most of the tracks off her fourth album plainsong were written during Yates' two-month residency.

Yates was commissioned by Toi Maori Aotearoa to produce Tuwhare, a compilation CD which applied the Baxter format to the poetry of Hone Tuwhare. Tuwhare was released in May 2005, showcasing Tuwhare's words against a range of musical platforms, from rock to dub.

Yates also worked with director Lala Rolls on the short companion film Tuwhare, to mark the album's launch. Rolls later used material from the film as part of the multi-media imagery accompanying a live concert of Tuwhare, at the 2006 NZ International Festival of the Arts, and the 2007 Auckland Festival. The show was directed by Yates.

The 2011 Auckland Arts Festival marks the debut of Yates' latest project: a concert and CD based on lyrics written by Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera. Writing about the show for the NZ Herald, veteran reviewer William Dart called it "fascinating and provocative". Yates is again working with Lala Rolls - this time on an extended documentary about the Ihimaera project. 


Sources include
Charlotte Yates
charlotteyates.com Website. Accessed August 2009
William Dart, 'Arts Festival Review: Ihimaera',- NZ Herald, 5 March 2011. Accessed 8 April 2011