Sir Howard Morrison Funeral Gallery
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1935 - 2009
Musical career
Sir Howard was born in Rotorua in 1935, a member of Ngati Whakaue of Te Arawa.
He began putting together vocal groups to perform at rugby club socials in Rotorua in the mid-1950s and was a member of the successful Aotearoa Concert Party that toured Australia.
On his return to New Zealand, he formed a group with his brother, cousin and guitarist Gerry Merito, that became the Howard Morrison Quartet.
The Quartet, with various changes of line-up, worked in New Zealand and Australia, but when showman Harry Miller wanted them to work in Las Vegas and London, Howard Morrison was reluctant, believing such a move would destroy their family life.
By common consent, the Quartet split up in 1965 and, performed together only on occasional reunions. Sir Howard struck out on his own, in a hugely successful solo career.
He was awarded the OBE in 1976, and knighted in 1990.
In his 70s, Sir Howard continued to make recordings and perform live. He toured New Zealand with the opera singer Dame Malvina Major in a show titled A Knight With A Dame.
Support for young Maori
Sir Howard was educated at Rotorua Boys' High School and Te Aute College but left without gaining his School Certificate, having failed the compulsory English examination.
In his later years, he established the Sir Howard Morrison Education Foundation of Te Arawa Youth to support those embarking on university study and was a trustee of the Books In Homes organisation. Waikato University gave him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his service to the Maori community.
At the same time as conducting a successful singing career, Sir Howard became acutely aware of the lack of achievement by many young Maori, and was appointed as a consultant on youth development to the Ministry of Maori Affairs.
He visited schools to encourage Maori to move on to higher learning, developed education programmes on marae and in 1979 was appointed to a full-time position in the ministry as director of youth development.