Whalerider is the soundtrack album to the film Whale Rider

The Whale Rider

Whale Rider is a 2002 New Zealand drama film directed by Niki Caro, based on the novel of the same name by Witi Ihimaera. The film stars Keisha Castle-Hughes as Kahu Paikea Apirana, a 12-year-old girl struggling to become the chief of the tribe. Her grandfather Koro believes that this is a role...

, by the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n singer/musician Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....

. The album was released on the 4AD label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 in 2003.

The music on the album is also included in the film. In the liner notes, Gerrard describes the experience of recording music for Whale Rider as "one of the most intimate of my artistic life".

Personnel

• Lisa Gerrard
  Lisa Gerrard
  Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....
  
   – composer, performer, arranger

• Phil Pomeroy – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
   on "Pai Theme"

Additional performances by:

• Keisha Castle-Hughes
  Keisha Castle-Hughes
  Keisha Castle-Hughes is a New Zealand film actress who rose to prominence at the age of eleven when playing Paikea "Pai" Apirana in the 2002 film Whale Rider...
  
   on "Paikea Legend", "Pai Calls the Whales" and "Go Forward"
• Rawiri Paratene
  Rawiri Paratene
  -Biography:Born in Hokianga, Paratene is from the Maori iwi of Nga Puhi. Paratene has appeared in a large number of television, stage and film roles. He is also a theatrical director and writer for film, television and theatre...
  
   on "Biking Home"
• Keriana Thomson and the Wananga Boys on "Paikea's Whale"
• The people of Ngati Kondhi, Whangara
  Whangara
  Whangara is a small community in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. Located between Gisborne and Tolaga Bay, five kilometres southwest of Gable End Foreland and 2km east of State Highway 35, it was the location for the successful New Zealand novel and film Whale Rider...
  
   performing the haka
  Haka
  Haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment...
  
   on "Waka in the Sky" and "Go Forward"

Mixed by Simon Bowley
Mastered by Jacek Tuschewski
Design by Jacek Tuschewski

Track listing

1. Paikea Legend – 3:29
2. Journey Away – 3:43
3. Rejection – 1:43
4. Biking Home – 3:25
5. Ancestors – 1:43
6. Suitcase – 1:04
7. Pai Calls the Whales – 1:32
8. Reiputa – 2:14
9. Disappointed – 2:55
10. They Came to Die – 2:19
11. Pai Theme – 3:49
12. Paikea's Whale – 4:01
13. Empty Water – 1:40
14. Waka in the Sky – 1:56
15. Go Forward – 5:52