Tui Uru

Tui Uru (20 January 1926 – 26 April 2013) was a New Zealand opera singer and broadcaster. She was the first Māori television announcer.

Early life and family Born in Wellington on 20 January 1926, Uru affiliated to the Ngāi Tūāhuriri hapū of Ngāi Tahu. and Christchurch Girls' High School. Tui Uru was the great-aunt of rowers Jade and Storm Uru.

A soprano, Uru travelled to Australia to compete in 15 events at the 1953 City of Sydney Eisteddfod. She won the Dulcie Starkey Memorial Trophy for the overall winner of the adult ballad competitions.

In 1955, Uru went to London, where she studied singing with Roy Henderson and Dawson Freer, and funded her studies by working as a telephonist. In 1964, Uru returned to New Zealand, and was described at that time as a contralto. She covered the 1953–54 royal tour of New Zealand.

After working briefly in Palmerston North, Uru transferred to Dunedin, where she continued working as a radio presenter on the YA and YC stations, and as a continuity announcer for the local NZBC television station, DNTV2.