New opera sensation, Jonathan Fa'afetai Lemalu joined other New Zealanders in performing a New Zealand musical showcase to an eager Salt Lake City public.

Marking New Zealand's National day (Waitangi Day - February 6), tickets to the event had sold out two months beforehand, and it was standing room only in the 2000 seat Assembly Hall. New Zealand Ambassador in Washington, John Wood, joined guests of honour at the Salt Lake City Concert.

Other New Zealand artists joining Lemalu, were Maori soprano Marie Adele MacArthur, Romanian-born New Zealand pianist Eugene Albulescu, and highly acclaimed musician and Associate Professor of Music Terence Dennis of the University of Otago.

Among the guests of honour were New Zealand's Minister of Sport, the Hon Trevor Mallard, and the New Zealand Winter Olympic team.

All musicians paid tribute to their country and the New Zealand people in their performances. Lemalu sang "Sea Fever" - a moving tribute to New Zealand's greatest ever yachtsman, Sir Peter Blake, tragically killed off the coast of Brazil in 2001.

The evening concluded with a rousing Maori welcome, challenge and waiata (singing) by the Salt Lake City Maori Kapa Haka group.