Reweti (Rei) Pope might be approaching her 100th birthday, but she is not ready to give up the piano just yet.
The Kensington Court Village resident has spent more than 90 years making music and still loves to sit down at the piano and strike up a tune.
Rei, who has lived at the Stoke village since January 2024, says fellow residents are always keen to hear her tickle the ivories.
“They are very supportive and encouraging,” she says.
Rei enjoys playing familiar tunes that the residents can sing-along to, relying on her ear rather than sheet music.
Her love of music began when she was nine, when she started piano lessons. Growing up in South Otago, music was a big part of family life.
Rei remembers an “old clanger” of a piano at home that she and her family would “belt the hell out of”.
Before long, she was playing in a country band while still at school.
The group called themselves the ‘State Gully Band’, although locals affectionately dubbed them the ‘Snake Gully Band’, she says. Alongside an accordion player, fiddler and drummer, they played at weekend dances at local halls.
“I enjoyed it, but I missed out on dancing because I was playing.”
After getting married, she bought a Kawai piano of her own.
“It was a lovely piano to play,” she says.
Music has remained a constant throughout her life, and Rei still takes every opportunity to play. She performed at the Kensington Talent Show in 2025 and occasionally plays at church services.
But for Rei, who will join the centenarian club in January, playing has never been about performing or keeping her skills sharp.
“Pleasure,” she says, when asked what playing gives her.
Rei keeps her mind active in other ways as well, taking part in “everything on offer” at Kensington Court Village, from word-find puzzles to reading.
She moved into the village after her doctor advised she could no longer live alone, but says it has been a positive change.
“I’m happy I did. Everyone here is lovely. The girls look after me here.”
Her daughter and grandchildren live locally, while her son is not far away in Blenheim.
