Profile

In the mid 1960’s a young man from Morrinsville, Waikato, named Roger Harris was appointed the organist and choir master of St Matthew-in-the-City in Hobson Street, Auckland. He began a regular series of Bach Cantatas as part of the Sunday evening service. Eventually some of the string players he recruited for these performances suggested separate concerts of the baroque and classical repertoire as a string ensemble. He formed the “Roger Harris String Orchestra” with a 6 subscription series per year. These Sunday afternoon concerts in the Victorian gothic setting of the church proved a popular format, which the orchestra follows to this day. Eventually the programmes included classical symphonies and concertos. As wind and brass players were required he renamed the group the “St Matthews Chamber Orchestra”.

The first concerts attracted very large audiences, especially for Mozart Piano concertos with Janetta McStay and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by the Czeck violinst Ladislav Jasek, both music professors of Auckland University at this time.

Roger commissioned new works by New Zealand composers such as John Rimmer, Ross Harris, Douglas Mews (snr) and John Elmsly. Always adventurous and persistent he gathered the scores and parts for Mahler’s Magic Horn of Youth from literally all four corners of the world. The concert in 1973 was the first and probably the only time the complete cycle has been performed in New Zealand. Roger was also the music critic for the now defunct Auckland Star newspaper.

In 1975 Roger left New Zealand to direct the Tehran Opera in Iran. The management of the orchestra was taken over co-operatively by the players themselves. It was a steep learning curve for the original committee, both administratively and financially. Fortunately in 1976 the Hamilton Civic Choir came to the orchestra’s rescue by engaging it for choral concerts in Hamilton and Auckland. This valuable partnership lasted well into the 1980’s.

There has not been a permanent artistic director since 1975. The players elect the committee and it invites guest conductors and concerto soloists for each of the six subscription concerts undertaken each year. The rehearsal schedule is such that the orchestra meets for a week before the concert date rehearsing evenings for three hours. Although a non-professional orchestra, it rehearses to a strict timetable and the expectations of players, conductors and audience is for a concert performance of the highest possible standard. It is a tribute to Roger Harris’s vision and organisational skills that the orchestra thrives over 30 years later with much of the structure that was set up in the 1970’s.

The orchestra continues it’s commitment to perform New Zealand music. In 2007 it performed John Ritchie’s Suite no.1 for Strings; the year before the orchestra was proud to perform it’s own commissioned work by Louise Webster.

The names of guest performers are too numerous to list here, but they are happy to come to St Matthews-in-the-City from all over New Zealand. However international musicians worth mentioning include conductors Georg Tintner, Phillip Ledger, Sir William Southgate and Marc Taddei; and pianists Elana Gelels (daughter of Emile), Michael Houstoun and Hans Richter-Hauser. Some prominent New Zealand musicians who were players in the early years are Violinists Wilma Smith, Gillian Ansell, Justine Cormack, and Flautists Marya Martin and Alexa Still.

• Performances (4)
• Commissions (4)