Upcoming Events

Aroha Quartet's programme begins with Mozart's String Quartet No 17 in B-flat K458. Nicknamed 'The Hunt', this is a high-spirited, joyful work, both rustic and sophisticated. The concert continues with 'Unbound', an expressive, heartfelt work for string quartet written in 2011 by New Zealand composer Brigid Bisley. For the finale, we are delighted to be joined by Diedre Irons, one of New Zealand's finest pianists, for the sublime Piano Quintet in F minor by Brahms. Combining lyrical beauty and rhythmic muscularity, this is one of the best-loved chamber music works of all time.

Performances:

Sunday, June 30 @ 4:00pm | Greytown Music Group, 57 Wood St, Greytown
Sunday, July 14 @ 2:30pm | Waikanae Memorial Hall
Tuesday, July 16 @ 7:30pm | St Paul's, 89 Tennyson St, Napier
Tuesday, September 10 @ 7:30pm | St Luke's, 2 Tees St, Oamaru
Wednesday, September 11 @ 7:30pm | Marama Hall, University of Otago, Leith St, Dunedin
Wednesday, November 13 @ 7:30pm | Globe Theatre, 312 Main St, Palmerston North
Sunday, November 24 @ 3:00pm | St Matthew-in-the-City, 187 Federal St, Auckland
Sunday, December 1 @ 3:00pm | St Andrew's on the Terrace, 30 The Terrace, Wellington

Nearly a year before the end of the Second World War, a group of 733 Polish children and their 102 caregivers who had been displaced by the war, settled in Pahiatua in November 1944.

75 Years later SMP Ensemble dedicates two contrasting programmes of classic and contemporary Polish music with, and brand new compositions from New Zealand composers. The Pahiatua Polish Children and descendants

The first concert (November 15th) features the mammoth Second Piano Quintet by Grażyna Bacewicz, alongside premieres by Glen Downie, Callum Mallett and André Nowicki.

The second concert (November 17th) features André Tchaikowsky’s atmospheric Trio Notturno, Szymanowski’s Songs of an Infatuated Muezzin, Hanna Kulenty's Cradle Song, and a new premiere by Louisa Nicklin.

This concert series is supported by Embassy of the Republic of Poland, Wellington, and Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music.

November 15th & 17th 2019 -- 7.00pm St. Andrew’s on the Terrace, Wellington

Eventfinda Door Sales Waged: $15 each / $20 for two nights Concession: $10 each / $15 for two nights

LIAM WOODING | piano
DAVID MORAN | cello

RUTH CRAWFORD | 9 Preludes for piano
MICHAEL WILLIAMS | Dialogue for oud, duduk, piano and electronics *
JAKUB JANKOWSKI | Aspects of Return for cello and piano

* world premiere

DIALOGUE

Written in the 1920’s, the Ultra-Modernist/Scriabin-esque 9 Preludes by Ruth Crawford have been overlooked by history. Critics of the time said she can “sling dissonances as mean as any of them," referring to the male dominated field of composition in early 20th Century America. Ruth Crawford stands of an example of a trailblazer who deserves recognition and I'm excited to perform this work in what most likely is an Australian premiere.

New Zealand composer Michael F Williams experiments with combining sound-worlds in his new work Dialogue. This cross-cultural exploration features audio samples of the Duduk and Oud, two Middle Eastern instruments which engage in a dialogue with the piano. Mike is a lecturer at the University of Waikato where we first met, and this piece is the beginning of a larger project which explores the combination of piano and non-western instruments through new compositions.

To round out this program I'll be joined on stage with my work wife David Moran and I couldn't think of a better way to leave ANAM! Each movement in Jakub Jankowski's work Aspects of Return illustrates a different metaphor of return and is supplemented with a specific quotation.

I. Prologue: '...there is always the danger that the things we have neglected will return with added force.' - Carl Jung

II. Nocturne: 'Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers.' - Heraclitus of Ephesus

III. Capriccio: 'And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.' - TS Eliot

Zeitgeist is a unique concert experience of contemporary New Zealand works from three young, emerging composers. Working with recorder player Imogen Morris and award-winning choreographer and dancer Kristen Larsen, the composers have developed three innovative works to be premiered at this event.

Featuring music by Clovis McEvoy, Garling Wu, and Anna Reyes, the programme focuses on the underexplored area of contemporary recorder and live electronics – pairing this sonically-rich historical instrument with cutting-edge sonic arts composition and interactive dance. Alongside these premieres, the programme features a selection of award-winning fixed acousmatic works by the three composers.

Tickets available from Under The Radar - $15 admission, $10 students

Doors open 7:30PM; concert start 8:00PM

Cello for Africa, directed by Sinfonia for Hope, brings together musicians from Africa and New Zealand in a concert to raise funds for the Tamariki Education Centre, a primary school in the slums of Nairobi, founded by New Zealander, Denise Carnihan.

Featuring top NZ cellists, Sam Manzanza from the Congo, musicians from NZSO, Orchestra Wellington, the Universities of Otago and Victoria, youth groups Lyrica Choir (Kelburn School), Virtuoso Strings and Stringendo, this will be an extraordinary event.

Concerto for an African Cellist by Hans Huyssen, will feature cellist Heleen du Plessis (both from South Africa) with Sinfonia for Hope and will be conducted by the composer.

Kia Kaha Tamariki by Anthony Ritchie will feature African and Maori instruments and violinist Amalia Hall with Cellophonia (an all-cello ensemble).

Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos will feature Inbal Megiddo and Rolf Gjelsten with Stringendo (Wellington Children’s String Orchestra). Don’t miss this incredible concert!

Robbie Ellis | Composer and musical comedian
Mina Zikri | Conductor
Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago

Robbie Ellis joins the Oistrakh Symphony arranging his own comedy songs for orchestra and presenting some questionable classical music history. A one-of-a-kind presentation not to be missed!

Taonga pūoro specialist Rob Thorne's commissioned work is joined by Shostakovich's 8th Symphony and Barber's Piano Concerto performed by Michael Houstoun.

PROGRAMME:
Rob Thorne | New work for orchestra, taonga pūoro and electric guitar
Barber | Piano Concerto (Michael Houstoun, piano)
Shostakovich | Symphony No. 8

Hamish McKeich | Conductor
Russel Walder | Oboe

PROGRAMME:
Tchaikovsky/Ellington | The Nutcracker Suite (Selection)
John Luther Adams | Become River (New Zealand premiere)
Milhaud | Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67 (Selection)
Derek Bermel | Canzonas Americanas: Mvts. 1-3 (New Zealand premiere)
Russel Walder arr. Psathas | Untitled new work (World premiere)

The finale of the 2019 Shed Series presents a programme of light, relaxing music to entertain as we head towards the end of the year.

Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams’ Become River is a beautiful and meditative piece of music inspired by the natural world and is part of a trilogy of works including Become Ocean and Become Desert.

Derek Bermel’s Canzonas Americanas conjures up the North American continent with elements of Native American blues, rock, funk and other inspirations, including American music giant Aaron Copland.

French composer Darius Milhaud will take the audience to Brazil with Saudades do Brasil, a mesmerising musical journey through the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro.

Oboist Russel Walder joins the NZSO to perform three of his own works specially arranged for oboe and orchestra by John Psathas. These pieces are inspired by the concepts of meditation and self-awakening and audiences can expect a mesmerising, otherworldly live performance.

Jeff Tyzik’s arrangement of The Nutcracker Suite, by Duke Ellington and long time collaborator Billy Strayhorn, will have you snapping your fingers to the beat of this much-loved jazz interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

MOZART | String Quartet No. 23 in F Major, K 590, i. Allegro Moderato
HENRI VIEUXTEMPS | Capriccio for solo viola
BEETHOVEN | String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135, i. Allegretto
SALINA FISHER | Reflect for solo viola
BRAHMS | String Quartet No. 3, Op. 67, iii. Agitato
BEETHOVEN | String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major “Harp”, ii. Adagio ma non troppo
JACK BODY | Three Transcriptions
BEETHOVEN | String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59/3, iv. Allegro molto

400 years ago – before the birth of Bach, Vivaldi, or Handel – renowned instrument-maker Nicolò Amati crafted an exquisite viola in his Italian workshop. Is this the oldest string instrument in New Zealand? We believe so! Bring the whole family to experience history in action with the NZSQ’s programme of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Vieuxtemps, and New Zealand composers Jack Body and Salina Fisher. Then, after the concert, join us for tea and cake to celebrate this unique occasion.

PROGRAMME:
Frank Bridge (UK) | Hornpipe
New NZ Commission (tbc)
Edward Elgar (UK) | Lento assai – Allegro moderato
Samuel Holloway (NZ) | Stapes
Frank Bridge (UK) | Valse Russe
Charlotte Bray (UK) | That Crazed Smile
Charles Ives (US) | Trio
Dmitri Shostakovich (USSR) | Piano Trio No.2 in e minor

The three-concert TECTONIC series explores the fundamental forces that shape our land and society, Empires and Super Powers.

Aotearoa New Zealand is a very young land, geologically – freshly exposed by massive subterranean forces. 2019 marks the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s arrival on this young land, and of the first encounter between Māori and Europeans. We look back over the years since then and right up to the present, and reflect on Māoritanga, empire, colonisation, immigration, tolerance, unity and understanding. The first half of each concert commemorates this anniversary through the lens of Piano Trio. We examine the music and sounds that were heard in Aotearoa before that first encounter and the dialogue between Māori and Pākehā that ensued with brand new commissioned works involving Taonga Pūoro call and Piano Trio response. These new commissions come from composers sincerely engaged with Māoritanga and Taonga Pūoro: Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead, Martin Lodge and Rob Thorne. We evoke the music and attitude that early settlers brought with them on the ships from Great Britain as they sought to extend the British Empire, through seldom-heard (and some freshly-discovered) old English tunes. We celebrate the intertwining of cultures and the subsequent evolution of music, with the culmination being found in 21st Century works by Kiwi composers. And we compare and contrast those with fresh new works from back in Cook’s motherland, Great Britain.

The second half of each concert focuses on old Cold War Super Powers and the struggle for supremacy. Towering masterpieces from USA and Russia/USSR loom menacingly in an icy standoff.

HAMISH MCKEICH | Conductor

BRAHMS | Hungarian Dances No. 1 & 3
LISSA MERIDAN | Tuning the head of a pin
MOZART | Divertimento No. 11, Rondo
BIRTWISTLE | Bach Measures
JOHN ADAMS | Fearful Symmetries

Symmetries is an exhilarating mix of high energy works, all tied together by rhythm, phrase, structure and mathematics.

Brahms’ instantly recognisable Hungarian Dances and Rondo from Divertimento are short, perfectly structured pieces and irresistible to the ear.

New Zealand composer Lissa Meridan’s Tuning the head of a pin is a vibrant and rhythmic work, while British composer Harrison Birtwistle’s Bach Measures are his acclaimed arrangements of eight of Bach’s Chorale Preludes. Critics have likened this mesmerising work to eight miniature plays for an orchestra, as Birtwistle assigns the musicians, like actors, to different roles in each piece.

Adams’ Fearful Symmetries premiered in 1988 after his hit opera Nixon in China. Composed of “almost maddeningly symmetrical” four and eight-bar phrases, Adams sees it as closely allied to pop and minimalist rock. It’s also his most choreographed work, used by more than a dozen dance companies, including the Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet.

BENJAMIN NORTHEY | chief conductor
BENJAMIN BAKER | violin

JACK BODY | Fanfare for Bert
JEAN SIBELIUS | Violin Concerto in D minor
SERGEI RACHMANINOV | Symphonic Dances

Opening the Lamb & Hayward Masterworks Series is Jack Body’s Fanfare for Bert, a humorous and catchy tribute to the easy listening master Bert Kaempfert.

Making his debut with the CSO to perform Sibelius’ brilliant Violin Concerto in D minor, New Zealand born Benjamin Baker has been described by the New York Times as a “fine violinist of virtuosity and refinement”.

Considered to be his greatest work for orchestra, Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances is a sumptuous musical feast. Featuring echoes of musical chants from the Russian Orthodox and Catholic traditions, the work contrasts deeply expressive moments with outbursts of ecstatic exuberance.

BENJAMIN NORTHEY | chief conductor
TE AHIKAAROA | kapa haka
LIOR ATTAR | tenor

VICTORIA KELLY / TE AHIKAAROA | New work for orchestra and kapa haka *
NIGEL WESTLAKE / LIOR ATTAR | Compassion **

* World premiere
** NZ premiere

We open this special concert with the world premiere of a work for kapa haka and orchestra developed in collaboration between Victoria Kelly and Te Ahikaaroa.

Compassion draws from the rich worlds of Islam and Judaism to present a collection of profound and poetic messages surrounding the idea of compassion between human beings. Sung in Hebrew and Arabic, this deeply moving and powerful work weaves together the mesmerising voice of Lior with the sounds of the symphony orchestra.

HAMISH MCKEICH | Conductor
ARIANA TIKAO | Taonga puoro

TORU TAKEMITSU | Archipelago S.
CHINARY UNG | Water Rings
KAIJA SAARIAHO | Nymphéa Reflection
PHILIP BROWNLEE / ARIANA TIKAO | Ko te tātai whetū

Wai features five outstanding 20th and 21st century works on the theme of water – its power, tranquillity, flow and different forms.

Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu’s Archipelago S. will have the NZSO dispersed into five groups like an archipelago of islands.

Water Rings is influenced by dance rhythms and folk tunes of composer Chinary Ung’s native Cambodia. Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho is renowned for sonic images of magnetic power, blending acoustic and electronic music. Her acclaimed Nymphéa Reflection features a poem whispered by the players, echoing the reflection of water.

Premiered in 2015, Ko te tātai whetū is a concerto for orchestra and taonga puoro. Featuring performer Ariana Tikao, it tells the story of Tāne’s journey between the underworld and the world of the living.

HAMISH MCKEICH | Conductor
ARIANA TIKAO | Taonga puoro

TORU TAKEMITSU | Archipelago S.
CHINARY UNG | Water Rings
KAIJA SAARIAHO | Nymphéa Reflection
PHILIP BROWNLEE / ARIANA TIKAO | Ko te tātai whetū

Wai features five outstanding 20th and 21st century works on the theme of water – its power, tranquillity, flow and different forms.

Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu’s Archipelago S. will have the NZSO dispersed into five groups like an archipelago of islands.

Water Rings is influenced by dance rhythms and folk tunes of composer Chinary Ung’s native Cambodia. Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho is renowned for sonic images of magnetic power, blending acoustic and electronic music. Her acclaimed Nymphéa Reflection features a poem whispered by the players, echoing the reflection of water.

Premiered in 2015, Ko te tātai whetū is a concerto for orchestra and taonga puoro. Featuring performer Ariana Tikao, it tells the story of Tāne’s journey between the underworld and the world of the living. Presented in association with ISCM World New Music Days 2020.

BENJAMIN NORTHEY | chief conductor
MICHAEL HOUSTOUN | piano
ANTHONY FERNER | flute

CLAUDE DEBUSSY | Lindaraja (arr. Bill Hopkins) *
FELIX MENDELSSOHN | Symphony No 4 “Italian”
FRANCIS POULENC | Cantilena for Flute (arr. Chris Cree Brown)
JOHANNES BRAHMS | Concerto No. 1 for Piano

* NZ premiere

Mendelssohn’s fourth symphony is bursting with exuberance and youthful energy. Inspired by his travels around Italy, it is characterised by bright, sunny melodies and an uplifting freshness.

Also featuring in this programme are two exquisite miniatures, Debussy’s Lindaraja, originally composed for two pianos, and Poulenc’s Cantilena both re-imagined in sensitive arrangements for orchestra.

New Zealand’s foremost pianist, Michael Houstoun, joins the CSO to perform Brahms' magnificent first piano concerto in his final performance with the CSO as he farewells the concert platform.

MARTIN RISELEY | violin

J S BACH | Sonata No. 3 in C major
J S BACH | Partita No. 2 in D minor
GARETH FARR | Wakatipu
JOHN PSATHAS | Gyftiko

This series is presented in the Ron Ball Studio situated in the CSO’s new home within the Town Hall. Celebrating the talents of the musicians of the orchestra, each one hour programme is carefully curated to explore the different sounds of an orchestra in an up-close and intimate setting.

GIANCARLO GUERRERO | conductor
VALENTINA LISITSA | piano

TABEA SQUIRE | Variations
PROKOFIEV | Piano Concerto No. 3
RACHMANINOV | The Isle of the Dead
BARTOK | Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin

Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, renowned for his Grammy Award-winning recordings of contemporary American composers, conducts the NZSO in a clutch of provocative 20th-century classics.

Rachmaninov’s lush and brooding Isle of the Dead sprang from Arnold Böcklin’s painting of a looming island, approached by a lone rowboat carrying a coffin. Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin was originally a pantomime ballet depicting both the sounds of the urban jungle, but also the depravity within.

Valentina Lisitsa performs Prokofiev’s best-loved Piano Concerto, his third. Lisitsa, one of the first viral classical music stars, is now a globe-trotting concert pianist whose playing has been praised by The Guardian as displaying “a special combination of utterly self-assured virtuosity and real lyricism and communication.”

NZ composer Tabea Squire’s piece Variations is the first of her works to be premiered in an NZSO subscription series. The youngest ever composer to be awarded the NZSO/NYO Composer-in-Residence position, her works have been premiered in Melbourne, Adelaide, and London.

GIANCARLO GUERRERO | conductor
VALENTINA LISITSA | piano

TABEA SQUIRE | Variations
PROKOFIEV | Piano Concerto No. 3
RACHMANINOV | The Isle of the Dead
BARTOK | Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin

Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, renowned for his Grammy Award-winning recordings of contemporary American composers, conducts the NZSO in a clutch of provocative 20th-century classics.

Rachmaninov’s lush and brooding Isle of the Dead sprang from Arnold Böcklin’s painting of a looming island, approached by a lone rowboat carrying a coffin. Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin was originally a pantomime ballet depicting both the sounds of the urban jungle, but also the depravity within.

Valentina Lisitsa performs Prokofiev’s best-loved Piano Concerto, his third. Lisitsa, one of the first viral classical music stars, is now a globe-trotting concert pianist whose playing has been praised by The Guardian as displaying “a special combination of utterly self-assured virtuosity and real lyricism and communication.”

NZ composer Tabea Squire’s piece Variations is the first of her works to be premiered in an NZSO subscription series. The youngest ever composer to be awarded the NZSO/NYO Composer-in-Residence position, her works have been premiered in Melbourne, Adelaide, and London.

Programme:

CHRIS WATSON | Homage to Varèse’s “Octandre”
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART | Serenade in E flat
EDGARD VARÈSE | Octandre

This series is presented in the Ron Ball Studio situated in the CSO’s new home within the Town Hall. Celebrating the talents of the musicians of the orchestra, each one hour programme is carefully curated to explore the different sounds of an orchestra in an up-close and intimate setting.

JUANITA HEPI (TE HAPŪ O NGĀTI WHEKE) | artistic director
DANNY SYME | co-director/head trainer
HAMISH OLIVER | composer

Tūmahana: Exchange is a bilingual (Te Reo Māori and English) performance that offers a glimpse into a past where generations of our tīpuna and ancestors have made their homes in and around the Ngāi Tahu takiwā of Te Waipounamu.

This all ages performance weaves theatre, aerial and visual arts, acrobatics, Toi Māori and Tāonga Pūoro with orchestral music in collaboration with Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke, Christchurch Circus Collective and CSO.

BENJAMIN NORTHEY | chief conductor
DAVID MCGREGOR | clarinet

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART | Overture to Don Giovanni
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART | Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622
ANTHONY RITCHIE | Symphony No. 5 *

* World premiere

Having watched his father conduct Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony at the inaugural concert of the Christchurch Town Hall in 1972, Anthony Ritchie had some of his most formative and positive musical experiences in this building. The CSO is delighted to perform the world premiere of Anthony Ritchie’s fifth symphony, written for the orchestra to celebrate the restoration and re-opening of the Christchurch Town Hall.

Performed by the CSO’s Principal Clarinet, David McGregor, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto is considered to be one of his most sublime works. Composed during the final year of Mozart’s life this concerto conveys a reflective poignancy.

CHRIS CREE BROWN | Memories Apart
IGOR STRAVINSKY | Ragtime for Eleven Musicians
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Adagio molto for harp and string quartet
ELENA KATS-CHERNIN | Hemispheres
MAURICE RAVEL | Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet

This series is presented in the Ron Ball Studio situated in the CSO’s new home within the Town Hall. Celebrating the talents of the musicians of the orchestra, each one hour programme is carefully curated to explore the different sounds of an orchestra in an up-close and intimate setting.