Upcoming Events

Mark Menzies | Violin/Viola
Nathaniel Otley | Violin

Nina C. Young | Sun Propeller for violin and electronics
Ihlara McIndoe | On Satin Waters for violin, viola and electronics
Salina Fisher | Hā for viola and electronics
Nathaniel Otley | Drowned Valley for violin, viola and electronics
John Rimmer | Composition 8 for violin and electronics

In their second concert at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Mark Menzies and Nathaniel Otley present programme of music for violin and electronics from both New Zealand and abroad.

Mark Menzies is one of New Zealand's premiere violinists and composers with a long career as a violin virtuoso, chamber musician, pianist, conductor and strong advocate of contemporary music. Committed to performing a wide range of contemporary repertoire, Menzies has collaborated closely with renowned composers from around the world and developed a considerable reputation as both a soloist and as a chamber music performer predominantly with the California based Formalist Quartet.

Menzies’ compositions are increasingly played across the globe, with recent premieres in The Netherlands, Italy, Los Angeles, San Diego and Christchurch. Mark is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, London, an honour bestowed in 2014. Mark was the viola and violin professor and coordinator of conducted ensembles at the California Institute of the Arts from 1999-2016, where he curated a remarkable series of concerts at REDCAT at Disney Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Mark is currently Professor of Music and head of instrumental performance at the University of Canterbury where he maintains an extensive performing schedule both in New Zealand and abroad.

Nathaniel Otley is a composer, violinist and conductor based in Ōtepoti, Dunedin. His compositions have been performed or workshopped in both New Zealand and Australia by artists including the Argonaut Ensemble, Mark Menzies, the NZSO, NZ Trio, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Dunedin Youth Orchestra. In 2019 he was a featured young composer at the Bendigo International Festival for Exploratory Music (BIFEM) as part of their Reo Hou future voices New Zealand programme with his piece Impasto. His piece Recalibration for violin and electronics also won the 2019 University of Otago Lilburn Trust Composition Competition and he was among the winners of the 2019 NZ Trio Impetus composition competition. As an orchestral composer Nathaniel is a three time finalist in the NZSO TODD corporation young composers award and was the 2019 winner with his piece biosphere degradation.

As a violinist he is a current member of the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra and regularly performs in solo and chamber settings including performing a wide variety of New Zealand music. In the past he has been a member of the Dunedin Youth Orchestra, NZSO National Youth Orchestra, New Zealand Youth Choir, New Zealand Secondary Students Choir and the New Zealand Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra. He is also an active conductor in Dunedin and has worked with many ensembles including the Otago Symphonic Band, Dunedin Youth Orchestra, and the Southern Youth Choir.

Featuring the Kāpiti Concert Orchestra with:

Donald Maurice | conductor
Sophia Acheson | viola
Coral Trimmer | harmonica
Michelle Velvin | harp

The Kāpiti Concert Orchestra is delighted to present their first concert for 2020 at Te Raukura ki Kāpiti, Paraparaumu. This will be an occasion to celebrate just how far we have come from Covid -19 lockdown days, to being able to go to a concert again and to experience the wonderful new performing arts venue on the Kāpiti Coast.

The programme includes works by Dvorak - his much loved Symphony No 9, "from the New World" as well as works by New Zealand composers - John Ritchie's "Papanui Road, Overture for Orchestra" which paints a musical picture of that well-known street in Christchurch and two works by Dorothea Franchi, one for Viola and Orchestra with soloist Sophia Acheson and another for Orchestra, Harmonica and Harp with soloists Coral Trimmer and Michelle Velvin.

Lucien Johnson | tenor saxophone
Jonathan Crayford | piano
Tom Callwood | double bass
Cory Champion | drums

Programme:
A set of original compositions from Lucien’s 2017 album West of the Sun and new material from his upcoming album Kairangi, complemented by interpretations of traditional waiata.

Lucien Johnson is an award winning musician who has been described as “a saxophonist and composer of rare excellence and mettle” (Wellington Jazz Festival), as “a miraculous musician” (Radio NZ) and as “a composer and arranger of supreme skill” (Dominion Post). He is joined in this quartet by some of New Zealand’s finest musicians: celebrated pianist Jonathan Crayford; and Tom Callwood, eminent double bassist for groups such as The Phoenix Foundation and Little Bushman; and rising star Cory Champion on the drums.

Lucien’s compositions reflective of some of the places that he has lived in and travelled to: France, Haiti, Ethiopia and of course, some reflections on our own wonderful country and musical heritage. Included in the set are two traditional waiata which Lucien will reinterpret. As a recent recipient of the Harriet Friedlander Residency he will be returning from New York for the tour and looks forward to seeing how this experience will influence the music.

A belated 25th birthday concert of vocal music from the 12th to the 21st Century: works from Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Come along to The Third Eye and make a night of it: have dinner before the concert and/or drinks before/during/after it... Let the sweet sounds of music from around the globe, from the 12th Century to the 21st Century, enchant and entertain you...

Featuring six singers: Pepe Becker, Anna Sedcole, Jane McKinlay, Milla Dickens, Andrea Cochrane and Katherine Hodge, and bass viol player Robert Oliver (also a shruti box!), performing everything from Medieval chant, to Trad. Irish songs, to Renaissance ditties, to Handel duets, to French 20th C music, to Contemporary NZ works, this concert has something for everyone to enjoy.

POTENTIALLY PLAYING PRODUCTIONS Evangelina Telfar and Marcus Jackson

We tend to ask ourselves big questions when we lie down to go to sleep, but we seldom talk about our thoughts the next day.

What's the Purpose of this Project? is a show about the universality of self-doubt. The show tackles self-doubt in a variety of areas. Often, we find ourselves asking “am I doing it right?” when it comes to gender, sexuality, religion, creative practice, cultural background, or scientific study. This show brings to light the fact that everyone has these kinds of questions, they make us who we are.

Part audio-essay, part-soundscape, we wanted to create a listening space, where people would feel comfortable to open up to themselves, hold their self-doubt in front of them, and explore the diverse roles it plays in their lives.

People from all walks of life gave their time, allowing us to interview them about various aspects of self-doubt. Using these interviews and a good dose of sonic storytelling, we hope to open up conversations about self-doubt and mental health more broadly within New Zealand. Hopefully, these conversations will continue after the show, as an ongoing process towards a mental wellness culture.

Introspectively staged, we invite you to lie down (or sit, if you prefer), and experience those anxious moments right before you drift off, though—we hope—with a bit more clarity, this time around.

Gemma New | conductor
Johannes Moser | electric cello

Brahms (orch. Parlow) | Hungarian Dance Nos. 5 & 6
Composer TBC | Solo work for electric cello
Stravinsky | Danses Concertantes
Maria Grenfell | Clockwerk
WA Mozart | Idomeneo Ballet Music

New Zealand conductor Gemma New leads the NZSO in a concert full of rhythm and dance.

Originally written for piano, Brahms’ Hungarian Dances evokes the spirit of the travelling gypsy bands that served as the inspiration for this music, while Schulhoff’s Suite für Kammerorchester is reminiscent of 1920’s jazz.

Acclaimed cellist Johannes Moser brings something different to his performance as he presents a solo work for electric cello, an instrument that allows him to add new textures and effects to his performance.

Stravinsky originally wrote Danses Concertantes for the concert hall, but it wouldn’t feel out of place as a ballet. The rhythms, syncopation and structure of the piece led to it being choreographed several times, first in 1944 by acclaimed choreographer and co-founder of the New York City Ballet, George Balanchine.

Maria Grenfell's Clockwerk, with its fugal structure, introduces the different string sections of the Orchestra. The feeling of the work changes often before ending on a driving, accelerating end.

Written when he was just 24, Idomeneo is considered one of Mozart’s first great operas. Dance was a large part of opera at the time and the selection of works performed from this opera shows the young genius’ talent as a composer and adaptability to the style.

Gemma New | conductor
Johannes Moser | cello

Robin Toan | Tū-mata-uenga "God of War, Spirit of Man"
Elgar | Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky | Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique'

A former Conducting Fellow under the mentorship of LA Philharmonic’s Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, New Zealander Gemma New has lead performances at Carnegie Hall and with the symphony orchestras of San Diego, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and San Francisco. You will look forward to her intelligent interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, 'Pathétique' – the vehicle par excellence for expressivity and emotion.

Johannes Moser also returns for the concert. His third time performing with the NZSO, Moser’s easy-going demeanour belies his intensely lyrical playing and superb musicianship.

Written in 2005 as the first NYO Composer-in-Residence commission, Robin Toan’s Tū-mata-uenga “God of War, Spirit of Man” was inspired by the Māori story of creation.

Gemma New | conductor
Johannes Moser | cello

Robin Toan | Tū-mata-uenga "God of War, Spirit of Man"
Elgar | Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky | Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique'

A former Conducting Fellow under the mentorship of LA Philharmonic’s Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, New Zealander Gemma New has lead performances at Carnegie Hall and with the symphony orchestras of San Diego, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and San Francisco. You will look forward to her intelligent interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, 'Pathétique' – the vehicle par excellence for expressivity and emotion.

Johannes Moser also returns for the concert. His third time performing with the NZSO, Moser’s easy-going demeanour belies his intensely lyrical playing and superb musicianship.

Written in 2005 as the first NYO Composer-in-Residence commission, Robin Toan’s Tū-mata-uenga “God of War, Spirit of Man” was inspired by the Māori story of creation.

Gemma New | conductor
Johannes Moser | cello

Robin Toan | Tū-mata-uenga "God of War, Spirit of Man"
Elgar | Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky | Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique'

A former Conducting Fellow under the mentorship of LA Philharmonic’s Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, New Zealander Gemma New has lead performances at Carnegie Hall and with the symphony orchestras of San Diego, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and San Francisco. You will look forward to her intelligent interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, 'Pathétique' – the vehicle par excellence for expressivity and emotion.

Johannes Moser also returns for the concert. His third time performing with the NZSO, Moser’s easy-going demeanour belies his intensely lyrical playing and superb musicianship.

Written in 2005 as the first NYO Composer-in-Residence commission, Robin Toan’s Tū-mata-uenga “God of War, Spirit of Man” was inspired by the Māori story of creation.

Gemma New | conductor
Johannes Moser | electric cello

Brahms (orch. Parlow) | Hungarian Dance Nos. 5 & 6
Composer TBC | Solo work for electric cello
Stravinsky | Danses Concertantes
Maria Grenfell | Clockwerk
WA Mozart | Idomeneo Ballet Music

New Zealand conductor Gemma New leads the NZSO in a concert full of rhythm and dance.

Originally written for piano, Brahms’ Hungarian Dances evokes the spirit of the travelling gypsy bands that served as the inspiration for this music, while Schulhoff’s Suite für Kammerorchester is reminiscent of 1920’s jazz.

Acclaimed cellist Johannes Moser brings something different to his performance as he presents a solo work for electric cello, an instrument that allows him to add new textures and effects to his performance.

Stravinsky originally wrote Danses Concertantes for the concert hall, but it wouldn’t feel out of place as a ballet. The rhythms, syncopation and structure of the piece led to it being choreographed several times, first in 1944 by acclaimed choreographer and co-founder of the New York City Ballet, George Balanchine.

Maria Grenfell's Clockwerk, with its fugal structure, introduces the different string sections of the Orchestra. The feeling of the work changes often before ending on a driving, accelerating end.

Written when he was just 24, Idomeneo is considered one of Mozart’s first great operas. Dance was a large part of opera at the time and the selection of works performed from this opera shows the young genius’ talent as a composer and adaptability to the style.

Jubilate Singers present 'Dido and The Pleasure Garden'

A concert of Purcell’s evergreen opera Dido and Aeneas and the Christchurch premiere of The Pleasure Garden, a witty, artful operatic romp by Philip Norman and A. K. Grant. Conducted by Philip Norman.

With soloists from The Opera Club of Christchurch including Samantha Warhurst as Dido, Fernand Kenel as Aeneas, Sarah-Jane Rennie as Belinda, Peter Hind as an Art Critic, and Erin Callanan as the ‘spectrally dismayed’ ghost of Frances Hodgkins.

Accompanied by top Christchurch musicians Amandine Guerin, Jonathan Tanner, Sharon Baylis, Tomas Hurnik, Matthew Harris strings and Grant Bartley keyboards.

Two performances - 3.00pm and 7.30pm, Saturday 5 September 2020

Gemma New | conductor
Johannes Moser | cello

Robin Toan | Tū-mata-uenga "God of War, Spirit of Man"
Elgar | Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky | Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique'

A former Conducting Fellow under the mentorship of LA Philharmonic’s Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, New Zealander Gemma New has lead performances at Carnegie Hall and with the symphony orchestras of San Diego, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and San Francisco. You will look forward to her intelligent interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, 'Pathétique' – the vehicle par excellence for expressivity and emotion.

Johannes Moser also returns for the concert. His third time performing with the NZSO, Moser’s easy-going demeanour belies his intensely lyrical playing and superb musicianship.

Written in 2005 as the first NYO Composer-in-Residence commission, Robin Toan’s Tū-mata-uenga “God of War, Spirit of Man” was inspired by the Māori story of creation.

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.

Miguel Harth-Bedoya | conductor
Augustin Hadelich | violin

Anthony Ritchie | Remember Parihaka
Sibelius | Violin Concerto
Beethoven | Symphony No. 3 'Eroica'

Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya is a familiar face to New Zealand audiences, returning to conduct an offering of time-tested classics.

Anthony Ritchie was inspired to write Remember Parihaka as testament to the plight of Māori at Parihaka, forcibly removed from their Pā, unjustly arrested and imprisoned in 1881.

Augustin Hadelich, one of this generation’s greatest violinists, performs Sibelius’ Violin Concerto. After a disastrous premiere, Sibelius reworked the concerto substantially, removing some of its most difficult sections. Even in this more commonly played revised version, the Concerto remains one of the most difficult works written for violin – while still retaining the power to move, inspire and exhilarate.

Beethoven’s Third Symphony also looms large as a great work. Its effect on 19th-century classical music was cataclysmic; after the Third, the symphony as a form was never the same again.

Miguel Harth-Bedoya | conductor
Augustin Hadelich | violin

Anthony Ritchie | Remember Parihaka
Sibelius | Violin Concerto
Beethoven | Symphony No. 3 'Eroica'

Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya is a familiar face to New Zealand audiences, returning to conduct an offering of time-tested classics.

Anthony Ritchie was inspired to write Remember Parihaka as testament to the plight of Māori at Parihaka, forcibly removed from their Pā, unjustly arrested and imprisoned in 1881.

Augustin Hadelich, one of this generation’s greatest violinists, performs Sibelius’ Violin Concerto. After a disastrous premiere, Sibelius reworked the concerto substantially, removing some of its most difficult sections. Even in this more commonly played revised version, the Concerto remains one of the most difficult works written for violin – while still retaining the power to move, inspire and exhilarate.

Beethoven’s Third Symphony also looms large as a great work. Its effect on 19th-century classical music was cataclysmic; after the Third, the symphony as a form was never the same again.

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.

Giordano Bellincampi | Conductor
Ingrid Fliter | Piano

Leonie Holmes | New work
Schumann | Piano Concerto
Tchaikovsky | Symphony No.4

Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony opens with a stark fanfare which, Tchaikovsky said, represented ‘Fate, that ominous power’, adding ‘There is no alternative but to submit to Fate’. His friend and patron, Mme von Meck, heard ‘profound, terrifying despair’ in this music. True, but it has also passion, drama and ultimately catharsis.

The superb pianist Ingrid Fliter returns with Schumann’s ineffably poetic concerto, and to open the concert, a new work from the multifaceted Auckland composer, and former APO composer-in-residence, Leonie Holmes.

Hamish McKeich | conductor

Eisler | Kleine Sinfonie
Simon Eastwood | Quanta
Weill (arr. Bruckner-Ruggerberg) | Suite from Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Satie (arr. Debussy) | Gymnopédies Nos. 1 & 3
Schreker | Kammersymphonie

The final Shed Series concert of 2020 celebrates some of the weird and wonderful music linked to the flourishing cabaret scene of the 1920s and 30s and which continues to inspire composers and delight audiences today.

Austrian composer Hanns Eisler also worked with Weill, and the concert features his sweeping and engrossing Kleine Sinfonie before New Zealand composer Simon Eastwood’s Quanta.

Kurt Weill is best known for his cabaret-era songs with librettist Bertolt Brecht. His Suite from Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) is a stunning arrangement by Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg. Rarely performed in New Zealand, it features banjo, bass guitar, saxophone and more, alongside orchestral instruments, to capture the essence of Weill and Brecht’s hit 1930 opera.

Shed Series 2020 concludes with Claude Debussy’s orchestral arrangement of fellow Frenchman Eric Satie’s timeless and hugely influential Gymnopédies Nos. 1 & 3 and Austrian Franz Schreker‘s Kammersymphonie. Written in 1916 Kammersymphonie was ahead of its time and remains a heartfelt and emotive work, anticipating orchestral music’s wide use in film.

Juanita Hepi | 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.