NZTrio | Artᶾ at Whangarei Arts Museum

Black Rainbow Exhibition: "Five black paintings. A red piano. The works of two leading artists, Ralph Hotere and Michael Parekowhai, from two generations come together, conversing in colour, sound, and ideas."

Artᶾ (art to the power of three) is an NZTrio initiative designed to take audiences on a multi-sensory arts experience combining musical feeling with visual pleasure. NZTrio has selected a programme that echoes the concepts behind this inspiring exhibition: the juxtaposition of European roots and contemporary Maori culture, the old and the new.

Beethoven's Piano Trio in E Flat Major, Opus 1, No. 1 opens the concert with a classical European flavour, which is echoed in the two Mozart-infused works later in the programme: Flicker, a fresh new offering from Taiwanese composer Yu-Hui Chang, and Mozart-Adagio by the great Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. The New Zealand artistry of the exhibition is mirrored in Kiwi-turned-Aussie Judy Bailey's So Many Rivers which has European instruments stepping into a world of home-grown, jazzy styles, and the youthful Subtle Dances by New Zealander, Claire Cowan is sure to get toes tapping.