Requiem for Bird is my attempt in using colouristic and textural orchestration to create sounds (or rather, my own imagined soundscape) of a tragedy in nat...

Douglas Lilburn wrote a number of works for the guitar from the late 1960s onwards at a time when his creative energies were concerntrated on writing electro...

A ‘karakia’ is defined in the online Maori dictionary as an “incantation, ritual chant, chant, intoned incantation, charm, spell - a set form of words to sta...

While there is no strict programme to the piece, I like to think there are programmatic elements within it: namely contrasts of fast and slow, loud and soft,...

The structure is modelled on Bartok's String Quartet No. 6, with 3 quick movements, each proceeded by a slow introduction – the 3 treatments of the introdu...

The state of humankind and the ecology of our planet are inseparably mirrored by each other. Paradoxically, we destroy natural homes to construct our own. Wh...

Composed by the Free Radicals, a Wellington-based art music duo comprised of Jonathan Besser and Ross Harris.

A feminist friend used this term to describe...

Download a perusal score here

In January 2009 I was in T...

In composing Motet for Hildegard, I imagined Hildegard von Bingen communing with nature while singing her song O Virga Mediatrix (O branch who mediates ...

This piece is affectionately known as 'Bugs' or 'the Bug piece' to me, and that is what it is about: the wonderful creepy crawlies native to New Zealand. Mot...

These four short songs were written with a view to providing material for very young singers, although they have probably ended up a little more challenging ...

My Concerto for Piano and Strings was written over sixty years ago in London. It was first performed at a concert given by the NZ Music Society in the Arts C...

Cameos for Piano is an umbrella term for 29 piano pieces for beginners through to intermediate level students. Several are based on themes in nature and the...

Recently my curiosity was sparked as to the origins of Maori action songs - a hybrid form combining traditional movements, borrowed Western melodies and Maor...

Song for a Child is the second of a set of songs written for Barbara Hendry, one of Dunedin's most renowned singing teachers and performers. The words are ...

These eleven works for piano offer a range styles and moods.

They have been selected in their entirety for the Royal Schools alternative 'C' list piano s...

This fanfare is dedicated to Sir Barry Curtis, with grateful thanks for his many years of support for the Manukau City Symphony Orchestra. The first thirty s...

This arrangement of Muisca by Dr. Omar Carmenates, Associate Professor of Percussion, Furman University, USA, is from a collection of Psathas’ works arrang...

Sonata for Viola was composed in late July to August of 2019, and later revised in 2020. As a composer, I have always been inspired by the implicit drama w...

six pieces for orchestra grew out of another, more substantial piece for wind quartet, which in turn was inspired and heavily influenced by Ligeti’s _Ten P...

The opening piece of an orchestral concert has traditionally been the ubiquitous "overture"; whether it be a concert piece of short duration, or a real overt...

for the JR is a “light-hearted merging of the worlds of two of John (Rimmer)’s best-loved pieces for piano—Centrifugues and For the Kokako".

While researching Douglas Lilburn's Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano at the Alexander Turnbull Library, Ben Hoadley discovered a short work for two clarinets ...

A canon for three on eleven notes of the chromatic scale; in eight sections and a coda. Composed for the Auckland Philharmonia Ensemble Philharmonia concerts...

This Suite is dedicated to Lou Harrison, the 'Usonian' (and Californian) Composer, who was in New Zealand in 1983 as a Fulbright fellow. He encouraged my int...

In September of 2020, the beautiful Emily Campbell, a former student, violinist and actor with an incredibly promising career died suddenly. This was a huge ...

Thematic material for the 3rd and 4th movements of this suite are drawn from Barclay's Scherzo (for orchestra) and Quinticello (for cello quintet).

Written for Leon Coates, LC is the second of Seven Little Piano Pieces, each written for a significant birthday.

Written for William Dart, WD is the first of Seven Little Piano Pieces, each written for a significant birthday.

Written for Fiona Farell, FF is the fourth of Seven Little Piano Pieces, each written for a significant birthday.

Written for Elizabeth Kerr, EK is the sixth of Seven Little Piano Pieces, each written for a significant birthday.

Written for Helen Ainsworth, HA is the third of Seven Little Piano Pieces, each written for a significant birthday.

This performance sculpture work involving sound was written for Anzart in Auckland, '85.

Waltz for Stephanie was originally composed for Stephanie Grey, while she was New Zealand Accordion Champion and principal accordionist with the Air New Ze...

Composition for Solo Viola explores the gradual growth of material from a single note to long chains of gestures. The soft opening sound, which returns th...

'Kintsugi’ draws inspiration from the ancient Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with gold-dusted urushi (lacquer). The work was originally compos...

"I met Ben Hoadley sitting outside the Aro Bakery in early 2017 and we agreed that I would write a piece for him - for bassoon and trumpet. The proposed perf...

Movement for Orchestra was composed in Dunedin, NZ in 1985. Using variation form for its structure, it opens and closes with a slow section in 4/2. It is w...

As I listened to media reports on the ownership of Young Nick's Head, I began to wonder about the life of the real 'Young Nick', who first sighted this land ...

Caroline was, in fact, early, all nine pounds greeting the world with such alacrity her first cries almost resounded round the hospital car park. No waiting ...

Caroline was, in fact, early, all nine pounds greeting the world with such alacrity her first cries almost resounded round the hospital car park. No waiting ...

This setting of part of the Liturgy of the Approach is dedicated to the Saint Matthew’s Singers, for whom it was written. Thanks are expressed to the Aucklan...

Fanfare for Orchestra was commissioned as part of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Composer-in-Residence programme to open a special concert to commem...