Upcoming Events

Applications for the 2020 Art Music Fund are now open, and Australian and New Zealand art music composers are encouraged to apply for a share in this round's $100,000 worth of funding to create new commissioned work. When the grants are awarded in 2020, the initiative's all-time funding of new works will surpass the $500,000 mark.

The Art Music Fund is available for the creation of commissioned work that is innovative, displays professional compositional craft and represents a benchmark of excellence in its field. The intention is to support composers to create works with a long artistic life.

The previous 39 recipients have come from a range of art music backgrounds, from improvisational jazz to sound art to children's opera. The works have been performed and reached audiences in Australia, New Zealand and all around the world.

Previous New Zealand recipients include Dr Eve de Castro Robinson, Dylan Lardelli, and Samuel Holloway.

Key dates:
Applications are due at the close of 5:00PM 24 February 2020 (AEDT)
Successful applicants notified: End of April
Acquittal: Grants must be acquitted within five years

Why is matter so intelligent, though? explores the acoustic relationships between reef fish, sea urchins, snapping shrimp and other marine life forms in the Hauraki Gulf, considering the symbiotic interdependencies of these organisms through sound.

Made in collaboration with the Leigh Marine Laboratory, just north of Auckland, this multichannel sound work refers to the temporal trends and biological rhythms native to this marine environment, and asks, what can we learn from these interdependent, self-organising life history strategies?

This exhibition is the outcome of Amy Jean Barnett’s 2019-20 Toi Pōneke New Zealand School of Music Sound Art Residency.

Artist's Conversation and Closing Celebration: Friday 31 January
Conversation: 5pm
Closing Celebration: 6pm

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.

Improvisational and incantatory, this immersive performance will feature Laurie Anderson and her string ensemble, Greg Cohen, Eyvind Kang and Rubin Kodheli, and percussionist Shahzad Ismaily, alongside New Zealand musicians including Horomona Horo.

As well as Laurie’s own writing, The Calling takes text from Rebel in the Soul: An Ancient Egyptian Dialogue Between a Man and His Destiny – a translation of a 4000-year-old discourse between a person and their soul, which speaks to us with intriguing relevance for today.

The Calling is dedicated to the spirit of Laurie’s niece Thea Anderson, who taught dance in New Zealand and lost her life here in a car accident on her 25th birthday.

For this one-night-only event we strip out the seating to invite you to respond to the music in whatever way you feel.

Make a night of it and experience Stewart Hurwood’s guitar feedback installation Lou Reed Drones also at the Lower Hutt Events Centre.

By Laurie Anderson, Greg Cohen, Eyvind Kang, Rubin Kodheli, Horomona Horo and Shahzad Ismaily

Proudly part of the 2020 New Zealand Festival of the Arts.
Thanks to Wellington Amenities Fund.

For artist Laurie Anderson, listening is an art. The pioneering musician’s extraordinary career, renowned for a groundbreaking collaborative approach to process and performance, can be seen as an expedition into the complexities of sound and the ways that a conscious mind can both create and experience it. Laurie’s signature programme for the 2020 New Zealand Festival of the Arts is an invitation to close listening. Laurie joins musicians Shahzad Ismaily and Horomona Horo to discuss the nature of music and mind. Hear it for yourself.

Māori composer Horomona Horo is a specialist practitioner of Traditional Māori Instruments. His extensive history in performance and collaborative work spans over 20 years, during this time he has worked with a vast array of creative disciplines and genre as well as recently completing artist residencies at Government House Wellington and Brandeis University, Boston (USA). Horomona’s work features alongside New Zealand and international artists such as Maisey Rika, Dame Gillian Whitehead, Black Arm Band, QSO, Small Island Big Song (to name a few). Events include WOMAD, The Rainforest Festival (Borneo), WOMEX, Rugby and Cricket World Cups, Olympic and Commonwealth Games, The Celtic Festival, Jazz and Blues Festival (Australia), and many more.

Proudly part of the 2020 New Zealand Festival of the Arts Writers Festival.

Violinist Laurie Anderson and her string ensemble – bassist Greg Cohen, violist Eyvind Kang, cellist Rubin Kodheli and percussionist Shahzad Ismaily – present a concert featuring the songs and texts of Laurie and her late husband and collaborator Lou Reed.

Joining the international ensemble is taonga pūoro composer and musician Horomona Horo.

Backed by the drones – the majestic and strangely harmonic guitar feedback soundscape performed by Stewart Hurwood – let the music wash over you. Both Laurie and Lou wrote many songs about the ocean and these are interpreted, arranged and merged by the musicians into an entirely new symphonic work.

Experience Stewart Hurwood’s guitar feedback installation Lou Reed Drones up-close at the Lower Hutt Events Centre.

By Laurie Anderson, Greg Cohen, Eyvind Kang, Rubin Kodheli, Horomona Horo and Shahzad Ismaily.

Proudly part of the 2020 New Zealand Festival of the Arts.
Partnered by MinterEllisonRuddWatts.
Thanks to Creative New Zealand.

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.

Giancarlo Guerrero | conductor
Valentina Lisitsa | piano

Lilburn | Drysdale Overture
Prokofiev | Piano Concerto No. 3
Beethoven | Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'

Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero has won six Grammys for his recordings as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony. Maestro Guerrero visits New Zealand to conduct a programme awash in musical landscapes.

When studying at the Royal College of Music, Douglas Lilburn was asked by his teacher Ralph Vaughan Williams, “isn’t it time you composed something?” Lilburn responded by writing the Drysdale Overture, a loving depiction of his family’s farm in the upper Turakina River Valley.

By contrast, Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony is his famous expression of his love of the German countryside. Replete with simulated cuckoo calls, country dances, babbling brooks and a wild storm; the 'Pastoral' nickname is well-earned.

Valentina Lisitsa performs Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto. One of the first viral classical music stars, with more than 214 million views on YouTube, Lisitsa is a highly sought after concert pianist, praised for “the aesthetic honesty of her performances.”

Giancarlo Guerrero | conductor
Valentina Lisitsa | piano

Lilburn | Drysdale Overture
Prokofiev | Piano Concerto No. 3
Beethoven | Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'

Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero has won six Grammys for his recordings as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony. Maestro Guerrero visits New Zealand to conduct a programme awash in musical landscapes.

When studying at the Royal College of Music, Douglas Lilburn was asked by his teacher Ralph Vaughan Williams, “isn’t it time you composed something?” Lilburn responded by writing the Drysdale Overture, a loving depiction of his family’s farm in the upper Turakina River Valley.

By contrast, Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony is his famous expression of his love of the German countryside. Replete with simulated cuckoo calls, country dances, babbling brooks and a wild storm; the 'Pastoral' nickname is well-earned.

Valentina Lisitsa performs Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto. One of the first viral classical music stars, with more than 214 million views on YouTube, Lisitsa is a highly sought after concert pianist, praised for “the aesthetic honesty of her performances.”

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.

Giancarlo Guerrero | conductor
Valentina Lisitsa | piano

Lilburn | Drysdale Overture
Prokofiev | Piano Concerto No. 3
Beethoven | Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'

Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero has won six Grammys for his recordings as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony. Maestro Guerrero visits New Zealand to conduct a programme awash in musical landscapes.

When studying at the Royal College of Music, Douglas Lilburn was asked by his teacher Ralph Vaughan Williams, “isn’t it time you composed something?” Lilburn responded by writing the Drysdale Overture, a loving depiction of his family’s farm in the upper Turakina River Valley.

By contrast, Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony is his famous expression of his love of the German countryside. Replete with simulated cuckoo calls, country dances, babbling brooks and a wild storm; the 'Pastoral' nickname is well-earned.

Valentina Lisitsa performs Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto. One of the first viral classical music stars, with more than 214 million views on YouTube, Lisitsa is a highly sought after concert pianist, praised for “the aesthetic honesty of her performances.”

Giancarlo Guerrero | conductor
Valentina Lisitsa | piano

Lilburn | Drysdale Overture
Prokofiev | Piano Concerto No. 3
Beethoven | Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'

Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero has won six Grammys for his recordings as Music Director of the Nashville Symphony. Maestro Guerrero visits New Zealand to conduct a programme awash in musical landscapes.

When studying at the Royal College of Music, Douglas Lilburn was asked by his teacher Ralph Vaughan Williams, “isn’t it time you composed something?” Lilburn responded by writing the Drysdale Overture, a loving depiction of his family’s farm in the upper Turakina River Valley.

By contrast, Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony is his famous expression of his love of the German countryside. Replete with simulated cuckoo calls, country dances, babbling brooks and a wild storm; the 'Pastoral' nickname is well-earned.

Valentina Lisitsa performs Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto. One of the first viral classical music stars, with more than 214 million views on YouTube, Lisitsa is a highly sought after concert pianist, praised for “the aesthetic honesty of her performances.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.