MEDIA RELEASE
May 1, 2007

New Zealand Music – It’s Classic

Three upcoming concerts by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra will include New Zealand works in May, which is New Zealand Music Month.

The orchestra’s two Discovery concerts on Wednesday 16 May at the Auckland Town Hall, THE EDGE will not only feature a New Zealand composition – Anthony Ritchie’s Coming to It – but also much-loved New Zealand poet, Sam Hunt.

Over 3,000 intermediate and secondary school students will attend the Discovery concerts, designed to showcase the instruments of a symphony orchestra.

Later in the month, the ‘The Majesty of Brahms’ concert on Thursday 24 May will include the world premiere of Anthem on the Kaipara by Wellington composer, Christopher Blake. This concert is part of the APN News & Media Premier Series held at 8pm in the Auckland Town Hall.

Anthem on the Kaipara is the third in a series of four works by Mr Blake for string orchestra called Northland Panels based on photographs by the late Robin Morrison. Anthem on the Kaipara is inspired by Morrison’s photograph called Memorial Arch, North Kaipara/Dargaville area, that tells the story of a New Zealand soldier who died in the deserts of Libya in 1941. This unknown story, one of many such stories, is symbolised in Morrison’s poignant photo that was part of his 1994 photographic essay, A Journey.

The world premiere performance will continue the fruitful working relationship between Mr Blake and the US-based conductor, Christian Knapp, who directed the acclaimed premiere performance of Mr Blake’s violin concerto, Concerto Aoraki, with soloist and 2003 Michael Hill International Violin Competition winner Natalia Lomeiko and the APO last year.

The ‘Worlds Beyond’ concert a week later, on Thursday 31 May, will also feature a New Zealand composition – David Hamilton’s Elysian Fields. Commissioned by the Auckland Youth Orchestra to mark its 50th anniversary in 1998, the work is inspired by Greek mythology in which the Elysian Fields are heaven. Hamilton draws on the interpretation that Elysium is “a state perfect happiness’, making this a glittering and energetic work.

Meanwhile the APO is fostering the next generation of New Zealand composers through The Trusts Secondary Composers’ Competition and the Lion Foundation Graduate Composers’ Workshop.

The Trusts Secondary Composers’ Competition invites secondary school students to compose a short work for orchestra. The winner receives $500 and the winning work is performed at the next year’s Discovery concert. Sixty of the participating students met at the end of April to attend a workshop with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s 2007 Composer-in-Residence, Gareth Farr.

The Lion Foundation Graduate Composers’ Workshop will be held in July and September to assist developing and established composers who have new orchestral works. Participants are selected by Gareth Farr. The deadline for applications is Monday 21 May. Applications forms available from www.aucklandphil.co.nz.

The APO will premiere a new work it has commissioned from Gareth Farr at its APN News & Media Premier Series concert, ‘Virtuoso Parade’ in June.

“The APO regularly commissions and performs New Zealand works and is proud to boast strong relationships with many New Zealand composers,” says APO Chief Executive, Barbara Glaser. “New Zealand music has a presence within our concert programmes all year-round and our education programme actively fosters composition skills through numerous activities with a focus on not just writing new music, but providing opportunities for it to be performed.”

Tickets for all APN News & Media Premier Series concerts available from Ticketek, Ph 09 307 5139 or www.ticketek.co.nz.

http://www.aucklandphil.co.nz

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