NZSO-SOUNZ Readings features spectrum of NZ music

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From an electric bass concerto to an Indonesian vocalist, the 16th session of NZSO-SOUNZ Readings features an amazingly wide spectrum of New Zealand music.

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Hamish McKeich conducting a previous Readings session.

The Readings are a collaborative project of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music. Five orchestral works from five New Zealand composers will be rehearsed and played by the NZSO, conducted by Hamish McKeich, in the Wellington Town Hall on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th May, 2009. The composers involved also span the spectrum: from John Rimmer, who celebrated his 70th birthday this year to younger emerging composers like Claire Cowan, recently returned from the USA.

Three of the works will feature soloists: bass player Nick Tipping will take the solo part in the first movement of Jeremy Mayall’s Electric Bass Concerto;
Indonesian vocalist Budi Putra will sing in Jack Body’s Palaran, with words from Indonesian texts; and soprano Jenny Wollerman will feature in Ross Harris’ The Floating Bride, the Crimson Village, a setting of words by Vincent O’Sullivan inspired by the paintings of Marc Chagall.

Observers are welcome to all sessions, especially the play-through of the works each afternoon which will be recorded for the composers by Radio New Zealand Concert. A forum will follow the final session on Thursday in which ideas, observations and perspectives surrounding the programming and performance of New Zealand orchestral works will be discussed and shared. A more detailed schedule for the Readings can be downloaded from the SOUNZ website here: http://sounz.org.nz/events/show/1081

Background to the NZSO-SOUNZ Readings project:
The Centre believes that the Readings are an important project in helping to achieve our aim of increasing the number of performances of New Zealand works. We are grateful for the generosity of both the NZSO and Radio NZ Concert for their professional involvement which allows these works to be heard in a wider context. We are encouraged that of the 82 works by 51 New Zealand composers that have been part of the NZSO-SOUNZ Readings since the first session in 1998, at least 27 have been programmed for performance or broadcast and four have been recorded for commercial release on CDs.

The project highlights the extraordinary range and depth of orchestral composition in this country and are one way in which SOUNZ seeks to encourage orchestras both here and overseas to explore and share this rich repertoire with their audiences.

ENDS

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