Odes to Joy tour packed with stars!

Odes to Joy tour packed with stars!

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Odes to Joy tour packed with stars!

They’re the all-Kiwi operatic dream team coming home for the most monumental concert series of our year.

Expat opera stars Simon O’Neill, Jonathan Lemalu, Madeleine Pierard and Sarah Castle will grace the stage with us for Odes to Joy – a concert series perfectly timed to coincide with the festivities around the Rugby World Cup 2011.

Odes to Joy will showcase Beethoven’s epic Ninth Symphony to audiences in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. The Romantic masterpiece was his final symphony, and its famous and spectacular final movement combines the full might of the NZSO with four soloists and a massed choir.

The symphony’s theme of universal brotherhood has sealed its status as the anthem of choice for major world events, including the bringing down of the Berlin Wall. That’s why it’s an excellent fit for the REAL New Zealand Festival, the cultural celebration running alongside the RWC 2011 tournament during September and October.

NZSO Music Director Pietari Inkinen will lead the Orchestra for Odes to Joy, which is proudly supported by the New Zealand government through Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

The Orchestra will be supported at each performance by local civic choirs, including The Orpheus Choir of Wellington, the Auckland Choral Society, the City of Dunedin Choir and the Christchurch City Choir, along with singers from Voices NZ.

Odes to Joy will also unveil Kaitiaki, a new work in the spirit of Beethoven’s Ninth. Commissioned by the NZSO, it is composed by Gareth Farr with a libretto by award-winning fiction writer Witi Ihimaera.

Gareth says he jumped at the chance to write music for the massive combined forces of orchestra, soloists and choir. He says: “Kaitiaki is an expression of the love I have for where I live – its land, its people, its multi-cultural society - and all it feeds me as an artist.”

Witi says the work is, for him, a mihi aroha: “A greeting of love across space and time to honour Beethoven, the greatest composer the world has ever known.”

There is no doubt this will be one of the most uplifting and inspiring live performances you’ll experience this year.

To get you in the mood, be in for your chance to win!
COMPETITION

We’re celebrating the return home of Wagnerian tenor Simon O’Neill for Odes to Joy, by giving away three copies of his acclaimed Father and Son album (EMI Classics). Recorded with the NZSO, the album earned a rare double-five-star review from the prestigious BBC Music Magazine. If the album's not on your shelf, it should be!

To enter the draw, simply name the Spanish opera legend coming to Christchurch next month to perform a one-off charity concert with the NZSO National Youth Orchestra.

Send your answer to competitions@nzso.co.nz with Odes to Joy in the subject line. Remember to include your full name and contact address. Entries close at noon on Friday 16 September. One entry per person, please.

Pietari Inkinen conductor
Madeleine Pierard soprano
Sarah Castle mezzo-soprano
Simon O’Neill tenor
Jonathan Lemalu bass
Voices NZ Chamber Choir and choirs from each centres (Auckland Choral Society / Orpheus Choir of Wellington / Christchurch City Choir / City of Dunedin Choir)

FARR Kaitiaki
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 Choral Symphony

Wellington Michael Fowler Centre / Thu 22 September / 6.30 pm

Book at TICKETEK

Auckland Town Hall / Sat 24 September / 2 pm
Book at THE EDGE

Dunedin Town Hall / Wed 28 September / 6.30 pm
Book at TICKETDIRECT

Christchurch CBS Canterbury Arena / Tue 27 September / 6 pm
Book at TICKETEK

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