Christchurch Students Visited by Their Favourite Musicians

Friday 16 September
For immediate release

Christchurch Students Visited by Their Favourite Musicians

Children from Christchurch South Intermediate School were treated to a private concert today, by their favourite musicians the New Zealand String Quartet (NZSQ), when the music4life programme returned to Christchurch.

The music4life programme is a community initiative which was jointly developed by the New Zealand String Quartet and HSBC, and has been travelling to perform to school children from Auckland to Invercargill since 2008.

Students enjoyed a performance by the internationally acclaimed NZSQ and then learnt from them, as the players discussed their instruments and answered questions about their backgrounds and early musical experiences.

The programme first visited Christchurch South Intermediate in 2009, with the New Zealand String Quartet and HSBC continuing the relationship with the school, seeing new children each year taking something meaningful away from the concerts.

Natalie Johnston, Christchurch South Intermediate Orchestra Tutor, comments: “We have children here who are particularly talented at music, so it is always so rewarding as a teacher to each year be able to expose new children to the experience.”

Elizabeth Kerr, Manager of the New Zealand String Quartet, said “The musicians of the Quartet and the children always get so much out of the music4life concerts, the programme is definitely a highlight of our annual calendar.”

HSBC Christchurch Manager, Colin Ross, said the music4life concert series was one of a number of initiatives by the organisation to promote the education of young people in New Zealand.

“Each and every concert is different, and it is always moving to watch as the children, often for the first time, are exposed to music by a String Quartet, and really have fun getting involved” Mr Ross said.

Notes to Editors

1. HSBC in New Zealand
HSBC in New Zealand operates through a network of branches and offices, providing personal and commercial financial services, payment and cash management, trade finance, treasury and financial markets, corporate banking, investment advisory and securities custody services. The principal HSBC Group member in New Zealand is The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, incorporated in Hong Kong SAR, acting through its New Zealand branch.

2.The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding and a principal member of the HSBC Group which serves customers worldwide from around 7,500 offices in over 80 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, North and Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,691 billion at 30 June 2011, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.

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