Festival of Colour sessions for early risers and night hawks

PRESS RELEASE

Festival of Colour sessions to entertain early risers and night hawks

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (April 2, 2013) – Lazy morning melodies and late-night beats add to the eclectic sounds of this year’s Southern Lakes Festival of Colour. New Zealand Guitar Quartet and NZ Music Awards 2012 winner Amiria Grenell play early gigs while Australian multi-instrumentalist Adam Page and Aaron Tokona of Cairo Knife Fight come out after dark.

The New Zealand Guitar Quartet performs two lunchtime shows, one at the festival’s main Wanaka venue and one at the stunning Mt Difficulty vineyard in Bannockburn. This programme showcases their best repertoire from Bach and Rimsky-Korsakov to NZ composer Ian Krouse and the Latin rhythms of Brazil’s Paulo Bellinati and Cuban stars, Carlos Rafael Rivera and Leo Brouwer.

Amiria Grenell won Best Folk Album at last year’s NZ Music Awards and entertains a coffee-time crowd in Wanaka on the final day of the festival. The Lyttleton singer-songwriter’s delicate brand of Kiwi folk music is perfectly suited for a Sunday morning with hints of reggae, blues and country. She will also take her music to Wanaka’s youngest music aficionados, visiting the town’s pre-schools as part of the Festival of Colour’s Schoolfest.

Friday and Saturday nights see 11pm shows from Adam Page and Aaron Tokona respectively.

Adam Page is a wonderfully clever and outrageous Aussie musician now resident in Wellington. He’s at the forefront of a new style, recording live instruments into loop pedals and composing intricate grooves on the fly in styles ranging from funk and tango to jazz and afrobeat. A superb saxophone player, he also uses instruments as diverse as bass, beat boxing, banjo, clarinet and didgeridoo.

Aaron Tokona is known for his bands such as Cairo Knife Fight, AHoriBuzz and Bongmaster but his appearance at this year’s festival will be solo and super-charged. An awesome guitarist, Aaron plugs into a reckless rush of music full of wild riffs and unhinged vocals – something he calls ‘a mongrel of a sound where anything goes’. Not to be missed.

With two weeks until the six-day celebration of the arts begins, Festival Director Philip Tremewan said tickets are still available for these and several other shows in both Wanaka and Queenstown.

“Costing just $10 a ticket, these five shows are probably the bargains of this year’s festival. Give the box office a call and see what else is available – you might be pleasantly surprised!” he said.

The 2013 Festival of Colour takes place from 16-21 April and features an international mix of theatre, art, dance, conversation and music set against the spectacular autumn scenery of the Southern Lakes region.

The festival is generously supported by Central Lakes Trust, The Community Trust of Otago, Creative New Zealand and Aurora Energy. For further information and ticket sales visit www.festivalofcolour.co.nz.

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