Strike Percussion’s Between Zero and One in Auckland

4 February, 2015

Festival Highlight On Its Way to Auckland
Strike Percussion’s Between Zero and One set to explode at Q in April

An award-winning group of New Zealand’s most sensational drummers and percussionists, Strike, are bringing their high-energy show Between Zero and One - a 2014 arts festival zenith – to Auckland’s Q Theatre in April.

Inspired by rhythm, from tribal to dubstep, Between Zero and One is a large-scale performance comprising drumming and percussion, choreography, classical music, jazz and breathtaking visual effects. It was written for Strike Percussion by internationally renowned New Zealand composer JohnPsathas ONZM.

The ambitious project, which delighted audiences at last year’s Christchurch, Dunedin and New Zealand Arts Festivals, brings the captivating Strike percussionists together with guest performances by highly acclaimed musicians from all over the world.

Between Zero and One sets the most intimate musical moments alongside sections of epic theatrical proportions, all of which take place against interactive projections by Tim Gruchy, the designer of Britomart’s SCOUT interactive display.

Strike Percussion’s Artistic Director and Between Zero and One performer, Murray Hickman, says, “If people would like to see us really going to town on our instruments, and visuals by a multimedia maestro, then they need to come to Q in April.

“We have loved creating this show and, musically, it's so exciting to play. We were blown away by the reaction of festival audiences last year, particularly the young people. We can’t wait to bring that energy to Auckland before we head off on tour to China later this year.”

The show has been directed by Philippa Campbell (Top of the Lake, Rain, Black Sheep (producer)) and is performed by Strike’s Artistic Director Murray Hickman with Tim Whitta, Takumi Motokawa, Dorothy Raphael, Stephanie Engelbrecht, drummer and rugby league star Leni Sulusi and The Thomas Oliver Band’s Tom Scrase.

Composer John Psathas ONZM is professor of composition at the New Zealand School of Music. He is widely considered one of the three most important living composers of the Greek Diaspora. He has a natural inclination toward mega-projects. Since writing much of the ceremonial music for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, John’s music has been on the radar screen of a wider public than that normally associated with contemporary classical music.

John’s music has achieved a level of international success unprecedented in New Zealand history, and his concert works are performed regularly on the international stage by some of the world’s top musicians, including Dame Evelyn Glennie, Joanna MacGregor, The Halle Orchestra, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman, Kristjan Jarvi, Sir Mark Elder, Pedro Carneiro and many others.

Video and interactive designer Tim Gruchy’s installations and performances have featured in institutions, festivals andpublic spaces all over the world, including Britomart’s SCOUT, Beijing 798 (2011), Shanghai Metro station for the 2010 Expo, 2009’s Asian Art Biennial in Taiwan, the 2009 Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, the Festival of Visual Arts in Adelaide (1986-2008) and the 2009 Auckland Arts Festival.

About Strike Percussion
For twenty years, Strike have been New Zealand’s premiere classical percussion ensemble, and one of the country’s most successful cultural exports. They regularly tour throughout the world presenting their unique and exhilarating percussion stage shows, and have performed with groups as diverse as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Royal NZ Ballet, and rock band Kora. Recent performances include the Seoul International Percussion Festival , with Hayley Westenra at the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final and “The Big Bang” – featuring 400 NZ school children, a massed choir, Rarotongan drummers and Kora.

Renown also for their education work, Strike have presented their hugely popular schools shows to more than one million NZ students of all ages. In demand as educators throughout the world, they have conducted their ground breaking ensemble class program at some of the world’s most prestigious music institutions, including the Royal Schools of Music in London & Manchester, Paris Conservatoire, Korean National University, Singapore Institute of The Arts, and the Australian National University.

Strike won the NZ Classical Recording of the year in 2001 and they were nominated for the same award in 2010 for Sketches. In 2012, the company was awarded a 2012 New Zealander of the Year Award medal for their teaching programs.

Season information
Between Zero and One
Q Theatre Rangatira
305 Queen St, Auckland
8 – 12 April 2015
6:30pm Wed & Fri / 8:30pm Thurs & Sat / 4pm Sun
Duration: 75min (no interval)
Tickets: $25-$39 (service fees apply) OR pay $60 for a double feature ticket to 'Between Zero and One' & 'Daffodils'. Read more at: http://www.qtheatre.co.nz/between-zero-and-one
Qtheatre.co.nz
09 309 9771

Creative team
Composition: John Psathas, David Downes, Jack Hooker
Performance Direction: Philippa Campbell
Video & Interactives design: Tim Gruchy
Sound Design & Operation: Ollivier Ballester
Set Design: Glenn Ashworth, Ollivier Ballester, madmat
Lighting Design: Glenn Ashworth
Lighting & AV Operation: Thomas Press
Costume Design: Lela Jacobs
Production Management: madmat
Stage Management: Lesley Bandy
Artistic & Musical Direction: Strike, Murray Hickman
Producer & Rehearsal Direction: Angela Green
Produced by: Strike Percussion

Performers
Murray Hickman
Tim Whitta
Takumi Motokawa
Dorothy Raphael
Leni Sulusi
Tom Scrase
Stephanie Engelbrecht

International performers include
Leila Adu, New York
Adam Page, Wellington
Serj Tankian, Los Angeles
Matt Penman, New York
Petros Kourtis, Athens
Warren Maxwell, Featherston
Lara St. John & Iggy Cain, New York
Pedro Carneiro, Lisbon
Michael Gavriel, Wellington
Pei-Ching Wu, Taipei
Kostas Theodorakos, Athens
Julia Coolikova, Moscow
Louis van der Mespel, Wellington
Anna-Marie Alloway, Wellington
John Roxburgh, Wellington
Salina Fisher, Wellington
Annabel Drummond, Wellington
Leppnen. Sophia Labropoulou, Athens
Alex Ware, Wellington
Jack Hooker, Wellington

www.facebook.com/strikenz
www.zeroandone.strike.co.nz

ENDS

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