Triple Treat Chamber Music Programmes in Wellington

Triple Treat Chamber Music Programmes for New Zealand Music Month in Wellington

Chamber Music New Zealand celebrates New Zealand Music Month with a special trio of concerts and events with Wellington scoring all events including two concerts, a seminar exploring what makes composers ‘tick’ and a concert putting amateur musicians in the spotlight.

Three programmes featuring five of the country’s leading composers together with the NZTrio, New Zealand String Quartet and New Zealand Chamber Soloists perform in 10 centres throughout New Zealand on the Composer Connections tour with two concerts being performed in Wellington.

The first of the Wellington concerts on Sunday 26 April features the world premiere of Ross Harris’ Piano Quintet and is part of the Wellington Chamber Music Trust Series.

The Composer Connections programmes have been curated by New Zealand composers with their favourite ensemble in mind and showcases music that deeply influences them in their work.

The first Wellington concert is a programme curated by Ross Harris for the New Zealand String Quartet and pianist Stephen De Pledge.

The programme also features Harris’ string quartet Variation 25, alongside Bach and Mozart, and Shostakovich’s ninth string quartet.

Ross says that the Mozart and Shostakovich pieces exhibit mastery of form and clarity of thought. “Although quite different circumstances surrounded the creation of their musical worlds, their works reveal a profoundly moving fusion of emotion and technique."

The New Zealand String Quartet says Ross’ dramatic programme “perfectly reflects our shared artistic and musical values and will illuminate his own moving and thoughtful compositions. We are blessed as a quartet to have a continuous stream of brilliant works from such contemporary masters as Ross to add to our rich body of repertoire.”

For Wellington’s second Composer Connections concert, the NZTrio perform a programme curated by composers Alex Taylor, Karlo Margetić and Claire Cowan on Saturday 9 May.

The programme features solos and duos building up to the full ensemble and including the premiere of Cowan’s new work ultra violet. The three composers say the programme draws together a range of threads that connect them as New Zealand composers and all the composers chosen are linked by a strong concern with colour and texture.

The NZTrio say they are “utterly thrilled” with the unique and dramatic concept that the composers have come up with. “There is an intriguing interplay between all the works and we love that the repertoire truly reflects the character and inspiration of their own compositions.”

Linked to the Composer Connections tour is a day-long residency with the musicians and composers from the tour. What Makes Composers Tick delves into the creative world of the composers and includes concerts, seminars, workshops and the chance to ask questions of composers and musicians.

And for amateur musicians, Open Stage offers the chance to perform on-stage for an audience. Forty ensembles have signed up for this brand-new initiative from Chamber Music New Zealand and the sessions will take place in Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Dunedin.

The Composer Connections tour is presented in association with SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music.Composer Connections with Ross Harris and the New Zealand String Quartet and Stephen De Pledge is at St Andrew’s, The Terrace on Sunday 26 April at 3pm. Tickets are available throughdashtickets.co.nz. The Composer Connections concert featuring the NZTrio with composers Alex Taylor, Karlo Margetić and Claire Cowan is at the Michael Fowler Centre on Saturday 9 May with tickets available through Ticketek 0800 TICKETEK (842 538) or www.ticketek.co.nz.

What Makes Composers Tick takes place in Wellington on Friday 8 May at the Adam Concert Room, Victoria University of Wellington; and the Open Stage performance in Wellington takes place at the Michael Fowler Centre on Saturday 9 April at 10am. For details, visit www.chambermusic.co.nz

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