Superstar Violinist To Play The Music Of John Williams With NZSO

Anne-Sophie Mutter, one of the world’s greatest violinists, performs the music of movie legend John Williams with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in November.

It will be the first time the Grammy Award-winner has performed in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The concerts in Auckland and Wellington celebrate Williams’ extraordinary career as a film composer, from the 1973 movie The Long Goodbye to his most recent, 2023’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny which had Mutter performing on the soundtrack.

Led by NZSO Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Gemma New, Music of John Williams with Anne-Sophie Mutter features his best-known and loved music from Star Wars, Harry Potter and more.

Mutter and Williams are longtime collaborators and have released three albums together since 2019, which have enjoyed worldwide success. The concert includes Mutter performing Williams’ Violin Concerto No. 2, which the composer wrote for the virtuoso.

“It has been a lifelong dream of mine to have John Williams compose a concerto for me,” Mutter has said. She has been a fan of Williams’ music since she saw the first Star Wars film in 1978 in her native Germany. “For me, he is one of the greatest composers of our time.”

“Working with Anne-Sophie... has been a pure inspiration,” Williams has said on recording with the violinist. “She has brought vibrant life to these familiar themes in new and unexpected ways, which has been a great joy for me as a composer.”

In a career spanning more than 40 years, Mutter has performed with the world’s top orchestras and conductors. Many of the greatest modern composers, including Sir André Previn and Krzysztof Penderecki, have had Mutter play at the world premieres of their works.

Hailed by The Times as “the undisputed queen of violin-playing”, in 2020 she was awarded Germany’s prestigious Prize Opus Klassik as “Instrumentalist of the Year”, having won Sweden’s Polar Music Prize and Japan’s Praemium Imperiale the previous year.

Other honours include Poland’s Gloria Artis Gold Medal for cultural achievements, the German Grand Order of Merit, the insignia of a Commander of the French Order of the Arts and Literature, Bavarian Order of Merit, and Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria.

While in Wellington, Mutter will hold a violin masterclass with three NZSO National Youth Orchestra violinists: Hazuki Katsukawa, Peter Gjelsten and Esther Oh.

The NZSO Foundation Masterclass at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre on 15 November is open to the public. Free Masterclass tickets are available by booking online at nzso.co.nz/the-nzso/events-tickets/events/anne-sophie-mutter-masterclass

Tickets to

Music of John Williams with Anne-Sophie Mutter

are available via ticketmaster.co.nz

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