NZTRIO ANNOUNCE A BRIMMING 2022 PROGRAMME TO CELEBRATE 20 YEARS
NZTrio presents
THE LEGACY SERIES
NZTrio presents a celebration of 20 years with the LEGACY series, giving an opportunity to look both to the past and the future. The first dates of their jam-packed programme have been announced, including a return to Auckland Town Hall’s Concert Chamber in May, July and November. The 2022 concert series will take audiences on a spellbinding trip through memories and recollections to honour the trio’s remarkable contribution to Aotearoa’s musical landscape.
The masterful Ashley Brown (cello), Amalia Hall (violin), and Somi Kim (piano) return after last year's sensational Dramatic Skies series to reflect on NZTrio’s outstanding impact, passion and artistry over the past 20 years. LEGACY heralds three brand new commissions from Michael Norris, Tabea Squire and Gao Ping to add to the already impressive repertoire of 75 new works commissioned over their extensive history. Spotlighting the trio’s trademark eclecticism, the new works will be teamed up with the mightiest masterpieces in the piano trio repertoire alongside genre-busting and lesser known works to prime the senses.
“I think everyone associated with NZTrio over the years – players, managers, board members, patrons, supporters and the whole trio whānau - can look back over our first 20 years with pride and satisfaction at what we’ve achieved together, and forward to the next 20 years with excitement and enthusiasm for what the future holds. Happy Birthday to us!” - Ashley Brown
Beginning a year-long exploration is LEGACY 1, featuring the work of NZTrio’s first composer commissioned back in 2003, Michael Norris, standing beside the sounds of Schumann, Kapustin, and Beethoven. LEGACY 2 continues the story with Tabea Squire’s newest work along with Schumann, Bolcom, and Schubert taking audiences along a marvellous whirlwind journey of sound. LEGACY 3 closes the saga with Gao Ping’s brand new commission as he continues his Aotearoa legacy long after his return to China. Alongside Gao Ping’s work prepare to hear Schumann arranged by Kirchner, Schuller’s trio honouring the sounds of American greats Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, and Tchaikovsky’s symphonic piano trio.
NZTrio are also set to tour the nation, with LEGACY performances along with other programmes scheduled in Auckland, Waiheke, Warkworth, Wellington, Greytown, Nelson, Christchurch, Queenstown, and Dunedin throughout 2022. NZTrio will make waves with audiences from 21st April for a non-stop musical ride right through to December.
Tickets and more information at: www.nztrio.com/event-directory
Connect with @nztrio
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*Note: correct spelling ‘NZTrio’ – no spaces, no ‘the’, not ‘The New Zealand Trio’
DATES AND BOOKING DETAILS:
LEGACY 1:
Christopher’s Classics
The Piano: Centre for Music and the Arts, 156 Armagh Street, Christchurch
21 April, 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Tickets: $17.66 - $45.79
Tickets available here
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Greytown Music Society
57 Wood Street, Greytown
1 May, 4pm
Tickets by phone reservation (evenings)
Ed & Juliet 06 304 9497 or efjacooke@gmail.com
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Public Trust Hall, Wellington
131-135 Lambton Quay, Te Aro, Wellington 6011
18 May, 7pm
Tickets: $22.50 - $45
Tickets available here
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Pah Homestead, Auckland
The Wallace Arts Centre, Pah Homestead, 72 Hillsborough Rd, Hillsborough
1 hour short concert version
19 May, 7pm
Tickets: $23 -$44
Tickets available here.
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Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber
305 Queen Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010
Full season pass available here
29 May, 5pm
Tickets: $27.50 - $55
Tickets available here
This concert will also be livestreamed
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LEGACY 2:
Warkworth Town Hall
Warkworth Music, 19 Neville Street, Warkworth 0910
3 July, 4pm
Tickets: $30
Tickets available here
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Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber
305 Queen Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010
Full season pass available here
20 July, 7pm
Tickets: $27.50 - $55
Tickets available here
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Nathan Homestead, Manurewa
Manurewa Arts Centre, 70 Hill Rd, Manurewa
1 hour short concert version
23 July, 5pm
Tickets: $23 - $44
Tickets available here
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LEGACY 3:
Pah Homestead, Auckland
The Wallace Arts Centre, Pah Homestead, 72 Hillsborough Rd, Hillsborough
1 hour short concert version
6 November, 7pm
Tickets: $23 - $44
Tickets available here
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Wellington
Public Trust Hall
131-135 Lambton Quay, Te Aro, Wellington 6011
9 November, 7pm
Tickets: $22.50 - $45
Tickets available here
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Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber
305 Queen Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010
Full season pass available here
17 November, 7pm
Tickets: $27.50 - $55
Tickets available here
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Whittaker's Musical Museum, Waiheke Island
2 Korora Road, Oneroa, Waiheke Island 1081
20 November, 5pm
Ticket enquiries: Sophie Perkins, info@musicalmuseum.org
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FURTHER CONCERTS:
Mt Eden Chamber Music Festival
Mt Eden Village Centre Church
449 Mount Eden Road, Mount Eden, Auckland 1024
Friday 29 April, 7pm
Entry $35
Ticket enquiries: edenarts1@gmail.com
For more information visit
www.edenarts.co.nz/chamber-music-festival
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Nelson Symphony Orchestra presents:
“The Rule of 3”
Nelson Centre for Musical Arts, 48 Nile Street, Nelson, 7010
25 June, 7.30pm
Tickets: $25 - $40
Tickets available here
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Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum presents:
“Toru Whā” - NZTrio & Horomona Horo
27 June
More information coming soon
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International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM):
“World New Music Days”
Auckland & Christchurch
More information coming soon
www.iscm2022nz.com/
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LEGACY SERIES PROGRAMME DETAILS:
One of NZTrio’s greatest legacies from its first 20 years is the commissioning of over 75 new works. From “dirty pixels” by Michael Norris in 2003 right through to 2021’s “Ka maranga ngā kapua” by Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead, Aotearoa’s musical landscape is continually embraced by audiences, promoters and other ensembles both locally and world-wide, guaranteeing the posterity of this taonga. LEGACY heralds three new works fresh off the press from Michael Norris, Tabea Squire and Gao Ping.
The LEGACY series also spotlights NZTrio’s trademark eclecticism in programming. Teaming up with those new works from Aotearoa are some of the mightiest masterpieces of the trio repertoire (Beethoven “Archduke”, Schubert Eb and Tchaikovsky) plus some cheeky genre-busters (Kapustin, Bolcom and Schuller), and beginning with the discovery of lesser-known works from a familiar name (Schumann) to prime the senses.
LEGACY 1
Schumann Sechs Stücke in kanonischer Form, Op. 56 arr. for Piano Trio, I & II
Norris Horizon Fields (new commission)
Kapustin Trio Op. 86
Beethoven Archduke Trio, Op. 97
The story begins with the first two of Schumann’s “Six Pieces in Canon” where he pays homage to the lasting resonance of Bach’s prodigious talents in polyphonic writing. Then we look simultaneously to the past and the future, marking NZTrio’s proud legacy of over 75 commissions by performing the latest creation from Michael Norris, who wrote NZTrio’s first ever commission back in 2003. Genre-busting repertoire is highlighted in Kapustin’s trio, a representation of the Soviet jazz scene - spicy and crisp. There’s a moment to catch your breath before the heavyweight champion appears. Beethoven’s Op.97 Bb Major trio is dedicated to his patron and friend Archduke Rudolph of Austria who would surely be delighted to know his name lives on attached to this majestic and profoundly affecting work.
LEGACY 2
Schumann Sechs Stücke in kanonischer Form, Op. 56 arr. for Piano Trio, III & IV
Squire Der Tanz (new commission)
William Bolcom Trio
Schubert Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat, Op. 100
The story continues with the luscious trio arrangement of Schumann’s melodious miniatures dedicated to his music teacher Friedrich Wieck before we return home to the sounds of Aotearoa in Tabea Squire’s newest work. Bolcom’s trio celebrates the music of our time in a whirlwind journey, turbulent with autumnal and Hispanic-jazzy tones contrasted with other-worldly serenity. Finally, we experience Schubert at the height of his artistry in his marvellous E-flat trio, acclaimed by Schumann as ‘an angry meteor blazing forth and outshining everything in the musical atmosphere of the time’. Brace yourselves for this epic musical panorama - the whole gamut of human emotion is conveyed in just four movements.
LEGACY 3
Schumann Sechs Stücke in kanonischer Form, Op. 56 arr. for Piano Trio, V & VI
Gao Ping寻山 Searching for the Mountain (new commission)*
Schuller Piano Trio
Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A minor, Op 50
The final saga begins with Schumann weaving his love of Bach's counterpoint with his own natural fountainhead of fantasy, presented in an arrangement by his friend and colleague Kirchner. The chromatic spectrum is explored further in Schuller’s trio, embodying his jazz roots with colleagues Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, and acknowledging his place in American composers’ royalty. Gao Ping’s NZ legacy continues long after his return to China in this brand new commission. The journey concludes with the largest, most symphonic piano trio of all - Tchaikovsky’s expansive and magnificent work written in memory of Nikolai Rubinstein - “À la mémoir d’un grand artiste”.
*Gao Ping’s new commission for NZTrio is generously supported by the Nicholas Tarling Charitable Trust.