Press Release – NZSO
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra/Te Tira
Pūoro o Aotearoa tours the South Island in March with an exciting selection of music inspired by the serenity of the countryside and the bustle of towns and cities.
Town and Country in Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch and Blenheim sees the Orchestra led by internationally acclaimed conductor and NZSO Music Director Emeritus
.
“I am so happy and feel very privileged to be back with you in New Zealand for this tour with the great musicians of the NZSO,” says Maestro Judd.
“For Town and Country, we have chosen music from the two countries where I have lived with my family – the UK and USA – and our favourite, New Zealand. The music on our programme will evoke vivid feelings of urban bustle and excitement, to serene countryside. Please come along to meet us, sit back, relax and enjoy this entertaining programme.”
When I don’t speak only of San Diego do we ever get a chance to hear live performances of Ernst Toch, Vittorio Rieti, Vaclav Nelhybel, Peter Mennin, Roger Sessions, William Schuman, Roy Harris, Ben Weber, Quincy Porter, David Diamond, Walter Piston, Ross Lee Finney, Arnold Bax, E.J. Moeran, Douglas Lilburn, Michael Tippett, Frank Martin, Marius Constant, Serge Nigg, Daniel-Lesur, Luigi Dallapiccola, Hans Pfitzner, Klaus Egge, Alan Petterson, Heinrich Sutermeister, Ferenc Szabo, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, etc., etc.
Once Leonard Bernstein smiled at little Henry on an airplane. And there he goes, conducting the entire concert from row M of the balcony.
Opinion
In New Zealand classical music, the writers of words are routinely hidden from view. If they care so little, why not settle for humming the melody, asks NZ’s inaugural poet laureate, Bill Manhire.
I watched the Whānau London Voices concert the other day, and admired the initiative and spirit of the venture, as well as the show itself; I even made a donation! But I was troubled by one of the assumptions about the relationship between music and words. Somehow the authorship of the words didn’t matter much at all. This isn’t an assumption specific to the Whānau project, but one that seems to inform the wider world of classical music.