Conducting before live audiences in Wellington and Auckland has been utterly uplifting, she says. ROSA WOODS/Stuff When she walks on to the stage, Gemma New says she is released. ‘’I love the fact I am not alone.’’ It’s that beat before she performs, as the audience takes its seat, when the usher finally gives her the nod to walk out on stage, that is the most tense and anticipatory. When she walks on to that stage she is released. “I love the fact I am not alone. I’m not facing the audience, I’m facing my colleagues, and I love them, and I am inspired by them and I'm excited by what’s about to happen.