Four Seasons - NZSO concerts in May, June & July

WELLINGTON |Wellington College|Saturday 8 May| 7.30pm 

Four Seasons presents Antonio Vivaldi’s baroque masterpiece The Four Seasons, one of the best-known classical works of the past 300 years, and a performance of tango legend Astor Piazzolla’s Vivaldi-inspired tour de force The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.

Four exceptional NZSO violinists – Anna van der Zee, Malavika Gopal, Simeon Broom, and Alan Molina – are soloists for a season each in performances of The Four Seasons and The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, directed by NZSO Concertmaster Vesa-Matti Leppänen.

Fantastique

in association with Ryman Healthcare

WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Friday 14 May| 6.30pm

AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Thursday 20 May| 7.30pm

HAMILTON | Claudelands Arena|Friday 21 May| 7.30pm

CHRISTCHURCH |Town Hall|Friday 28 May| 7.30pm

With the NZSO led for the first time by acclaimed New Zealand conductor Holly Mathieson, Fantastique includes Hector Berlioz’s hallucinatory Symphonie Fantastique, Tōru Takemitsu’s Dreamtime (Yume no toki) and New Zealand composer Dorothy Ker’s The Third Dream.

Stronger Together

HAMILTON | Claudelands Arena|Saturday 22 May| 7.30pm

CHRISTCHURCH |Town Hall|Saturday 29 May| 7.30pm

A collaboration with internationally acclaimed te reo metal band Alien Weaponry. With creative coordinator Jeremy Mayall, your NZSO brings together some of New Zealand’s top composers combining symphonic might with Alien Weaponry’s raw power and energy. 

Hailed by Revolver Magazine in the USA as “one of the most exciting young metal bands in the world right now”, Alien Weaponry are bringing their unique te reo metal to their legions of fans across the globe with many of their songs sung in te reo Māori. 

The three-piece from Waipu deliver emotionally and politically charged stories of conflict and grief with a warriorlike attitude. Drummer Henry de Jong says, “Our musical style and messages have a lot of similarities with haka, which is often brutal, angry and about stories of great courage or loss.” 

Their debut album Tū, released in 2018, has been acclaimed worldwide and the band have toured extensively across Europe and North America supporting Slayer, Anthrax, Ministry and Black Label Society as well as opening for Prophets of Rage in Auckland, New Zealand. They have sold out headline shows in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, the USA, and Canada; and played main stage sets to record crowds at some of the biggest and most prestigious festivals around the world.

Pick-a-Path

HAMILTON | Claudelands Arena|Sunday 23 May| 2.00pm

CHRISTCHURCH |Town Hall|Saturday 30 May| 2.00pm

Pick-a-Path is a fun, interactive concert where the audience is in control. Audience members decide the direction the NZSO heads in a pick-a-path style musical adventure. That’s right! The audience chooses where the story goes and what music the Orchestra will play! 

Choose a character, its journey and help our friend bake a musical cake with the help of narrator Kevin Keys and your NZSO conducted by Holly Mathieson. You will hear some of the greatest music ever written, or maybe a tune from your favourite movies. It’s up to you!

Town and Country

With the NZSO led by acclaimed New Zealand conductor Holly Mathieson, the country and the city come together in this programme paying homage to two very different landscapes.

NORTH SHORE | Bruce Mason Centre|Wednesday 9 June| 7.30pm

MANUKAU | Vodafone Events Centre BNZ Theatre|Thursday 10 June| 7.30pm

KERIKERI | The Turner Centre|Friday 11 June| 7.30pm

DUNEDIN | Town Hall|Friday 24 September| 7.30pm

INVERCARGILL | Civic Theatre|Saturday 25 September| 7.30pm

The Soldier’s Tale

In association with Royal New Zealand Ballet

Igor Stravinsky’s well-loved pocket-sized theatre piece, The Soldier’s Tale, was composed in 1918, and had its first tour was cut short by the Spanish flu but it has remained a popular work ever since.

Written “to be read, played and danced”, The Soldier’s Tale tells the story of the titular Soldier who makes a deal with the Devil: in exchange for the Soldier’s magic violin, the Devil will grant his every wish. This work is based on a Russian folk tale, was co-created with Swiss writer CF Ramuz, and gave Stravinsky the chance to include all his favourite musical influences. You’ll hear tango, waltz, ragtime, klezmer, church chorales, and the paso doble all brought together in Stravinsky’s intoxicating score.

NORTH SHORE | The PumpHouse Theatre|Thursday 10 June| 7.30pm

MANUKAU | Vodafone Events Centre BNZ Theatre|Friday 11 June| 7.30pm

KERIKERI | The Turner Centre|Saturday 12 June| 7.30pm

WHANGAREI | Capitaine Bougainville|Sunday 13 June| 2.00pm

DUNEDIN | Regent Theatre|Wednesday 16 June| 7.30pm

OAMARU | Opera House|Thursday 17 June| 7.30pm

ASHBURTON | Trust Event Centre|Friday 18 June| 7.30pm 

Matariki

in association with the New Zealand Listener

AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Friday 2 July| 7.30pm

WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Friday 9 July| 6.30pm

Conducted by New Zealander Gemma New, Matariki features the world premiere of Gareth Farr’s Ngā Hihi O Matariki. Farr is well known for his sensational pulse-quickening works. Ngā Hihi O Matariki is a significant new work of symphonic proportions. In Gareth’s words: “This work celebrates Matariki as an event embracing New Zealand’s past and present, and a time to think about where we are going as a nation. I am fascinated by the fact that this constellation has such importance in many cultures around the world, and that it links us all together in the recognition of a celestial event of uniqueness and beauty.”

The Rite of Spring

in association with the New Zealand Listener

AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Saturday 3 July| 7.30pm

WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Saturday 10 July| 7.30pm

The Rite of Spring is a special performance of Stravinsky’s groundbreaking 1913 work accompanied by immersive visuals by leading New Zealand creatives Nocturnal and the NZSO led by New Zealander Gemma New.

NYO Leningrad

in association with the Adam Foundation

AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Sunday 4 July| 2.00pm

WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Sunday 11 July| 2.00pm

NYO Leningrad features the NZSO National Youth Orchestra and musicians from the NZSO performing Dmitri Shostakovich’s epic Symphony No. 7 Leningrad. The performances also include immersive visuals by Nocturnal.

Composed in the depths of World War II, Shostakovich wrote the symphony literally in between sprints to and from bomb shelters; the symphony itself premiered during the infamous Siege of Leningrad, which resulted in the loss of a staggering half a million lives. The premiere was broadcast throughout the city on speakers to give the embattled Russian people the strength and will to survive. Ever since then the symphony has been a colossal statement of fortitude against unthinkable odds, of resilience through extreme hardship, and of the victory of hope over death.

In addition, we proudly premiere a new commission from the 2021 NZSO NYO Composer in Residence Ihlara McIndoe. 2021 is the residency’s 17th year and a vital stepping stone to success for young New Zealand composers. 

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