NZTrio Announce New Dates For Cumulus Concerts

NZTrio is delighted to confirm that the full run of their Cumulus concerts, Episode 2 in the Dramatic Skies series , have now been successfully rescheduled for October.

New Cumulus dates:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1st, 7PM
(previously Aug 22nd)
St Andrew’s on The Terrace, Wellington

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2nd, 7PM
(previously Sept 9th)
The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Christchurch

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12th, 7PM
(previously Sept 5th)
Auckland Town Hall, Concert Chamber

The concerts originally scheduled with October dates remain in place:

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10th, 4PM
Greytown Music Society

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13th, 7pm
Pah Homestead, Auckland (1 hour, no interval)

Ticket-holders will automatically be transferred to the new date, or may request a refund.

As a thank you for the continued support, NZTrio are also sharing, free of charge, a replay of the live stream recording of Stratus, the first concert in the Dramatic Skies series. This will fill the September 5th, 5pm slot when NZTrio were originally scheduled to perform at the Auckland Town Hall and can be accessed via their Facebook page or Vimeo link sent out to their database of subscribers.

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NZTrio is excited to announce the first dates for their 2021 series: Dramatic Skies. As the name suggests, the series takes listeners on a journey through intense emotional contrasts, from sweetness and light, to drama and darkness. Audiences will be transported through three dynamic cloudscapes, beginning in April with Stratus, followed by Cumulus in September, and closing with Cirrus in December.

The series builds on the energy of last year, disrupted though it was, and is packed full of dramatic contrasts. Each concert echoes its different cloud type, with works representative of these different formations. Some are bright and billowy – familiar shapes passing by – and others are dark, brooding and portentous. Each programme showcases NZTrio’s signature curatorial magic with potent combinations of old and new works, including three new commissions by Kiwi composers Reuben de Lautour, Jenny McLeod, and Dame Gillian Whitehead.

The Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber continues to be this ensemble’s home base for the 2021 subscription series, with a new, more intimate seating configuration designed to elevate the transcendental experience of classical music, embracing audiences and bringing them closer.

The year will also see the release of NZTrio’s debut album, recorded in January 2021. A celebration of the new permanent trio line-up – Ashley Brown (cello), Somi Kim (piano), and Amalia Hall (violin), the album is due for release this winter.

 “As a group, we endeavour to inspire new expectations and break the boundaries of classical contemporary music. Music is a unifying force that brings us together now more than ever – we are committed to immersing ourselves and our audiences in the magic of live performance.” – Somi Kim, NZTrio pianist

NZTrio: Dramatic Skies series

Season pass at the Concert Chamber – Auckland Town Hall available via Ticketmaster

DATES AND BOOKING DETAILS:

Dramatic Skies: Stratus
Rachmaninoff • Haydn • Suk • Cowan • de Lautour • Chausson

Saturday, April 10, 5pm
Nathan Homestead, Manurewa, Auckland
Tickets via Eventfinda

Sunday, April 18, 5pm
Concert Chamber – Auckland Town Hall, Auckland Central
Tickets via Ticketmaster

Dramatic Skies: Cumulus
Grieg • Schifrin • McLeod • Taylor • Smetana

Sunday, September 5, 5pm
Concert Chamber – Auckland Town Hall, Auckland Central
Tickets via Ticketmaster

Sunday, October 10, 4pm
Greytown Music Society – 57 Wood St., Greytown
Tickets via Ed or Juliet Cooke  06 304-9497 / efjacooke@gmail.com

OTHER PERFORMANCE DATES:

March 25 – Cowra Festival of International Understanding
NZTrio performance via livestream

April 16 – Dunedin ArtsFestival
NZTrio in collaboration with BalletCollective Aotearoa – Subtle Dances

June 1-6 – Wakatipu Music Festival, Queenstown
Performance of the Chamber Music NZ programme, with coaching & workshops for young artists and Queenstown community

June 18 – 30 – Chamber Music NZ tour
Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time with clarinettist Johnathon Cohen, plus a Beethoven & Ross Harris

Aug – Oct – NZTrio Composing Competition
Open to all major universities around the country, the competition brief requires entrants to craft a work inspired by a NZ artwork or visual artist with the theme of ‘Audiovisualise’. The winners will perform in a concert in Auckland on October 14.

 Tickets and more information at: www.nztrio.com/event-directory/
facebook.com/nztrio
twitter.com/nztrio (@nztrio)
Instagram: NZTrio

Full Programme Details (duration 1.5 hours, plus interval)

NZTrio 2021 Subscription Series: Dramatic Skies

NZTrio presents their 2021 series Dramatic Skies. As the name suggests, the series leads us through intense emotional contrasts, from sweetness and light to drama and darkness. The bookends – two Rachmaninoff piano trios, both named élégiaque – indicate the powerful emotional journey within the series.

Each concert presents works from overseas and, like the clouds in the title, some are bright and billowy like familiar shapes passing by while others are dark, brooding and portentous. These globe-drifters gather around the lofty peaks of Aotearoa’s musical landscape. There are two Kiwi works at the heart of each concert, a brand new commission and an older favourite.

Dramatic Skies 1: Stratus

Rachmaninoff: Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor
Haydn: Piano Trio in G Major, Hob XV:25
Suk: Elegie in D flat Major, Op. 23
Cowan: Ultra Violet
de Lautour: an auscultation of water (new commission)
Chausson: Trio in G minor, Op. 3

Stratus begins the series enveloped in a foggy blanket of sound, with the dark, sumptuous depths of Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque and Suk’s yearning Elegie, sandwiched around the cosy, rustic nature of Haydn’s sunny G Major trio. Claire Cowan’s ultra violet shimmers through the spectrum with its millions of colours; in Reuben De Latour’s new commission an auscultation of water we sink into the undulations of an aquatic heart beat; and we ascend again, evaporating into the melancholy, linear architecture of the Chausson Trio, reminiscent of Aotearoa’s eponymous threads of clouds hugging the horizon.

Dramatic Skies 2: Cumulus

Grieg: Andante Con Moto in C minor
Schifrin: Hommage a Ravel
McLeod: Clouds (new commission)
Taylor: burlesques mécaniques – ten miniatures for piano trio
Smetana: Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15

Cumulus maps a dramatic voyage, from deep melancholy touched with hints of hope in the Grieg, through a quirky reflection of Ravel’s life and music from Schifrin’s unique point of view, and deep into Smetana’s mournful response to the death of his daughter. These billowing global masterpieces come to surround and embrace the eminent locals at the heart of the programme – two edgy works by Kiwi composers at the peak of creativity: a rediscovery of Alex Taylor’s remarkable set of rugged miniatures burlesques mécaniques, and the premiere of a mist-covered new work from Jenny McLeod.

Dramatic Skies 3: Cirrus

Schubert: Sonatensatz, D. 28
Clement: shifting states
Panufnik: Piano Trio Op. 1
Whitehead: tba (new commission)
Rachmaninoff: Trio élégiaque No. 2 in D minor, Op. 9

Cirrus sweeps us into the heights of Schubert’s musical charm, shifting us into Rachel Clement’s glassmaking inspired sound world. Through passionate mood changes and luscious melodies reminiscent of the late French Romantics, Panufnik’s piano trio takes us into the depths of the nebulous glow of the clouds of Aotearoa in our new commission by Gillian Whitehead. Rachmaninoff’s masterpiece reflects on the huge journey of the whole series and brings the year to a dramatic close with a sense of pathos and heightened emotion.