Conductor: Nigel Weeks

This is the fourth concert of this year's series. An exciting selection of works by famous Russian composers, including Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and more.

Programme
Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture
Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake Ballet Suite
Rimsky Korsakov  - Procession of the Nobles
Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibitio
Borodin - Polovskian Dances

Nelson Symphony Orchestra: a regional orchestra of dedicated musicians aiming to produce high  quality orchestral concerts.

Please note the venue has changed to Old St John's Church (320 Hardy Street).

Join the New Zealand String Quartet on their 30th anniversary tour for a concert filled with passion, yearning, joy and heartache. Their Dangerous Liaisons programme explores themes of love and desire and will take you on an emotional journey through some of the great works of the repertoire.

Mendelsohn's first love and Janacek's obsession with a woman half his age were both doomed to failure yet inspired some of their most beautiful works. Jack Body's Saetas takes its inspiration from the fire and passion of flamenco songs and reveals Rolf Gjelsten's secret talent as an accomplished accordionist.

Music and art harmonise in this concert at the Suter Gallery. A word of warning: it'll be an intimate affair and the music may steal your heart!

Programme
Janacek: String Quartet no 2, Intimate Letters
Jack Body: Saetas
Mendelssohn: String Quartet no 2 in A minor, op 13

The Nelson Civic Choir opens their 2017 season with Rossini's sparkling Petite Messe Solennelle, in the wonderful setting of Nelson Cathedral.

The choir is complemented by four accomplished local soloists: Zoe Bennett (Soprano), Erica Sim (Contralto), Ewen Griffiths (Tenor) and Graham O'Brien (Bass), and conducted by their musical director, Chris Lukies. They are accompanied by James Thomas (Organ) and Lizzie Peacock (Piano).

Rossini is well known for his lively comic operas. The Petite Messe, written 30 years after his last opera, is a serious piece (Solennelle), yet it lacks none of his earlier vivacity, with some of the passages sounding as though they might have come from light opera.  The structure of this late masterpiece is that of the Catholic Mass, with major solo parts intertwined with substantial passages for chorus. Compared with Rossini's operas, this work is not often performed, and this concert gives audiences a rare chance to hear a sacred (but not too solemn) work by Rossini in a glorious Cathedral setting.

Nelson Academy of Dance proudly presents the fairy tale of love and magic Cinderella the Ballet. The ultimate rags to riches fairy tale is a delight for the whole family!

A dazzling night, featuring Prokofiev's beautiful music, a glittering ball, something wonderful is sure to happen as Cinderella and her Prince Charming dance in this year's full length classic ballet. The performance will present dance students as the featured performers in this authentic full length ballet.

Director Gillian Francis has consistently achieved a very high standard from her very creative and talented students (ranging from the ages of 3 to their mid-20s) over many years and this year's Cinderella includes beautiful choreography, costuming, backdrops, lighting and sound. Enjoy winter in Nelson in grand style, making memories to cherish with the ones you love.

Great conductor Nigel Weeks has selected the program for 'The World's Most Beautiful Melodies' It is sure to be an audience favourite.

Programme:
Tritsch Tratsch Polka - Strauss
Orpheus in the Underworld - Offenbach
'Finale' from William Tell Overture - Rossini
Carmen Suite No. 1 - Bizet
Fantasia on Greensleeves - Vaugham Williams
Spartacus Ballet Suite: Andagio of Spartacus - Khatchaturian
Skater's Waltz - Strauss
Gabriel's oboe - Morricone
New World Symphony - Dvorak

"There's a big, vivacious, steel-belt of a sound Imani gets when playing at the top of its lungs that is most appealing" - Peter Dobrin, The Philadelphia Inquirer

The season concludes with fun, fire and flair thanks to the Imani Winds. Their mission is to use collaboration, outreach, and new commissions to bridge diverse musical tradition, including America, Latin American, and Africa.

Celebrated for the 'sultry sophistication' of their performances, Imani Winds are truly an ensemble for our time: they are young, outstandingly talented musicians whose reputation for musical innovation is growing all over the world.

Their unique programme reflects their commitment to the traditional and the new: Rimsky-Korsakov, Piazzolla and Ravel are surrounded by the flamboyant, genre-disrupting and entertaining music by less well-known Latin composers. And they'll be presenting a new work by our very own Natalie Hunt.

Beethoven's ten Sonatas for Violin and Piano form a transcendent, transformative monument of the duo sonata repertoire: they present a formidable, unique challenge to violinists and pianists.

Bella Hristova is known for the power and lyrical beauty of her sound, a violinist perfectly suited to the huge technical and emotional demands of Beethoven's Sonatas. Michael Houstoun's recent performances of Beethoven's complete Piano Sonatas met with huge acclaim for fluency and appreciation of Beethoven's wit, as well as the moments of profound desolation.

Hristova and Houstoun's collaboration in our Beethoven Mini-Festivals will be a landmark musical event of 2017.

Programme:
Sonata No. 3 in E-flat Major, op 12, no. 3
Sonata No. 8 in G Major, op 30, no. 3
Sonata No. 2 in A Major, op. 12, no. 2
Sonata No. 7 in C Minor, op 30, no. 2

"You could see the joy in the performers' faces and movements as much as you could hear it in the playing." - The New York Times

Juilliard415 represent the best-of-the-best early-music ensemble from the Julliard School, with a reputation for combining youthful energy with poise, precision, and a luminous sound. For this New Zealand tour, J415 join forces with maestro Masaaki Suzuki, hugely esteemed for his performances and recordings of Bach.

The programme concentrates on Bach and Handel, the giants of the baroque era. It will give audiences a tantalising taste of Bach's work, and guarantees an evening of luminous, vital performances.

There will be a prelude event before the concert. Check http://www.chambermusic.co.nz for more updates.

Renowned for her interpretations of French piano repertoire - full of ‘evanescent colours and shimmering, elusive light’ - British pianist Kathryn Stott will perform recitals in New Plymouth and Napier, before joining the New Zealand String Quartet for solo and chamber music.

Debussy’s L'Isle joyeuse - inspired by Watteau’s enigmatic painting L’Embarquement pour Cythère - is at the centre of Kathryn’s recitals, alongside Dutilleux’s Piano Sonata: this is a rare opportunity to hear these ravishing works programmed together.

A Member of NZSQ will lead a discussion with Kathryn Stott at 4:15pm
- free entry -